Photo By Austen McClain | Chief Hull Maintenance Technician Librado Najera III, an instructor assigned to...... read more read more
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PENSACOLA, Fla. - Chief Hull Maintenance Technician Librado Najera III, a Lubbock, TX native, accepted the 2025 Senior Enlisted Military Instructor of the Year award on Feb. 19th for his work as a U.S. Navy instructor assigned to the Recruit Training Command, the Navy’s only boot camp, in Great Lakes, IL.
Najera was selected by Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) as a top instructor among nearly 7,500 other accomplished individuals serving across the domain, from Navy Boot Camp through the Navy’s advanced training centers and schoolhouses. Najera received the award at the instructor of the year ceremony where Rear Adm. Greg Huffman, commander of NETC, spoke on his achievements as a military instructor.
“Our Senior Enlisted Instructor of the Year, Chief Petty Officer Librado Najera III, embodies the spirit of mentorship, not only as a CIED [Counter Improvised Explosive Device] Instructor at Recruit Training Command, but as a father and a youth softball coach,” said Huffman. “He often reminds his teammates to ‘be the Chief you wish you had, not the Chief you had,’ encouraging them to lead with humility and practice servant leadership."
Najera reflected on his career in the Navy saying “I am most proud of my first Navy Achievement Medal, as a young fireman who was constantly getting in trouble, I truly believe this was the turning point of who I became in the Military.” Najera went on to say that this eventually led to his opportunity to become a military instructor, leading up-and-coming sailors and helping them learn the lessons he gained in his career.
NETC, headquartered at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, is the largest shore command in the U.S. Navy. NETC leads the Navy’s “Street to Fleet” process – recruiting America’s sons and daughters and transforming them through world-class training into highly skilled, battle-ready warfighters. More than 87 percent of new Sailors flow through NETC’s schoolhouses and learning centers once they graduate boot camp – and on any given day, NETC is training 33,000 Sailors at its 251 training sites.
| Date Taken: | 02.19.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 02.24.2026 13:59 |
| Story ID: | 558753 |
| Location: | PENSACOLA, FLORIDA, US |
| Hometown: | LUBBOCK, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 39 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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