Sailor selected as DOD’s Language Professional of the Year

MONTEREY, Calif. – Chief Petty Officer Deborah Bowers, a cryptologic technician (interpretive) Sailor at Information Warfare Training Command Monterey’s Detachment Goodfellow, was named the Department of Defense Language Professional of the Year for fiscal year 2023.
 
Bowers, then a petty officer first class, also received the Navy’s Fiscal Year 2023 Shannon M. Kent Award for Language Professional Excellence.
 
The Language Professional of the Year Award recognizes military language professionals and their accomplishments across DOD. Each military service nominates a candidate to compete for the award, which is managed by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey.
 
As winner of the Navy’s Shannon M. Kent Award, Bowers was able to compete against top language professionals from the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps.
 
All service branch nominees were invited to participate in this year’s Advanced Command Language Program Manager Workshop, held Sept. 10-12 in Monterey, where they presented a “best practices” brief. For Bowers, this provided an opportunity to discuss the contributions and benefits of artificial intelligence in language analysis.
 
“It was an honor to be in a room filled with the decision-makers in our community,” she said. “I am certainly thankful to the Command Language Program Manager team, the Chiefs Mess and all the people I have worked with who were the real reason behind my success. I would also like to give a shoutout to David, my husband, without whose support none of this would have been possible.”
 
At IWTC Monterey’s Detachment Goodfellow, Bowers is renowned for her commitment to mission and students, exemplifying professionalism and a drive to foster their success. She has become dual-qualified to instruct in two of the most technically demanding courses offered within DOD to future cryptologic language analysts of all services.
 
Chief Petty Officer Steven Jenkins, senior enlisted leader at Detachment Goodfellow, praised Bowers and her work.
 
“She has been such a significant contributor to the success here, and it is absolutely amazing to see her being recognized at the highest levels for her professionalism and accomplishments,” he said. “Her experience and innovation are instrumental in her students’ success and in the success of the Navy.”
 
As part of the Center for Information Warfare Training domain, Detachment Goodfellow aligns under IWTC Monterey and oversees follow-on “A” school accession training for more than 200 Sailors.
 
With four schoolhouse commands, two detachments and training sites throughout the United States and Japan, CIWT provides instruction for over 26,000 students every year, delivering information warfare professionals to the Navy and joint services. It also offers more than 200 courses for cryptologic, information systems and electronics technicians; intelligence specialists and officers in the information warfare community.