The commanding officer of the U.S. Navy's single point of accountability for aviation technical training announced its Sailor of the Year (SOY) Nov. 20.

Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training (CNATT) Commanding Officer Capt. Eric J. Simon announced that from a field of more than 850 first class petty officers, Naval Air Technical Training Center's (NATTC) Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Equipment) 1st Class Lehi A. Juarezmedina was selected as the CNATT 2017 SOY.

NATTC Commanding Officer Capt. Maxine Goodridge said Juarezmedina is an integral part of the NATTC team, serving as an instructor, mentor and respected member of the Pensacola community.

"Petty Officer Juarezmedina is an inspirational leader among an extremely talented team of Sailors who has distinguished himself through exemplary performance as Barracks Control Division leading petty officer and Aviation Boatswain's Mate Equipment (ABE) Catapult and Arresting Gear instructor," said Goodridge. "He is truly a well-rounded Sailor who is devoted to improving not only the command, but also the community."

Lehi A. Juarezmedina, a Tucson, Arizona native, serves as NATTC Training Support Department Barracks Control Division leading petty officer, leading a team of 46 Military Training Instructors (MTI) and 10 civilian contractors across five housing facilities in the Sailorization of more than 1,500 new accession Sailors daily. Additionally, he instructed more than 100 Sailors in the Aviation Boatswain's Mate Equipment A1 course, ensuring quality, well-trained ABEs are sent to the fleet.

ABEs play a major role in the safe and efficient launch and recovery of naval aircraft, including positioning and fueling aircraft, and operating and maintaining catapults, arresting gear, jet blast deflectors and barricades. They also make up the ship's crash and salvage team, responsible for fighting flight deck fires and extracting aircrew should a mishap occur.

Juarezmedina said that being recognized is reflective of both the staff and instructors, not only at NATTC, but also at the 27 other CNATT activities.

"Having the opportunity to be a member of such a great team of dedicated instructors has been a huge blessing for me," said Juarezmedina. "They are the reason I was nominated for Sailor of the Year. I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with great Sailors over the past year, and this award proves that our team was key to the command's mission success as we trained, mentored and developed quality Sailors for the fleet."

NATTC Command Master Chief Israel Pedregon said Juarezmedina' s dedication has been instrumental to the command's success developing new accession Sailors, and his exemplary performance both as a leader and a Sailor reinforces the ideal of the well-rounded Sailor.

"Training the future of naval aviation is a task that everyone at NATTC takes very seriously," said Pedregon. "Juarezmedina is a hard working Sailor who, along with his team, consistently produces the highest quality results, ensuring that the future remains bright."

For more than 70 years, with the last two decades at Naval Air Station Pensacola, NATTC has been providing training and increasing readiness within the Naval Aviation Enterprise. The facility graduates approximately 15,000 Navy, Marine Corps and international students annually.

NATTC is part of CNATT, which provides single site management for Navy and Marine Corps aviation technical training.

CNATT is the technical training agent for the Naval Aviation Enterprise, an organization designed to advance and sustain naval aviation warfighting capabilities at an affordable cost, and is the largest training center under the Naval Education and Training Command.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training, visit www.navy.mil/.