The Navy has selected five Sailors from a field of 115 nominees as the Capt. Joy Bright Hancock and Master Chief Anna Der-Vartanian Leadership Award winners, April 11.

Established in 1987, the Capt. Joy Bright Hancock and Master Chief Anna Der-Vartanian Leadership Awards honor Navy men and women with visionary leadership whose ideals and dedication foster a positive working environment while reinforcing and furthering the integration of women into the Navy.

The annual awards recognize the inspirational leadership of Navy officers and enlisted Sailors on active or reserve duty.

The 2016 Capt. Joy Bright Hancock awardees are:

Senior Officer: Capt. Juliann M. Althoff, officer in charge at Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine Unit 7, Rota, Spain

Junior Officer: Lt. Christine M. Puthawala, director of Academics and Governance, Naval Undersea Medical Institute, Groton, Connecticut

LDO/Warrant: Lt. Jennifer M. Baker-Story, executive assistant/flag secretary to the region commandant, Washington, D.C.

The 2016 Master Chief Anna Der-Vartanian Leadership awardees are:

Senior Enlisted: Chief Cryptologic Technician Jessica C. Kerr, Operation Information division and Electronic Warfare division chief petty officer, USS Michael Murphy, homeported in San Diego

Junior Enlisted: Cryptologic Technician Interpretive 2nd Class Carrie S. Lasker, Navy Information Operations Command Georgia, Fort Gordon, Georgia.

Each package was reviewed and graded by an awards board that comprised members of the Chief of Naval Personnel staff on the criteria of professional accomplishments, character, command climate/equal opportunity, leadership, and community involvement. The award winners went above and beyond in every category, exhibiting extraordinary service. Highlighted below are some of their accomplishments taken from their command award submissions.

Althoff was hand selected to fully establish NEPMU-7 from the ground up, retrofitting, staffing, equipping and bringing the command to full-operational capacity one year ahead of schedule. Her command had the 2015 Surgery Sailor of the Year and the Senior Enlisted Service Member of the Year.

Puthawala is one of only seven women to qualify as a submarine medical officer and is globally recognized as a subject-matter expert in undersea medicine. One of her case reports was published in Pediatrics in Review, highlighting her dedication to increase the reach of medicine beyond the Navy and into the civilian sector.

Throughout her career, Baker-Story has ensured the missions of her commands are achieved through positive interaction, teamwork, meticulous procedural compliance, and by constantly training her Sailors to improve their professional knowledge and performance. She coordinated the Chesapeake Bay clean-up project for two consecutive years, recruiting a record number of volunteers.

During USS Michael Murphy's maiden 7th Fleet deployment Kerr supported three focus operations vital to national security while also serving as the command sexual assault prevention and response advocate. She has earned associate and bachelor's degrees in justice administration, a master's in business administration, and a graduate certificate in humanitarian disaster and preparedness.

In only four years of service, Lasker has filled leadership and mentorship positions to include a language mentorship program to help linguists maintain their language skills while going through aircrew training. After a career in elite mixed martial art competition, an 18-time world champion, she decided to teach and mentor in the Navy, and charted the Joint Service Martial Arts Academy of the central Savannah River Area.

For more news from Chief of Naval Personnel - Navy Office of Women's Policy, visit http://www.npc.navy.mil/AboutUs/BUPERS/WomensPolicy.

For more news from Chief of Naval Personnel - Office of Diversity and Inclusion, visit http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/support/21st_Century_Sailor/diversity/Pages/default2.aspx

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