BETHESDA, Md. — “I’m here because I didn’t give up,” said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Davonte Mccraven, who will soon be meritoriously promoted to Chief Petty Officer after winning Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) Sailor of the Year, for Fiscal Year 2024. “I am proof that if you don’t give up, the dividends will pay off.”
After years of personal loss, professional perseverance, and unwavering commitment to his Sailors, Mccraven is a name now etched into the legacy of Navy Medicine.
“This accomplishment isn’t something to take lightly… I went up against a lot of Sailors,” Mccraven said. “I felt confident enough competing at the regional level, but BUMED? That’s a different story.”
Mccraven serves as the Leading Petty Officer (LPO) for the Headquarters Administration Department at Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Bethesda—home to nine expeditionary medical platforms.
“This recognition is surreal,” said Mccraven. “It’s a reflection not just of my efforts, but of the dedication and sacrifice of every Sailor I’ve worked with.”
But his journey has been far from easy. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, McCraven’s passion for medicine was shaped by what he witnessed in his community growing up.
“Coming from Memphis and seeing so much death, I wanted to go into the medical field,” he said. “I’ve seen people shot, people standing around not knowing what to do. I wanted to be someone who could help in those moments.”
Mccraven had already been studying medicine at Tusculum college when he made the decision to join the Navy in 2011— driven by a sense of responsibility to his family and inspired deeply by his grandmother, Joyce Morgan.
As his grandmother’s “partner in crime,” Mccraven was determined to follow in her footsteps.
“She’s the reason I went into medicine. The reason I ever believed I could do it.”
A caregiver herself, McCraven’s grandmother had once pursued a career in nursing. But like many women of her generation, she set her dreams aside to care for others—her own mother, her children, and eventually her grandchildren. She never complained. She just showed up—day after day, year after year—with quiet strength and deep love, he expressed.
“She didn’t get to finish nursing school,” he said. “She put her life on hold for her family. I always told her; I’m going to finish what you started.”
That promise would become the foundation for McCraven’s pursuit of Independent Duty Corpsman (IDC) school—a rigorous medical program designed to train advanced Navy medical providers to operate independently in severe conditions. He enrolled in 2018 but didn’t pass. Years later, determined to honor his grandmother’s legacy, he enrolled again in 2022.
Four months into his second enrollment, tragedy struck. His grandmother passed away before he could complete the program.
“I was devastated,” Mccraven said. “I needed to finish so she could see me do it. That was my biggest reason for going back. When she died, it broke something in me. I left IDC school again—I couldn’t finish.”
Her passing marked not just the loss of a loved one, but of a guiding light. For Mccraven, it was as if his compass had shattered. And yet, from that pain, he found the resolve to continue.
“She always carried the weight for everyone. After she passed, I realized I had to carry that forward—not just for me, but for her.”
Despite the heartbreak, Mccraven pressed forward. He checked into NMRTC Bethesda in July 2024. Just months later, another devastating blow: the tragic killing of his father he stepped up as the guardian of his siblings.
“I was already a single father of a six-year-old, and I found out I had two seven-year-old twin siblings—my dad’s children. I was the next of kin. Suddenly, I was a single father to three,” he said.
Even through these deeply personal struggles, Mccraven continued to lead. At Bethesda, he became the Senior Enlisted Leader (SEL) for the Directorate of Nursing Services—an achievement not held by a Navy member in three years. He never let his Sailors see him fall apart. He showed up, every day, for them.
Mccraven admitted during his personal adversities he kept everything to himself.
“As a leader, you have to figure out how to carry it—how to take your experience and turn it into impact,” he said. “And you come to a place in life where you want to know how your experience — everything you’ve learned — is going to matter. This command, taught me the power of being the impact.”
As he now prepares to step into a new role as a Chief Petty Officer, Mccraven doesn’t see the award as his alone. He hopes it will be a light for every junior service member who’s fighting silent battles.
“This is about showing my Sailors that their sacrifices mean something,” he said. “They see me get recognized, and it lets them know that staying the course matters. That discipline, that grit—it pays off. The dividends pay off.”
To be meritoriously promoted means a Sailor is advanced to the next higher paygrade based on exceptional performance, leadership, and contributions to their command. As the winner of the BUMED FY24 Sailor of the Year, means McCraven embodies what it means to serve with excellence in Navy Medicine. And he said, he will wear the anchors not just for himself, but for everyone who helped carry him--especially his beloved grandmother.
“She never got to see me finish IDC school,” he said. “But I think she’d be proud anyway. Because what I did finish was becoming a leader others can depend on—just like she was.”
Mccraven often reflects on the lessons his grandmother passed down—about humility, resilience, and sacrifice. She may not have worn a uniform, but she served every day in her own way.
“Being a leader people want to follow—that’s my proudest achievement,” he said. “When Sailors come back and say, ‘You made a difference’—that’s my medal.”
He speaks to junior Sailors the way his grandmother once spoke to him—calm, firm, and always pushing them to be better.
“Be teachable. Be humble. Don’t run from the standard—set it,” he advises. “You don’t always know what someone’s carrying. So, lead with heart, but lead strong.”
As McCraven prepares to don the anchors of a Chief, he carries with him more than a new rank. He carries the memory of a woman who taught him how to love, how to serve, and how to stand—no matter the storm.
“My grandmother gave me the foundation. The Navy gave me the start. I’m just trying to build something they both would be proud of.”
From the streets of Memphis to the halls of Navy Medicine leadership, McCraven’s path reflects resilience, service, and the belief that no matter how heavy the burden, you never walk alone when you lead with purpose.
NMRTC Bethesda mission is to maximize warfighter performance through optimized medical readiness tailored to operational requirements; enhance the readiness of the medical force to sustain expeditionary medical capability; and train and develop the Navy Medicine Force.
Navy Medicine – represented by more than 44,000 highly-trained military and civilian health care professionals – provides enduring expeditionary medical support to the warfighter on, below, and above the sea and ashore.
| Date Taken: | 07.30.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.30.2025 11:06 |
| Story ID: | 544248 |
| Location: | BETHESDA, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 53 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Through the Fire – One Sailors Journey from Heartbreak to Impact and Purpose, by PO1 Toni Burton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
