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Anchors away: NSA-Lakehurst receives 'Golden Anchor'

  • Published
  • By Petty Officer Second Class Darren Grant
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs Office
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  Commander Navy Installations Command awarded Naval Support Activity-Lakehurst the coveted 2011 Retention Excellence Award Jan. 17 here.

The CNIC Retention Excellence Award, known as the "Golden Anchor," is awarded to Navy shore installations achieving the goals set forth by the Chief of Naval Operations. At a time when the Navy is "reshaping," the standards for retaining the most promising Sailors remain the same.

The requirements for the annual award are met by earning two or more honor-roll awards during the fiscal year and achieving a passing grade of 85 percent or better. All 85 qualifying installations' career development programs were graded on Perform to Serve applications, Career Development Board compliance and other career enhancing factors.

Career Development Boards are a unique tool Navy leaders use to ensure Sailors are aware of special programs, policy changes and methods to attain personal and professional goals.

"The credit for this award goes to the Sailors who reenlist and make a choice to commit their lives to excellence," said Command Master Chief Herbert Kelton NSA-Lakehurst.

To qualify for the award, NSA-Lakehurst needed to retain a percentage of Sailors in three zones, which are used to identify Sailors based on the number of years of service. The annual reenlistment rate benchmarks were 59 percent for Zone A (zero to six years in service), 66 percent for Zone B (six to 10 years in service) and 72 percent for Zone C (10 to 14 years of service). The decline rate for Zone A must be equal to or less than 5.5 percent as well.

"This award is a result of the command career development team whose hard work and dedication continues to put Sailors first," said Navy Capt. Andrew Butterfield, NSA-Lakehurst Commanding Officer and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst deputy commander.