“Language, Regional Expertise, and Culture (LREC) capabilities play a significant role in modern naval operations,” Vice Adm. Richard J. Cheeseman, Chief of Naval Personnel, said in announcing the awards.

“In the current operational environment, LREC is central to everything from Humanitarian Aid Operations to building lasting relationships with our foreign partners.”

The Navy's top Command Language Program this year is Navy Information Operations Command (NIOC) Georgia located at Ft. Gordon, Ga.

The Navy’s top language professional in the E-6 and below category receives the Shannon M. Kent Award for Language Professional Excellence. The award is named for Senior Chief Cryptologic Technician Interpretive Shannon M. Kent, a specialist in cryptologic warfare and fluent in seven languages and was the Navy's 2010 Navy Language Professional of the Year as a petty officer first class.  She served multiple tours in Iraq, paving the way for greater inclusion of women in Special Operations Forces and was one of the first women to pass the Naval Special Warfare Direct Support Course. Senior Chief Kent was killed in action on 16 January 2019 in Manbij, Syria. 

This year’s Shannon M. Kent Award for Language Professional Excellence winner is Cryptologic Technician Interpretive First Class (IW/EXW) Mason Lunsford from Cryptologic Warfare Activity SIXTY SEVEN.

Winner of the Senior Language Professional of the Year is Chief Cryptologic Technician Interpretive (IW/SW/AW) Jamie Biro of Navy Information Operations Command Georgia.

Linguist of the Year, the Navy's top E-6 and below non-career linguist, is Hospital Corpsman Second Class Arshad Khan, Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Quantico, Virginia. Winner of the Senior Linguist of the Year is BMC (SW/AW) Serhiy Dubenko of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

NIOC Georgia and CTI1 Coyle will go on to compete for further recognition at the Department of Defense level. The DOD program is managed by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center and recognizes the most outstanding military E-6 and below language professionals and command language programs across the military services.

The Navy award winners will also be recognized at the 2023 Advanced Command Language Program Manager Workshop, scheduled for September 12-14.

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