Imagery available: Coast Guard names Pacific Northwest active duty, reserve enlisted persons of the year

U.S. Coast Guard sent this bulletin at 03/06/2017 05:06 PM EST

united states coast guard 

News Release  

March 06, 2017
U.S. Coast Guard 13th District Pacific Northwest
Contact: 13th District Public Affairs
Office: (206) 220-7237
After Hours: (206) 220-7237
Rear Adm. Mark Butt, commander, Coast Guard 13th District, shakes hands with Petty Officer 1st Class Tara Dodd, a culinary specialist assigned to the Coast Guard Cutter Swordfish in Port Angeles, Wash., after she was announced as the enlisted person of the year award at a ceremony held at Coast Guard Base Seattle, March 3, 2017. Holding herself to a higher standard, Dodd achieved an outstanding score during her most recent Food Service Advisory Team assessment, where the senior FSAT inspector noted that her galley and paperwork were simply impeccable and that it was the best assessment he has conducted in the last four years. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Office 3rd Class Amanda Norcross.   Rear Adm. Mark Butt, commander, Coast Guard 13th District, shakes hands with Petty Officer 1st Class Nicole Cimino, a reserve gunner’s mate assigned to the Coast Guard Port Security Unit 313 in Everett, Wash., after she was announced as the reserve enlisted person of the year award at a ceremony held at Coast Guard Base Seattle, March 3, 2017. As a lead fire arms instructor in a limited resource environment, Cimino facilitated the qualification of more than 25 deployed members on personal defense weapons at remote U.S. Marine Corps ranges, and the qualification of more than 45 tactical boat crew gunners on crew served weapons during a three-day offshore and underway range exercise. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Office 3rd Class Amanda Norcross.

Rear Adm. Mark Butt, commander, Coast Guard 13th District, shakes hands with Petty Officer 1st Class Tara Dodd, a culinary specialist assigned to the Coast Guard Cutter Swordfish in Port Angeles, Wash., after she was announced as the enlisted person of the year award at a ceremony held at Coast Guard Base Seattle, March 3, 2017.

Holding herself to a higher standard, Dodd achieved an outstanding score during her most recent Food Service Advisory Team assessment, where the senior FSAT inspector noted that her galley and paperwork were simply impeccable and that it was the best assessment he has conducted in the last four years.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Office 3rd Class Amanda Norcross. 

  

Rear Adm. Mark Butt, commander, Coast Guard 13th District, shakes hands with Petty Officer 1st Class Nicole Cimino, a reserve gunner’s mate assigned to the Coast Guard Port Security Unit 313 in Everett, Wash., after she was announced as the reserve enlisted person of the year award at a ceremony held at Coast Guard Base Seattle, March 3, 2017.

As a lead fire arms instructor in a limited resource environment, Cimino facilitated the qualification of more than 25 deployed members on personal defense weapons at remote U.S. Marine Corps ranges, and the qualification of more than 45 tactical boat crew gunners on crew served weapons during a three-day offshore and underway range exercise.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Office 3rd Class Amanda Norcross.

Editors Note: Click on images to download high resolution version.

Imagery available: Coast Guard names Pacific Northwest active duty, reserve enlisted persons of the year

SEATTLE — Two Pacific Northwest-based Coast Guard petty officers were chosen as the 2016 active-duty enlisted person of the year and reserve enlisted person of the year for the 13th Coast Guard District during a recognition banquet Friday, at Coast Guard Base Seattle.

Petty Officer 1st Class Tara Dodd, a culinary specialist assigned to the Coast Guard Cutter Swordfish, and Petty Officer 1st Class Nicole Cimino, a reserve gunner’s mate assigned to the Coast Guard Port Security Unit 313, were selected as the EPOY and REPOY, respectively.

A motivated self starter, Dodd has epitomized sound leadership with her unique ability to instill confidence and followership in others, encompassed by her attention to detail, empathy and mentorship. As a respected leader in the district, she was asked to train perspective officer in charge candidates on galley operations at a conference held at Station Port Angeles. Through her own initiative, she qualified in three additional unit certifications normally not achieved by culinary specialists, contributing to crew moral and operational success. In her off-duty time she assists an 85-year-old World War II veteran by mowing his grass and performing odd jobs around the property and also volunteered for the local Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, where she inspected and replaced 40 non-functional smoke detectors at a retirement center.

Dodd is the culinary specialist aboard the cutter Swordfish, an 87-Foot Coastal Patrol Boat homeported in Port Angeles, where she is responsible for the purchasing, preparation and nutritional value of all meals on board, as well as responsible for the sanitation and cleanliness of the cutter as the unit Master at Arms. Hailing from Kingwood, Texas, and currently living in Sequim, Dodd began her Coast Guard career in 2007, assigned to Station New York as a non-rate before transitioning to "A" school.

Among Cimino’s many feats throughout the year, she served as Level I trauma center nurse, where she saved the lives of more than 1,000 seriously injured and critically wounded people. She saved the Coast Guard over $200 thousand in emergency weapon replacement costs, and she also lead an armory team that exceeded expected Navy standards and received honors as the best armory of the joint military units deployed in Guantanamo Bay.

Cimino is the lead petty officer of the armory at PSU 313 in Everett, where she supervises maintenance, training and range operations, and maintains the weapons qualifications for the 159 members assigned to the unit. Raised in San Jose, California, and now living in Lake Stevens, Cimino entered the Coast Guard in 2000 and joined the reserves in 2004.

The EPOY program recognizes exceptional men and women in the Coast Guard’s enlisted workforce who are top performers. These individuals are selected by a panel of senior enlisted members who evaluate each nominee against a set of established criteria that includes performance, work ethics, military bearing, standards of conduct and a strong community service commitment.

These regional winners are eligible for national honors along with their peers from other Coast Guard regions across the nation.

-USCG-