CNO to receive diversity award - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

CNO to receive diversity award

The Asian American Government Executives Network will honor the Navy’s top officer Thursday for “exemplary leadership in promoting diversity in the most senior ranks of the U.S. Navy,” according to an AAGEN news release.

The network will present the Outstanding Public Service Award to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughhead at its 11th Annual Awards Banquet in Arlington, Va. In addition, Medal of Honor recipient and eight-term Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, will receive the Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award.

At the June 2009 AAGEN conference, Roughead signed a memorandum of understanding with the Naval Officers Mentorship Program to develop, implement and improve strategies for mentoring diverse generations of future officers, said Lt. j.g. Laura Stegherr, spokeswoman for the Navy Diversity Directorate.

Today, nearly 50,000 Asian and Pacific Americans serve the Navy, with nearly 19,000 in uniform. That includes 11 members of the Senior Executive Service, six flag officers, three others selected for their first star and 137 master chiefs, according to Navy statistics. Notable naval service among Asian and Pacific Americans include:

• Thirty-one Medal of Honor recipients.

• Wesley Ishizu, Mid-Pacific Division Director for Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific, was recognized as Asian American Executive of the Year by the Chinese Institute of Engineers in February.

• Vietnamese-born Cmdr. H.B. Le took command of the destroyer Lassen in May 2009. He made a port visit to Da Nang, Vietnam, in November, his first visit back to his homeland since his family fled in 1975.

• Capt. Raquel Cruz Bono, deputy director of Tricare Management Activity, was honored as one of the country’s 100 Most Influential Filipina Women by the Filipina Women’s Network in October.

• Personnel Specialist 1st Class Borree Tibi, a reservist of Filipino descent, received the Military Meritorious Service Award from the Federal Asian Pacific American Council in May 2009.