Electrician's Mate 2ndSecond Class Charles Horvath knows why his formerold commanding officer on the Norfolk-based destroyer Barry, Cmdr. Tom Dickinson, was honored with the fleet's most prestigious leadership prize. Stockdale Leadership Award.

Cmdr. Tom Dickinson went out of his way to show the crew that he cared, Horvath said.

Horvath recalled that dDuring a winter underway off the coast of Virginia, Barry's boat davit broke, Horvath recalled, a casualty that would require Barry to return to port unless it could be fixed at sea. unless fixed, meant the Barry would have to go back to port.

"Well, we figured out what it was and that the fix would be intensely time-consuming," Horvath said. "So we were out there for hours in the cold and the wind fixing the davit, and Cmdr. Dickinson was out there with us. He didn't have to be, but he was."

On Thursday, Dickinson, alongside fellow awardee former Strike Fighter Squadron 14 CO Cmdr. Gavin Duff, received the Stockdale Leadership Award at the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes, an annual ceremony where the Navy honors two its best skippers who best embody the spirit of the late Vice Adm. James Stockdale, who received the Medal of Honor for leading the resistance to his Vietnamese captors.

The ceremony, which is an annual event, was attended by their families and shipmates, along with top leaders including Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michelle Howard, Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Bill Moran, and was presided over by former Stockdale-awardee and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jon Greenert, himself a former Stockdale winner.

"Both of these men are fine leaders and achieved remarkable success in command," Greenert said in his opening remarks. "They epitomize what Vice Adm. Stockdale stood for."

Duff and Dickinson, both Naval Academy grads, accepted the awards with humility and credited their crews for the achievement — which is the fleet's foremost award for command leadership.

"The real stars of the show here are the sailors of the Barry: This is their award, not mine. And I'm lucky to have 10 of Barry's best here in the audience with me today," Dickinson said, motioning to his sailors in the audience.

Dickinson, a surface warfare officer, has done tours on the cruiser Chancellorsville, the minesweeper Champion and the destroyer The Sullivans. He has also completed shore tours at Millington, the former Joint Forces Staff College and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Dickinson is currently assigned to the Naval War College, where he teaches ethics and leadership.

Duff, the F/A-18E pilot who led VFA-14, said after the ceremony that he was humbled to be in the company of those who had received the award in years past.

"It's been humbling, the whole experience has been amazing," Dickinson said. "To see the names of those who have gone before, to know that you are in the same company, wow. But you really don't feel like you can singularly accept responsibility for the award."

Past winners include Adm. Cecil Haney, the head of U.S. Strategic Command, former Pacific Fleet commander, and retired Adm. Mike Mullen, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Duff was commissioned in 1995 and has served with fighter squadrons in Virginia Beach, Virginia; Japan; and Lemoore, California. He has also done a tour as a test pilot at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. Duff is in the training pipeline to become the executive officer of the carrier George H.W. Bush.

What makes the Stockdale award unique is that officers are nominated by fellow COs, O-5 and below, from unrestricted line commands, who are also eligible for the award. Nominees are screened by how well they embody the leadership ethos of the late Vice Adm. James Stockdale, a Vietnam POW who earned a Medal of Honor for leading a resistance campaign against his North Vietnamese captors.

About David B. Larter

David B. Larter was the naval warfare reporter for Defense News.

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