The Commanding Officers of a destroyer and a fighter squadron are this year’s recipients of the Navy’s top leadership prize.
Commander Gavin Duff, former commanding officer of Strike Fighter Squadron 14 and Commander Thomas J. Dickinson, former CO of USS BARRY, have been named winners of the prestigious Vice Admiral James Stockdale Award.
The two winners were selected from a pool of eight nominees.
These COs were nominated by fellow COs, O-5 and below from unrestricted line commands. Nominees are screened by how well they embody the leadership ethos of the late-Vice Admiral Stockdale, a Vietnam POW who earned a Medal of Honor for leading a resistance campaign against his North Vietnamese captors.
The other finalists, selected for “inspirational leadership” according to the release, are:
- Commander Martin Muckian, CO, USS Greenville
- Commander David Ray, former CO, USS New Orleans
- Commander Andrew Thomson, CO, USS John Paul Jones
- Commander Brian Weiss, former CO, VP-9
- Commander Greg Zettler, CO, USS Norfolk
- Commander Daryle Cardone, former CO, VAQ-121
Rear Admiral Babette Bolivar is the only woman to ever be nominated for the award. She was a 2006 PACFLT finalist.
It is nice to see that political correctness has not found its way to this important award. Admiral Bolivar is an exceptional Naval officer in every respect and most likely doesn't care for the distinction of being the only woman nominated. She is just one among many superb Naval officers (of ANY categorization) who have been nominated for this prestigious award.
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