SAN DIEGO -- Naval Medical Center San Diego selected its 2010 Sailor of the Year, Nov. 19.
Petty Officer 1st Class Erin E. Lawlor is the NMCSD 2010 SOY.
"I want my junior sailors to see that they too can set high goals and accomplish them," said Lawlor. "I looked up to my leadership when I was junior and they helped me to be who I am today."
The leadership at Branch Health Clinic Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego noticed Lawlor's motivation and commitment to mentor, which ultimately contributed to her selection as the BHC MCRD Sailor of the Year, and ultimately the NMCSD's 2010 SOY which was awarded with a Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal.
Lawlor is an independent duty corpsman who said she has made it her life's mission to try to help everyone around her to be the best they can be. Lawlor said one of her personal goals is to volunteer any chance she gets.
"I love volunteering," said Lawlor. "I make sure my junior Sailors have time to volunteer in the community with programs like Meals on Wheels."
Born in Annapolis, Md., and raised in Fredericksburg, Va., Lawlor said she has always sought to help others. After high school, she entered the Navy with the intention of becoming a hospital corpsman to help others. After completing recruit training and Hospital Corpsman Basic "A" School in 1996, she reported to BHC MCRD San Diego.
"This is where I was raised," Lawlor said while looking around the BHC MCRD San Diego clinic. "It was here where a Marine Corps drill sergeant first dressed me down by telling me I needed to get my (uniform) together. He motivated me to become a better Sailor and a better person."
Lawlor, 33, left the Navy after her first enlistment and worked at the Orange County, Calif., Sheriff's Department. She still wanted to be part of the Navy and help others, so she entered the Navy Reserves and was assigned to Mobile Inshore Undersea Warfare Unit 105 in Long Beach, Calif.
"I really missed the camaraderie of the Navy," said Lawlor. "I wanted to get back in full time again but was told there weren't any corpsmen billets open, so I took a high priority billet and became a recruiter under the Active Duty for Special Work program."
Lawlor was a canvasser/ recruiter for three years, but still missed the satisfaction of helping others in the medical field.
"I wanted more than recruiting duty; I wanted to be a corpsman again," said Lawlor. "I fought to come back in and to get into IDC School. I wasn't going to let anything stop me."
Even when she found out she was pregnant a month into school, she persisted in attaining her goal. "I never missed a day," said Lawlor.
Upon completion of Surface Force Independent Duty Corpsman School, she reported back to BHC MCRD San Diego. After five months she asked if there was any way she could use her new skills by deploying. Soon after, she was on her way to Fort Riley, Kansas, to train and become qualified for a 15-month Individual Augmentee assignment with Combined Security Transition Command, Command Surgeon, Kabul, Afghanistan.
"They don't tell you your job until you get there," said Lawlor. "I was embedded in a training team to teach combat lifesaving skills, and we would convoy to a different location each day. I got so close to each person on my team; I would go through hell for any of them, and I know they would do the same for me."
After Lawlor returned from Afghanistan in August 2009, she again saw a great chance to help others by volunteering to deploy for two months with Joint Personnel Accounting Command Detachment 2 Honolulu, Hawaii, to Vietnam as the sole medical provider for a 12-person recovery team.
In 2010, Lawlor was nominated for Navy League Enlisted Woman of the Year for 2009, selected as Bureau of Medicine's Shore IDC of the Year for 2009, and NMCSD's Senior Sailor of the Quarter (first quarter 2010).
"I feel like all of these nominations are surreal since I am only doing what anyone else would do," said Lawlor. "But I have to say I am most proud of being named Shore IDC of 2009. I was so honored to receive that award because it is a direct reflection of my leaders, mentors and those around me who allowed me to be the best I could be."
Lawlor is currently serving as an Independent Duty Corpsman at Branch Health Clinic, Naval Base San Diego.
For more information about Naval Medical Center San Diego visit www.navy.mil/local/sd/.