ARCHIVE / SAN DIEGO’S ANITA JOHNSON EARNS NATIONAL AWARD

San Diego's Anita Johnson,
Aviation Boatswain’s Mate Handler Second Class petty Officer

GUEST BLOG—By MC3 Amanda L. Owens, Media Production Support, U.S. Navy Office of Community Outreach--Aviation Boatswain’s Mate Handler Second Class petty Officer Anita Johnson, a native of San Diego, was selected for a national award as the Navy Recruiting Command Navy Special Warfare/Navy Special Operations Recruiter of the Year for 2014.
---
This is the first in what will be an occasional series appearing exclusively on Pillar to Post highlighting news involving San Diego area military personnel.
---

         Johnson said she was honored to be chosen for the national award. “I am extremely proud to be chosen for this award,” she said. “It is a wonderful feeling to know that the people in my command notice the work I do.”

         Johnson’s passion for recruiting is evident in her advice to other recruiters.

         “When coming to recruiting duty, give it your all,” she said. “Times do get hard and there are some days when you feel everything is crashing down, but never give up on yourself and your team.”

         Johnson was selected out of 4,460 Navy recruiters across the country and around the world for her dedication to recruiting the best and brightest the nation has to offer.

         Johnson presented with this award recently during a ceremony at the Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C.

         Rear Adm. Annie B. Andrews, commander, Navy Recruiting Command, said she was proud to work with Sailors like Johnson. “It makes my job such a pleasure to interact with such hard working Sailors who are truly passionate about finding the best possible applicants to man the future of the Navy.”

         The awards ceremony was part of a weeklong tour of the nation’s capital for the national winners and included a tour of the Pentagon, the White House, and a meeting with the Chief of Navy Personnel.

         Johnson enlisted 32 highly-qualified applicants with zero in-month attrition. She personally recruited 13 new contracts objective applicants, three new accession training applicants, nine Navy Special Warfare applicants, submitted three Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps applications and two highly qualified officer applications with one selected for Navy Special Warfare.

         Johnson is currently stationed at Navy Recruiting District (NRD) San Diego and has been a recruiter for two years.

For more information about Navy Recruiting Command visit www.cnrc.navy.mil.       

Shout Out—Where are they now.

ROTA, Spain--Gas Turbine System Technician (Mechanical) 1st Class Glen Williams, from Oceanside, California, prepares for in-port refueling aboard USS Laboon (DDG 58) at Naval Station Rota, Spain, Feb. 24, 2015.

        

Laboon, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, homeported in Norfolk, is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe--By Dusty Good, USN.

Oceanside's Glen Williams,
Gas Turbine System Technician (Mechanical) 1st Class U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Desmond Parks.

YOKOSUKA, Japan--Petty Officer First Class Kwelisha Jackson was recognized as the 2014 SUBLANT Senior Shore Sailor of the Year. She is a surface warfare and information dominance warfare qualified information systems technician who was assigned to the Operational Control Center on the staff of Commander, Submarine Force Atlantic, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, during the competitive cycle. She is currently assigned to Commander, Carrier Group 5 in Yokosuka, Japan. A native of San Diego, the 30-year-old Sailor is a 2002 graduate of Point Loma High School, and joined the Navy in November 2003.