JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, Texas –
The Navy Recruiting District San Antonio at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston was again recognized as one of the winners of the Navy’s Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education, or MPT&E, Retention Excellence Award for fiscal year 2016.
According to Petty Officer 1st Class Eric Petdan, NRD command career counselor, the award means that the NRD met or exceeded Navy retention standards. It also means listening to Sailors and making sure that any career-related need – such as reenlistments, officer packages, career development boards, retirements, and detailing issues – are met.
“Taking care of Sailors’ career needs allows them to focus more on their mission,” Petdan said. “That mission being recruiting America’s best and brightest for naval service.”
Cmdr. Karen Muntean, NRD commanding officer, was proud to receive the award.
“Our command is honored to once again be awarded the MPT&E Retention Excellence Award. It is validation of a strong command career counselor program and the support of our leaders that Sailors are choosing to stay Navy,” Muntean said. “We are proud to still be earning the golden anchors outside of our headquarters building. Those anchors symbolize the commitment of Sailors and have become a landmark on JBSA-Fort Sam Houston.”
The Retention Excellence Award, formerly known as the Golden Anchor Award, established by the United States Fleet Forces Command through the Fleet Retention Excellence Program, is annually awarded to U.S. Navy commands that sustain superior levels of military retention during the previous fiscal year.
According to Vice Adm. Robert Burke, Chief of Naval Personnel, the NRD, along with more than 80 commands, received the award because of their superior accomplishment in executing programs and policies that best enable Sailors to succeed in their careers.
“These efforts combine to make up a force of the right Sailors, with the right skills, ready to answer all bells, today and into the future,” stated Burke, via naval message.
Award-winning commands must pass the annual career information program review with a score of 90 points or higher while meeting set benchmarks for reenlistment and attrition rates during the fiscal year.
Earning the award in 2013, the NRD was authorized to display gold-painted anchors in front of its headquarters.
NRD San Antonio is comprised of 146 recruiters assigned to 33 Navy Recruiter Stations and Navy Officer Recruiting Stations located throughout 126,000 square miles of Texas territory, spanning from Waco, west to Midland/Odessa, southwest towards El Paso, southeast along the Rio Grande Valley and west of College Station.