SAN DIEGO – Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CNSP) named the active and reserve 2023 Sea and Shore Sailors of the Year on April 18 during the annual Sailor of the Year week at CNSP headquarters on Naval Amphibious Base Coronado.
The selections were announced at the dinner hosted by Commander, Naval Surface Forces/CNSP Vice Adm. Brendan McLane.
Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (SW/FMF) Joshua P. Moore, assigned to San Diego-based San Antionio-class amphibious transport dock USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26) was announced as the Sea Sailor of the Year.
Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class (SW) Denver J. Burkley, assigned to Afloat Training Group Middle Pacific, was announced as the Shore Sailor of the Year.
The sailors’ backgrounds
Moore, a 12-year sailor and native of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina is currently the Murtha’s leading petty officer for the health service department. He is the command personnel qualification standard (PQS) coordinator, medical training team coordinator, anti-terrorism training team coordinator, and an engineering training team member. His naming as CNSP Sea Sailor of the Year comes with a meritorious advancement to chief petty officer. His advancement will take place later this year.
“This is a great honor that will take a while to sink in, though I plan to pay this forward every single day,” Moore said. “You’re only as good as your foundation, and mine is my wife. So, I thank her for all the sacrifices she’s made to get me here; I would not be here today if not for her, my sailors, and my leadership supporting me all these years.”
Burkley, a native of Huntington, Indiana, is currently the search and rescue warfare lead at Afloat Training Group Middle Pacific in Hawaii. Joining the Navy in 2015 as a nuclear power sailor, he was force-converted to Boatswain’s Mate in 2017 and hasn’t looked back.
Prior to his current assignment, Burkley spent five years on the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Momsen (DDG 92) where he was not only the deck division leading petty officer, but that command’s 2020 Sailor of the Year while still a second class petty officer.
“I’m so honored to be selected out of such an amazing group of sailors,” Burkley said. “But this isn’t an individual achievement and there’s no “I” in team, so I really owe so much to the all the junior sailors I’ve worked with – I just want to pay it forward to them, because that’s what it’s all about.”
Acting Force Master Chief, Command Master Chief Keith Metcalfe spoke highly of these two sailors and their success so far in the Navy, encouraging them to keep striving for excellence as they move on to compete at the next level.
“The selection for this year’s CNSP Sea and Shore Sailors of the Year was a tall order as each and every sailor in this competition had a realistic chance of being selected. There is no doubt that these emerging leaders are the cream of the crop, picked from hundreds of first class petty officers across the force – that in and of itself is an accomplishment to be proud and humbled to earn,” Metcalfe said. “You are winners at the highest level, continue to do your best in representing your command, your family and the Navy.”
Moore and Burkley were selected from sea and shore duty finalists from around the force.
On February 18, CNSP also announced Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Jovie A. Ruiz as the 2023 Reserve Enterprise Sailor of the Year. Ruiz is currently assigned to Navy Reserve Beachmaster Unit One, where she is the unit’s leading petty officer. She is awaiting the results of a board that will determine if she will be included as a top five finalist for Reserve Sailor of the Year.
Sailor of the Year is a time-honored tradition introduced in 1972 by Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Elmo Zumwalt and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John Whittet. This annual competition is held to recognize the superior performance of individual sailors who best exemplify the ideals of professional sailors throughout the fleet.
The mission of CNSP is to man, train, and equip the Surface Force to provide fleet commanders with credible naval power to control the sea and project power ashore.
DVIDS courtesy story.
