Vice Adm. Luke M. McCollum, chief of Navy Reserve and commander, Navy Reserve Force, announced Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Neil Cataline as the 2018 Navy Reserve Shore Sailor of the Year during a ceremony at the Maryland House on Naval Station Norfolk, Jan. 9.

Cataline, one of five finalists from the full-time support (FTS) Reserve Force, is a native of Antioch, California, and currently assigned to Marine Reserve Forces in New Orleans. The finalists represent the top five FTS petty officers first class in a force of more than 10,000.

“Events like this are a great reason to leave the Pentagon and go to the field,” said McCollum. “I believe this is the fun stuff. You all have earned the recognition, but we get to acknowledge and formalize your accomplishments. Congratulations, Petty Officer 1st Class Cataline!”

During the event, he received a Lone Star Memorial statue, Cataline turned to his fellow competitors, ranking board members, and distinguished guests.

“I want to thank everyone here,” Cataline said. “What a great experience. I know all of my fellow competitors have great things ahead of them.”

Cataline also mentioned what he learned from this level of competition and what he expects moving forward.

“I learned a lot from this process,” said Cataline. “I realized I need to dig in a little more, because it’s just going to get more competitive and difficult to win at the next level. Being selected from this group of Sailors was tough.”

Each finalist appreciated the recognition, but also expressed a mutual goal to be great leaders and hard workers.

“My experience getting this far has been surreal,” said Yeoman 1st Class Cerise Stout, a native of San Antonio, assigned to Commander, Naval Air Force Reserve in San Diego. “I’ve always just been one of those people that just works hard, and my hard work and taking care of Sailors led me to being a finalist.”

The other finalists included:

Yeoman 1st Class Kristofer Keating, Reserve Component Command Mid-Atlantic
Logistics Specialist 1st Class George Lozada, Commander, Navy Reserve Forces Command
Yeoman 1st Class Jennifer Pare, Reserve Component Command Southeast

McCollum expressed his excitement about the future, looking at the representation of Sailors standing in front of him.

“I see the thousands of Sailors who were in your competitive lane that have followed in behind you, as you’ve led them with a competitive spirit,” said McCollum. “Thank you for your focus and your dedication as we pursue lethality and getting the Navy that our nation needs in the face of great power competition.”

Cataline will go on to compete for the title of 2018 Vice Chief of Naval Operations (Naval Shore Activities) SOY.

For more information on the Navy Reserves or Commander Navy Reserve Forces Command, please visit www.public.navy.mil/nrh or www.facebook.com/U.S.NavyReserve

Get more information about the Navy from US Navy Facebook or Twitter.

For more news from Commander, Navy Reserve Force, visit www.navy.mil/.