JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
Alfredo Gonzalez, a financial management analyst assigned to the Resource Management and Acquisitions Directorate, Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio, was recognized by Capt. Gerald DeLong, NAMRU-SA commanding officer, as the Fiscal Year 2022 “Support Staff” Civilian of the Half Year (Second Half) during an All Hands meeting held at the Military and Family Readiness Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston Dec. 8.
Gonzalez, a retired U.S. Coast Guardsman and graduate of Thomas Edison State College in Trenton, New Jersey, has been serving as a Navy civilian for five years.
“The Navy is very similar to the Coast Guard,” Gonzalez said. “So, the transition from active duty to a civilian career just made sense as having a good work-life balance is important to me.”
Working as a financial management analyst for the past 11 months, Gonzalez plans to learn the different types of funding appropriations, from Operation and Maintenance to research and payroll.
Working with the Navy Enterprise Resource Planning Program can be challenging, he said, but Gonzales is learning to master the processes of the program.
“My short-term goals are to complete my level 1 and level 2 financial qualifications,” said Gonzalez, whose long-term goal is to retire. “Working at NAMRU San Antonio has provided me the opportunity to work in a field that will allow me to be promotable and be more successful.”
A first-generation Mexican American, Gonzalez’s strength is his patience in addition to teaching fellow co-workers and developing a common work ethic.
“I enjoy working with my brothers and sisters, many of whom are veterans,” Gonzalez said. “I hope to succeed as a financial management analyst and one day be as good as my former supervisor, Tonja Campbell.”
NAMRU San Antonio is one of the leading research and development laboratories for the U.S. Navy under the Department of Defense and is one of eight subordinate research commands in the global network of laboratories operating under the Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, Md.
Its mission is to conduct gap-driven combat casualty care, craniofacial, and directed energy research to improve the survival, operational readiness, and safety of DOD personnel engaged in routine and expeditionary operations.