Navy Medicine Education and Training Command (NMETC) announced the Sailors of the Year during a ceremony at Joint Base San Antonio--Fort Sam Houston (JBSA-FSH) Nov. 20.

Sailors representing NMETC's headquarters and the three subordinate echelon-4 commands competed. The subordinate commands are Navy Medicine Operational Training Center (NMOTC) in Pensacola, Florida (NMOTC); Navy Medicine Professional Development Center (NMPDC) at Bethesda, Maryland; and Navy Medicine Training Support Center (NMTSC) at JBSA-FSH.

The Senior Sailor of the Year is Naval Air Crewman (Operator) 1st Class Christopher Popovic representing NMOTC. The Junior Sailor of the Year is Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Pamela Webster, also representing NMOTC. And the Bluejacket of the Year is Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Fabian Garcia from NMPDC.

"It's great to be here with you today to celebrate this very select group of people," Rear Adm. Rebecca McCormick-Boyle, NMETC commander, said during the announcement ceremony. "It says a lot for them. It's the culmination of a year in which each of them has gone above and beyond to demonstrate their personal and professional excellence. This is and should be a special time for each of them."

Webster is an Aviation Medicine Technician instructor at Naval Aerospace Medical Institute (NAMI) in Pensacola, an NMOTC echelon-5 subordinate command. She said she was humbled her command leadership selected her as its representative. The JSOY's advice for her peers was "when people say 'that's not in my job description,' that's not the right mentality."

Garcia also had advice for Sailors about how to go above and beyond at work.

"Just work hard and persevere," said Garcia, an NMPDC dental assistant. "I was in a car accident, and this time last year I was just getting back to work. So, I didn't really know how everything was going work out, but through perseverance it was okay. Just keep pushing through challenges."

NMETC's Senior Sailor of the Year will go on to compete in the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) Sailor of the Year competition.

"I feel extremely honored, especially being a non-corpsman in the medical community," said Popovic, who has been filling a billet as leading chief petty officer at the Aviation Survival Training Center at Patuxent River, Maryland, an NMOTC echelon-6 subordinate command. "I'm extremely honored and feel happy to bring the win home for NMOTC and to be able to represent NMETC going on to BUMED."

NMETC manages Navy Medicine's formal education and training programs. NMETC, NMOTC, NMTSC and NMPDC are part of the Navy Medicine team, a global health care network of Navy medical professionals around the world who provide high-quality health care to eligible beneficiaries. Navy Medicine personnel deploy with Sailors and Marines worldwide, providing critical mission support aboard ships, in the air, under the sea and on the battlefield.

For more news from Navy Medicine Education and Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/.