Naval Surface Force Atlantic (SURFLANT) kicked off its 2016 Sailor of the Year (SOY) competition Feb. 5 with a meet and greet event at the Virginia Beach Westin.

Throughout the week, SURFLANT Sailors will participate in boards, leadership events and luncheons in order to select a winner from both a sea and shore command. The winners will then move on to participate in U.S. Fleet Forces (USFFC) SOY competition.

"The SOY competition allows us to highlight and recognize the hard work and achievements of our Sailors from sea and shore commands within SURFLANT and to select the top Sailors in our fleet," said SURFLANT Force Master Chief Jack Callison. "At this TYCOM level, SOY provides us the opportunity to make the difficult choice of narrowing down the list of highly qualified nominees, so that we send the absolute best to participate in U.S. Fleet Forces Command SOY competition."

Once the sea command winner is selected, he or she will compete for the USFFC SOY; the winner of that competition will be meritoriously promoted to the rank of chief petty officer. The USFFC shore command winner will continue on to Washington, D.C., to compete at Chief of Naval Operations SOY level.

"I hope this competition allows Sailors to get a tangible idea of the impact their hard work and leadership has on junior Sailors and their commands," said Callison. "They will be able to carry this experience with them throughout their career, so that they can show junior Sailors that hard work is recognized by both peers and superiors and that rewards are reaped."

This year's participants are Electronics Technician 1st Class Joseph Bennett, guided-missile destroyer USS Truxtun (DDG 103); Logistics Specialist 1st Class Adam Jerasa, guided-missile cruiser USS San Jacinto (CG 56); Fire Controlman 1st Class Rachelle Kazunas, USS Bainbridge (DDG 96); Cryptologic Technician (Technical) 1st Class Karyn Konrad, USS Normandy (CG 60); Culinary Specialist 1st Class Magalie Shaw, Littoral Combat Ship Crew 110; Information Systems Technician 1st Class Bradford Brown, Littoral Combat Ship Squadron 2; Operations Specialist Ciria Howe, Afloat Training Group Atlantic; Aviation Structural Mechanic 1st Class Anna Richardson, Naval Beach Group 2; Fire Controlman 1st Class Joshua Ross, AEGIS Ashore Missile Defense System Romania; Electronics Technician 1st Class Keith Tomlinson, Naval Surface Squadron 14.

"Being a Sailor in today's world and Navy is very challenging and requires a certain kind of tough," said Callison. "Ship rotations and deployment schedules are demanding, so a 'fit to fight' mentality is what we are trying to empower our Sailors with."

The Sailor of the Year program was established in 1972 by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo Zumwalt and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John Whittet to recognize an individual Sailor who best represented the ever-growing group of dedicated professional Sailors at each command, and ultimately in the Navy. When the program began, only the Atlantic and Pacific Fleet Sailors were recognized. Within 10 years, the Sailor of the Year program was expanded to include the shore establishment and Navy Reserve Sailors.

SURFLANT is one of six type commanders and was established in 1975 to consolidate the Cruiser-Destroyer, Amphibious and Service Forces, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. There are nearly 70 ships and 30 commands which make up the SURFLANT Force.

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