Naval District Washington (NDW) has been recognized with the Retention Excellence Award, previously known as the Golden Anchor Award for fiscal year (FY) 2015.

Commander, Navy Installations Command Vice Adm. Dixon Smith, announced the winners Jan. 8 in a naval message.

The Retention Excellence Award, was established by United States Fleet Forces Command through the Fleet Retention Excellence Program, and is annually awarded to U.S. Navy commands that sustain superior levels of military retention during the previous fiscal year. Commands must sustain superior levels of retention for each reenlistment zone, maintain an attrition rate for first term Sailors below 6.2 percent, and are named to two or more quarterly retention honor rolls during the fiscal year.

"This award is very important for our leadership here at NDW because a strong career development program and high retention rates with low attrition rates is indicative of a solid chain of command, solid leadership and good command morale," said NDW Regional Career Counselor Chief Navy Counselor Rachel Hutton.
Hutton also said this award also allows the Navy to identify and correct retention issues and to promote desirability for certain duty billets throughout the entire Navy.

"What I try to do is to make sure Sailors are making the best decisions for them and their families," said Hutton. "I also try to be the best advocate for the Sailor and the Navy that I can be. I make sure that I am with them the whole way through their orders negotiation process or educate them on officer or special duty programs."

Retention is directly related to command climate, involved leadership, clear standards and policies, and promotion of quality service.

"I think we do an amazing job here at NDW at supporting our families and family needs, off duty education is encouraged and very important to our leadership and throughout the region we have very knowledgeable counselors which made this award possible," said Hutton.

Commands within NDW that also received the Retention Excellence Award include the United States Navy Ceremonial Guard, Joint Base Anacostia Bolling, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Naval Support Activity Washington, Naval Support Activity Annapolis, Naval Support Activity Bethesda, and Naval Support Activity South Potomac.

Each command was nominated by their respective region commander, having passed the annual career information program review with a score of 90 points or better, met all aggregated reenlistment benchmarks of 40 percent for Zone A, 50 percent for Zone B, 63 percent for Zone C, and 5 percent or less aggregate attrition for Zone A during FY 15.

All winners may immediately fly the retention pennant and paint their anchors gold until the FY16 winners are announced.

For more news from Naval District Washington, visit www.navy.mil