blessed with a military made up of
selflessly dedicated young people.
If you want to see great Americans
today, if you lose faith in America
today, look to the young people in
our military, and it will rejuvenate
your faith in our country.”
To the Navy Leaguers in the
audience, he said the sea services
are “in debt to your support and I
want to thank you from all of us.
May God bless and protect the men
and women of our armed forces
deployed around the world, those
in harm’s way. Semper Paratus.”
Helping outgoing Navy League
National President Daniel B. Branch
Jr. present the 2011 Sea Service
Awards to their respective service
members were Rear Adm. Thomas
H. Copeman III, Navy chief of Legis-
lative Affairs; Maj. Gen. Timothy C.
Hanifen, Marine Corps director of
Expeditionary Warfare; Currier; and
Kevin M. Tokarski, the Maritime
Administration’s associate adminis-
trator for National Security.
The following is a list of the
awards and the 2011 recipients,
along with excerpts from the citations and nominating documents
detailing their accomplishments:
John Paul Jones Award for
Inspirational Leadership
; NAVY LT. CMDR.
KENNETH P. WARD
As the maintenance officer and
Detachment 4 officer-in-charge in
Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron
Light 51 (HSL- 51, or “Warlords”),
Ward coordinated with seven offi-
cers-in-charge to provide aircraft
readiness while meeting training and
readiness requirement for 90 pilots
and air crewmen. Developing a long-
term maintenance plan for 15 aircraft
deploying on seven ships, he ensured
the proper resourcing for seven oper-
ational Light Airborne Multi-Purpose
System and SH-60F VIP transport
detachments. Under his leadership,
Warlord detachments deployed more
than 120 times in support of theater-
DAN REYNOLDS
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Kenneth P. Ward
receives the John Paul Jones Award
for Inspirational Leadership from
outgoing Navy League National
President Daniel B. Branch Jr., right,
and Rear Adm. Thomas H. Copeman
III, Navy chief of Legislative Affairs.
and national-level tasking in the
Western Pacific and Korean operational areas. Additionally, his leadership and planning were crucial to
search-and-rescue and humanitarian
assistance and disaster relief
(HA/DR) efforts following the March
earthquake and tsunamis in Japan.
He directly contributed to the simultaneous deployment of four Warlord
detachments in less than 24 hours
and the relocation of HSL- 51 to
Misawa Air Force Base, Japan, in support of HA/DR operations, enabling
the safe execution of more than 300
flight hours and the delivery of more
than 100 tons of relief supplies.
Adm. Claude V. Ricketts
Award for Inspirational
Leadership (E- 7 and
Above)
; NAVY FIRE CONTROLMAN
CHIEF PETTY OFFICER
MICHAEL E. BROOKER
Brooker’s leadership and technical
skills were integral in the Littoral
Combat Ship USS Independence’s
successful construction, commis-
sioning, crew certifications and
numerous post-delivery trials and
testing events. His expertise led to
the development of all combat sys-
tems training and drills for the
Independence-class ships. In addi-
tion, he ensured all Independence
Sailors had a thorough knowledge
of both the ship and the Navy
through his position as command
Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist
(ESWS) coordinator. He was direct-
ly responsible for three Sailors earn-
ing their ESWS qualifications and
two others being selected for chief
petty officer during the past year.
Adm. Claude V. Ricketts
Award for Inspirational
Leadership (E- 6 and
Below)
; NAVY STEELWORKER 1ST
CLASS LOUIS F. SALAZAR JR.
As the detail operations leading petty
officer for Detail Khelegay, U.S. Naval
Mobile Construction Battalion 40,
Salazar was responsible for the direct
supervision and operational planning
of 3,208 man days of labor to
improve the tactical capabilities and
quality of life in Forward Operating
Base (FOB) Khelegay for the 300
NATO forces deployed to northern
Afghanistan. Planning and executing
the safe completion of the medical
evacuation (medevac) helicopter
landing zone facility, his insight and
knowledge of contingency construc-
tion were instrumental to overcom-
ing the limitations that the FOB’s
remoteness presented. The complet-
ed facility significantly shortened the
critical medevac timeline for wound-
ed NATO/International Security
Assistance Force forces in this area
and will certainly save lives.
Capt. Winifred Quick
Collins Award for
Inspirational Leadership
(Officer)
; NAVY CMDR. WENDY HALSEY
Under her direct leadership as public
works officer for Naval Station
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Public
Works Department was instrumental
in the station’s rapid response to
