Amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) recently received the fiscal year 2016 Retention Excellence Award for demonstrating superior accomplishment in executing programs and policies which best enable Sailors to succeed in their careers.

The annual award is a Navywide achievement presented to commands which meet a minimum of 90 points on overall reenlistment and attrition benchmarks on the annual Command Information Program Review (CIPR).

It takes a dedicated team of Navy counselors to earn the award, said Navy Counselor 2nd Class Malik Coleman, a command career counselor aboard Bonhomme Richard, from Fulton, Mississippi.

"I came to the command near the end of the last fiscal year," said Coleman. "The Navy counselors who were here before I arrived had everything under control. You could tell Master Chief Luter, , had been doing this for a while. She had a simple but effective system, which she developed through years of experience to provide the best service she could for her Sailors. She set the standard and left a management system behind for future Navy counselors to continue to strive for excellence long after she is gone."

Similarly, Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Luis Budd, a command career counselor aboard Bonhomme Richard from North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, said customer service is paramount to a Navy counselor, which he believes is one of the reasons Bonhomme Richard earned the award.

"We try to let our Sailors know we care about them," explained Budd. "We tell them about all the programs that are available to them, and if they ask us a question we try to find the answer."

Bonhomme Richard's Navy counselors do care about their crew, said Electrician's Mate 2nd Class Stephan Dalton, from Philadelphia, who is in the process of cross-rating from electrician's mate to legalman.

"I decided to reenlist to continue serving my country and to embark on my new journey as a legalman," said Dalton. "Any questions that I had they were well versed, and that gave me confidence that everything processed in my paperwork was well taken care of."

The Navy counselors were not the only ones whose contributions led to the acceptance of the award, Budd said. There are 54 departmental collateral career counselors aboard Bonhomme Richard who act as liaisons between their Sailors and the Navy counselors on a departmental level.

"Departmental career counselors are the Sailors' first point of contact for any career related information," explained Budd. "There are more than 1,200 Sailors on board and only two Navy counselors. Without their assistance we could not run an effective program, let alone an award-winning one."

Along with the award, the ship is authorized to paint its anchors gold to represent a retention rate of 70 percent or higher.

Gold anchors are symbolic of a Navy counselor's hard work, said Coleman, but receiving golden anchors isn't what the rate is all about.

"Golden anchors look cool, and they are an annual award for retention, but ultimately my gratification comes from helping people on a daily basis," said Coleman. "Even if the anchors were gray, and I was taking care of Sailors and their families to the best of my abilities; making sure they have the information they need, I would still feel gratification. One of the reason's I love the NC rate so much is because it gives me the opportunity to communicate with people on a human level."

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