SEATTLE — Two Pacific Northwest-based Coast Guard petty officers were chosen as the 2012 Active-Duty enlisted person of the year (EPOY) and Reserve enlisted person of the year (REPOY) for the 13th Coast Guard District during a recognition banquet Saturday, at Coast Guard Base Seattle.
Petty Officer 1st Class Benjamin Snider, a boatswain’s mate assigned to Coast Guard Station Umpqua River, in Winchester Bay, Ore., and Petty Officer 1st Class Catherine Kavanaugh, a reservist machinery technician assigned to Coast Guard Station Port Angeles, Wash., were selected as the EPOY and REPOY.
Snider, who has the responsibility of being Station Umpqua River’s operations petty officer, 1st lieutenant, boat crew examination board member and senior duty officer, has also volunteered as the unit’s health promotion coordinator.
Snider is not only an extraordinarily skilled Surfman, but is also heavily involved in local community events. He weaved tight relationships between the local community and the Station, and his efforts have contributed to more than 1,000 lbs of food being donated to the Douglass County, Ore., Food Bank.
Kavanaugh has also gone above and beyond the requirements of her billet. Kavanaugh skillfully conducted more than 300 at-sea boardings and accrued an impressive 381 underway hours.
She has forged innovative inter-agency law enforcement partnerships with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Jefferson County Sheriffs and tribal law enforcement organizations, all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA while pursuing her Bachelor’s Degree. Kavanaugh leads by example as a key participant at the Women in D13 leadership seminars.
Although all Coast Guard men and women perform a variety of missions, including search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, marine safety inspections, protection of fisheries, aids-to-navigation, port security and anti-terrorism patrols, illegal drug and migrant interdiction, and environmental protection, the EPOY program recognizes exceptional men and women in the Coast Guard’s enlisted workforce who are top performers. Considered as the “best and brightest” from the field, these individuals are selected by a panel of senior enlisted members who evaluate each nominee against a set of established criteria that includes performance, work ethics, military bearing, standards of conduct and a strong community service commitment.
These regional winners are eligible for national honors along with their peers from other Coast Guard regions across the nation. The Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard, Michael P. Leavitt, will recognize the national winners in an award ceremony later this spring.
For more information, contact the 13th District External Affairs Office at 206-220-7237.