This annual award recognizes commanding officers who demonstrate inspirational leadership both professionally and personally, while also contributing to the improvement of leadership in the Navy.
What sets this award apart is that it is peer-driven. Only unrestricted line officers who are eligible for the award themselves are allowed to nominate others for consideration.
The deadline for nominations is July 1. They are to be solicited by the commanders of U.S. Fleet Forces Command and U.S. Pacific Fleet honoring “superior leadership and conspicuous contributions to the improvement of Navy leadership,” according to the message. Each fleet will select its top skipper from a group of finalists later this year.
Active-duty Navy unrestricted line commanders and below who were in command between June 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022 are eligible for the award. Qualifying billets for the award include commanders of a single ship, submarine, aviation squadron, Sea, Air, Land (SEAL) team, naval special warfare squadron, SEAL delivery vehicle team, special boat team, explosive ordnance disposal mobile unit, mobile diving and salvage unit, or Navy special clearance team.
First presented in 1980, the award honors the late Vice Adm. James Bond Stockdale, a Naval Academy graduate and naval aviator. On Sept. 9, 1965, Stockdale was commander of Carrier Air Group 16, flying from the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CV-34). A veteran of over 200 combat missions at the time, Stockdale’s A-4E Skyhawk was hit by enemy fire over North Vietnam. Forced to eject, he landed in a small village and was captured.
A prisoner for eight years, Stockdale was the highest-ranking Naval officer among the Americans held captive in North Vietnamese prisons. Leading by example, Stockdale resisted his captors from the start, establishing a culture of defiance among his fellow prisoners of war. He worked against heavy odds to find ways to communicate with other prisoners, continually working to give his fellow captives all hope.
His efforts to promote resistance led him and ten other senior POWs into being separated from the rest to break down the American chain of command among prisoners. Frequently tortured, Stockdale spent two years in heavy leg irons and a total of four years in isolation. He didn’t waver. He continued to lead the POWs’ culture of defiance.
His inspirational leadership continued throughout captivity until his release in February 1973. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1976 and served as president of the Naval War College from October 1977 until August 1979.
Stockdale articulated five roles for a leader: moralist, jurist, teacher, steward and philosopher, which are among the criteria for the award.
More details and points of contact are in NAVADMIN 052/22.
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