Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Admiral Bill Moran announced in an all-Navy message Jan. 6 Surface Combat Systems Unit (CSCSU) Great Lakes earned the Retention Excellence Award (REA).

During fiscal 2015, CSCSU met or exceeded its goals in the following key areas: Zone B mid-career enlistees and Zone C career enlistees.

This is something CSCSU Career Counselor Fire Controlman 1st Class (SW) Saul Rodriguez attributed to the many leadership opportunities offered at the command.

"Here, at CSCSU, they get a lot of leadership training and the positive influence helps keep the command retention high," Rodriguez said.

The command climate at CSCSU is also something Rodriguez said he attributes to CSCSU earning the award for the second straight year.

"It's really the command's ability to keep their Sailors interested in staying in the Navy that makes my job easier," he said.

That inviting command environment is one that stems from CSCSU Commanding Officer Cmdr. Gregory Ludwig's leadership philosophy.

"We take a very proactive approach in identifying our instructors' personal and professional goals as soon as they report on board CSCSU Great Lakes," Ludwig said. "By advocating for a full up-round professional, quality instructor, emphasizing taking on challenging command and directorate collateral duties, obtaining their master training specialist qualification, aggressively pursuing off-duty education, and equally important, becoming an outstanding ambassador by giving back to and infusing themselves within the local community; we easily demonstrate to these professionals the vast opportunities that can be afforded to them if they stay Navy."

CSCSU earned 100 percent of its goal in both Zone B and Zone C for the second consecutive year and are therefore authorized to fly the retention excellence pennant and paint their anchors gold.

"It is the personal investment we make in our Sailors' careers that produce back-to-back REAs," he said.

For more news from Training Support Center, Great Lakes, visit www.navy.mil/