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ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. – Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville in Atlantic Beach honored a Sagamore Beach, Mass., native for selection as its 2012 Enlisted Person of the Year during a ceremony at Naval Station Mayport Friday.
Petty Officer 1st Class Brian Antel, a boatswain mate stationed at Aids to Navigation Team Jacksonville Beach, Fla., was honored as the Sector Jacksonville Enlisted Person of the Year and was presented with an award by the Navy League.
“I never thought I'd be selected,” Antel said. "It blew me away. I feel honored and excited."
The Navy League and the Port of Jacksonville Propeller Club, which hosted the dinner and ceremony, presented Antel with a scrapbook containing $100, two tickets to the Battle of Midway commemorative dinner and several donated gifts from area restaurants, service providers, museums and other attractions.
As the ANT Jacksonville Beach operations petty officer, Antel played a pivotal role in the planning of 4,250 crew underway hours and the repair of 246 aids to navigation. He supervised the successful certification of seven boat crewmembers, four boat coxswains and the certification of the executive petty officer. He played a direct role in the completion of rating performance qualifications leading to the advancement of four members of the ANT. Additionally, he spent more than 400 hours underway in support of operations during 2012.
Antel finished all the requirements for a Bachelor of Science and received his diploma from Excelsior College December 2012. He also volunteered in his community by coordinating a local food drive, coaching Naval Station Mayport’s 6-year-old and under basketball league, helping at various Navy League functions, participating in Habitat for Humanity events and volunteering at a local elementary school.
"There are roughly 375 people in Sector Jacksonville who work extremely hard but it's nice to select one shining example to be the representative for all the great work we do here," said Capt. Tom Allan, Sector Jacksonville commander. "Petty Officer Antel exemplifies everything we look for in that representative, and we're all very proud of him."
The Sector Jacksonville Enlisted Person of the Year program recognizes exceptional men and women from Sector Jacksonville and its sub units. Considered the “best and brightest” from the field, these individuals are selected by a panel of senior enlisted members who evaluate each nominee against a set of established criteria that includes performance, work ethics, military bearing, standards of conduct and a strong community service commitment.
The Enlisted Person of the Year program is designed to recognize enlisted persons in the workforce in pay grades E-2 through E-6. Nominees must reflect the spirit of pride, professionalism, dedication and must embody the Coast Guard core values of honor, respect and devotion to duty.
The waters of the United States and its territories are marked to assist navigation. The U.S. Aids to Navigation system employs a simple arrangement of colors, shapes, numbers and light characteristics to mark navigable channels, waterways and obstructions adjacent to these. These aids may be anything from lighted structures, beacons, day markers, range lights, fog signals and landmarks to floating buoys. Coast Guard aids to navigation teams are primarily responsible for servicing and maintaining the aids.