The Chief of Naval Personnel announced Dec. 21 the winner of the Human Resources Community Junior Officer of the Year Award (HR JOOY), Fiscal Year 2015.

Lt. Daniel Walker, Continuous Process Improvement Office Program Manager, Naval Service Training Command and Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program Officer, Naval Supply Systems Command, is the 2015 recipient of HR JOOY award. This award recognizes Walker for his significant contribution to the personnel readiness of the Navy.

"It was surprising since I just got picked up for the HR community but it's an honor to even be considered," said Walker. "My wife and family are very excited, interested in seeing what comes out of it long-term as winning this provides motivation and encouragement right at the beginning of my career."

As one of just a handful of Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certified professionals in the Navy, Lt. Walker has been directly engaged with improvement efforts both within and outside of his assigned domain. His first of many projects established improvements to the recruit legal separation process that reduced processing time by over 20 percent and saved the Navy over $2 million dollars.

Walker is also an action officer for the CNO's Rapid Innovation Cell, managing a $256,000 project demonstrating a proof of concept with Google Glass and a wireless-mesh network on board an aircraft carrier and developing the Navy's Augmented Reality Road Map. His accomplishments are synonymous with the Navy's plan to re-engineer the way we train, educate and make war-ready Sailors in the 21st century.

Walker competed against all Active and Reserve Junior Human Resources officers that hold the officer designation of 1200, 1205 and 1207. This annual award was established in 2010, and was created to recognize junior officers in the community for their significant HR contributions to the Navy.

The Human Resource community was originally created in 2001 to help the Navy manage its Sailors effectively, and ensure leadership, training, and personnel management keep up with a changing world.

In 2007, the Reserve Component HR community comprised of Selected Reserve (1205) and Full-Time Support (1207) officers stood up and integrated with the Active Component (1200) to provide the Navy with the subject matter expertise to define, recruit, develop, assign and motivate a highly skilled workforce capable of meeting joint and Navy missions today and into the future.

Today the HR community has evolved into the recognized leader in developing Navy and Joint Human Resources solutions. HR officers serve in key positions vital to building the 21st century Navy Total Force.

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