Seaman Recruit Blanca De Leon Division 935, graduated as the top Sailor from Recruit Training Command, earning the Military Excellence Award on July 3.

De Leon, from Houston, Texas said she joined the Navy to serve as a role model and become part of something larger than herself.

“Growing up as an only child to a single parent, Martha De Leon, I yearned to be a part of a team that I could commit myself to,” De Leon said. “I wanted to live a life to serve more than just myself. When my younger relatives moved to the U.S. for a better life, I wanted to set the example for them and be the inspiration to reach for the stars.”

De Leon, 22, is a 2015 graduate of Northbrook High School in Houston. She was a member of the Spring Branch Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, where she served as Lt. j.g. Operations Officer and as a member of the rifle, unarmed drill, academic and athletic teams. De Leon attended Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, and Lonestar Community College, in Houston, where she earned an Associate of Arts degree.

De Leon is assigned the rate of Machinist’s Mate (Nuclear).

The Navy Club of the United States Military Excellence Award is the top award presented to the No. 1 recruit of their graduating training group. The MEA is awarded to the recruit that best exemplifies the qualities of enthusiasm, devotion to duty, military bearing and teamwork. The award placed her at the pinnacle of today’s newest Sailors. De Leon is awarded a flag letter of commendation.

De Leon said winning the MEA was a tremendous honor.

“All my life, I have been told that I have so much potential, but never actually felt like I achieved my full potential in anything that I was putting my mind to,” she said. “For the first time in my life, I feel like I am on the right track and have found what I am good at. This award has given me the confidence to excel in my military career as I take my first step.”

De Leon credited her Recruit Division Commanders, Chief Electrician’s Mate Susan Pavao, Machinery Repairmen 1st Class Kevin Kirberger, and Aviation Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class Sterling Fleming Jr. for their leadership and guidance.

She also said her three younger cousins, Hidy, Diana and Cynthia De Leon, inspire her.

“They have been my motivation while here at RTC,” De Leon said. “Seeing how much of an influence I have in the way that those girls act and think is what constantly tells me that I have to do my absolute best and accept nothing less. I have to be number one. They have to see that I am the best. It is my responsibility and I feel accountable to hold the standard that they strive to be.”

De Leon said the toughest part of boot camp was learning how to accommodate and respond to her shipmates’ needs and emotions.

“I have never had to be so conscious of what people were thinking or feeling,” she said. “I had to learn to be patient with my shipmates, who had more emotions about things I did not feel were a big deal. It is important to acknowledge and listen to people’s emotions in order to come together. It was not until our newest divisions arrived that I realized how much my division had grown and how much of a team we had become.”   

After graduation, De Leon will attend Nuclear Machinist’s Mate “A” School in Charleston, South Carolina. He will then go to Nuclear Propulsion School and finally Prototype School.  Machinist Mate duties in nuclear propulsion plants include operating reactor control, propulsion and power generation systems. Novinger will be able to choose between serving on an aircraft carrier and volunteering for submarine duty.

Boot camp is approximately eight weeks and all enlistees into the U.S. Navy begin their careers at the command. Training includes physical fitness, seamanship, firearms, firefighting and shipboard damage control along with lessons in Navy heritage and core values, teamwork and discipline. More than 35,000 recruits are trained annually at RTC and begin their Navy careers.

For more news from Recruit Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/

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