The Navy announced the 2016 fiscal year Language Professional Awards winners, April 24.

The annual awards are given to recognize the top military and civilian language professionals and non-career linguists, and the top Command Language Program for achieving mission success through the use of foreign language.

The 2016 fiscal year Language Professional award recipients are:

Senior Language Professional of the Year: Chief Cryptologic Technician Hillary Deems, attached to U.S. Navy Information Operations Command Maryland.

Language Professional of the Year: Cryptologic Technician 1st Class Brian Blacher, attached to Navy Information Operations Command, Maryland.

Officer Language Professional of the Year: Cmdr. Jennifer Jones, attached to Navy Personnel Command, Millington, Tennessee.

Civilian Language Professional of the Year: Sarah Hodgson, who works at Navy Information Command, Georgia.

Command Language Program of the Year: Navy Information Operation Command, Maryland.

For more information on the awards or the Navy's language programs visit http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/career/language_culture/Pages/default2.aspx

For more news from Chief of Naval Personnel, visit http://www.navy.mil/.

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