MAY 5, 2015, WASHINGTON (NNS) – The Navy has selected five Sailors from a field of 100 nominees as the Captain Joy Bright Hancock and Master Chief Anna Der-Vartanian Leadership Award winners, May 4.
The Captain Joy Bright Hancock Leadership Awards are presented annually to one senior and one junior officer and the Master Chief Anna Der-Vartanian Leadership Awards are presented annually to one senior and one junior enlisted service member.
This year, a new category was added to specifically recognize leaders in the limited duty officer (LDO) and warrant officer communities.
The 2015 awardees are:
Senior Officer: Cmdr. Sam Westock, director, 13th Dental Company Branch Dental Clinic, Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, California;
Junior Officer: Lt. j.g. Jan Ingram, staff anti-submarine warfare officer for Destroyer Squadron 7, Singapore;
Limited Duty Officer/Warrant: Ensign Cassandra Karo, mission package liaison officer for Littoral Combat Ship Squadron 1, San Diego;
Senior Enlisted: Master Chief Sheila Langejans, command master chief aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), home ported Portsmouth, Virginia and
Junior Enlisted: Aviation Electrician’s Mate 1st Class Sumalee Lilly, work center leading petty officer in Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 12, Atsugi, Japan.
The Captain Joy Bright Hancock and Master Chief Anna Der-Vartanian Leadership Awards honor Navy men and women with visionary leadership whose ideals and dedication foster a positive working environment while reinforcing and furthering the integration of women into the Navy.
Established in 1987, these awards are presented annually, to recognize the inspirational leadership of Navy officers and enlisted Sailors on active or Reserve duty.
Each package was reviewed and graded by an awards board comprised of members of the Chief of Naval Personnel staff on the criteria of professional accomplishments, character, command climate/equal opportunity, leadership, and community involvement. The award winners went above and beyond in every category, exhibiting extraordinary service. Highlighted below are some of their accomplishments.
While Westock was stationed aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), she established and became president of the first operational West Coast women’s Sea Service Leadership Association chapter, supporting several hundred servicewomen, including ship’s company and the nine attached air squadrons.
Ingram planned and executed a Female Engagement Team Symposium in Brunei, creating an open dialogue about women’s roles in the military between Brunei and U.S. service members.
As an operations specialist 1st class, Karo managed U.S. 3rd Fleet’s first ballistic missile defense exercise and followed her dream to lead junior Sailors as an LDO, all while raising three children in a dual-military household.
Langejans, the first woman selected to fire controlman master chief in U.S. Navy history, initiated a “Women’s Wellness” program to focus on educating young female Sailors on the importance of making sound life decisions. The program has since been opened to male Sailors, incorporated into the command’s indoctrination program, and adopted by Commander, Air Forces Atlantic as the standard for all of their assets. Additionally, in the effort to accommodate more personnel and redistribute space allocation to decrease response time to ship’s casualties, she also optimized her ship’s berthing to accommodate a 15 percent increase in female Sailors on board.
Lilly led the development of the “Petty Officer 24/7” program to enhance junior petty officer leadership skills and fill the void between Petty Officer Indoctrination Training and Chief Petty Officer 365.
For more news from Chief of Naval Personnel – Navy Office of Women’s Policy, visit http://www.npc.navy.mil/AboutUs/BUPERS/WomensPolicy.