Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV), Energy Joseph Bryan stopped by Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southeast, Nov. 17, aboard Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., to award the command's public affairs office (PAO) for their nationally recognized energy awareness video.

Bryan presented SECNAV coins to Susan Brink, NAVFAC Southeast public affairs officer; John Parker, NAVFAC Southeast deputy public affairs officer; Jeff Hamlin, NAVFAC Southeast editorial assistant and multi-media specialist; and Nelson Smith, former deputy for small business, for their creativity and resourcefulness in the creation of the video.

"We have a great PAO team," said NAVFAC Southeast Executive Officer Capt. Drew Hascall. "I'm consistently amazed by their creativity and talent. Being recognized by the Secretary of the Navy is a huge honor and this kind of recognition will only motivate them even more. I can't wait to see what's next."

The team created a character, "The Most Energy Conservative Man in the World," to talk about energy conservation and to share the Navy's energy message in a new way.

"We wanted to find an interesting way to get the Navy's message out," said Parker, the main character in the video. "I spent 20 years in the Navy watching public service announcements and we wanted more than a talking head. We wanted to share the message in a way that everyone would find it interesting."

Mr. Bryan stated that they loved the creativeness that went into the video. He and Secretary Mabus loved the way the team took the Navy's message and put a very new and interesting spin on it.

The assistant secretary went on to talk about how he even showed the video to students at the Naval Academy during a recent speaking engagement. Showing how the same message can be sent in different ways but still get the same point across, adding that some ways are better than others.

The NAVFAC Southeast team originally created the video for their command, using their own spin to put forth the Navy's message. Soon the video took on a life of its own and was being played all over the region, and found its way to the Pentagon and throughout the Navy promoting energy awareness.

For more news from Naval Facilities Engineering Command, visit http://www.navy.mil/.