The 36th annual Vice Adm. James Bond Stockdale Leadership Award ceremony was held Nov. 8, in the Pentagon Hall of Heroes in Washington, D.C.

Cmdr. Gary G. Montalvo, the U.S. Pacific Fleet recipient, and Cmdr. Ken J. Kleinschnittger, the U.S. Fleet Forces recipient, received the award.

The award is presented annually to two commissioned officers on active duty in the grade of commander or below who are serving in command of a single unit, and who serve as examples of excellence in leadership and conspicuous contribution to the improvement of leadership in the Navy.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson served as guest speaker at the ceremony and presented the awards to the winners. Richardson received the award in 2001.

Montalvo is the commanding officer of attack submarine USS North Carolina (SSN 777).

"With so many great leaders in our Navy, this award is amazing; but to be nominated by my peers is just simply humbling beyond words," said Montalvo. "I have known of Admiral Stockdale since the first memory I have in the Navy. He was the leader of leaders from his tribulations in Hanoi, and how he handled that continuously degrading situation with as much poise as you can have were reflective of his model leadership. In my earliest days, he was the example of what leadership was supposed to be."

Kleinschnittger is the former commanding officer of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 12 and is currently working with Navy Expeditionary Combat Command forces.

"When I was a midshipman there was a room called the Stockdale room -- just a room with a plaque on it called Stockdale's Place," said Kleinschnittger. "I never in my wildest dreams imagined my name would be associated with his."

Nominations for the award come only from commanding officers in command and who are eligible for the award. The two commanders were chosen from among eight finalists.

A Naval Academy graduate and pilot, Stockdale ejected from his A-4E Skyhawk over North Vietnam, September 1965, and was held prisoner and frequently tortured until February 1973. He received the Medal of Honor in 1976 and served as president of the Naval War College from October 1977 to August 1979.

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