Photo By Tanya King | Lt. Raymond Bendt was recently named Naval Facilities Engineering Systems (NAVFAC)...... read more read more
YOKOSUKA, Japan— Lt. Raymond Bendt, John Braaten, and Toshihide Kakiuchi were recognized recently as Naval Facilities Engineering Systems (NAVFAC) Command Far East military, civilian, and host-nation engineers of the year, respectively.
“We are fortunate to have so many talented engineers tackling tough projects daily and these three rose to the top this year, which is a true accomplishment,” said Capt. Tim DeWitt, NAVFAC Far East commanding officer. “Congratulations to each of them on a job well done and for their significant contributions and achievements this year.”
Lt. Raymond Bendt
Bendt recently led the Commander, Fleet Activities Chinhae, Public Works Department (PWD) 62-person team and attributes his success as the public works officer spanning three and a half years to the small-unit teamwork and coordination across the team.
“Each employee’s contribution is notable and valuable,” said the Tampa, Fla. native. “My personal initiative that the team did an outstanding job of implementing was to try and avoid saying ‘no’ to people when they come to us for help. We did not always get to a ‘yes,’ but we guided customers in the right direction to help them be successful even if we weren’t the ones to ultimately fix their problem. This did a great job of improving both the optic at PWD Chinhae and morale.”
One of the biggest accomplishments Bendt said was the $850,000 Water Tank Replacement and Refurbishment Project that was designed in-house and overseen by their post-award Seabees locally.
“We were able to leverage funding from the Republic of Korea government to pay for the construction, which allowed us to bring our main water distribution tanks that feed the base up to standards,” Bendt said. “This has been a great quality of life improvement for the whole base.”
Traveling the world and working in unique and challenging environments with motivated people supporting freedom of the seas is what Bendt said he loves most about engineering for the Navy. The mission the Navy supports is what really matters, the Florida State University graduate said.
Family also played a key role in Bendt’s decision to join the Navy and contributed to his enjoyment of his duty stations.
“My wife and I really enjoyed Korea,” said Bendt, who also added that his architect and Navy veteran grandfather influenced his decision to join the Navy. “We had our first son there, and extended an extra year. My wife was also able to work for both the installation and for our admiral as a reservist. I think that says a lot about the culture in NAVFAC Far East, and Chinhae specifically. I really appreciated the opportunity both my wife and I had while we were there, and miss the small-community camaraderie.”
John Braaten
Braaten, a native of Junction City, Kansas, is a NAVFAC Far East construction manager with Facilities, Engineering and Acquisition Division (FEAD) Yokosuka, leading administration, oversight, and enforcement for the post-award phase of construction contracts.
“This award is a great honor and shows that my efforts and those of my FEAD team members have the support and recognition of the chain of command,” said the former Army Public Works employee.
“Working for the Navy, I have enjoyed the exposure to a variety of engineering challenges across all disciplines,” he said. “My time with the Navy in Japan has also allowed me to work with some of the best people I have worked with anywhere.”
Braaten credited both his teammates and NAVFAC Far East leadership for their support while being assigned some very difficult and high visibility projects. He also credited his success to effective communication among all team members to ensure problems are fully understood and everyone is prepared to act on the best course of action.
“With the high workload at FEAD Yokosuka, it is important to focus our efforts where they can make the biggest impact for the project's success—our biggest strength is the experience to identify that point and take the necessary action,” he said. “Major challenges have included contractor performance deficiencies, unforeseen conditions, and design changes. I am best able to overcome these issues by taking the time to study the problems to understand as much as possible the situation, causes, and courses of action.”
Braaten has been stationed in Yokosuka with NAVFAC Far East since 2015 and said engineering allows him to learn new things and solve problems, making ideas into reality.
“I am very thankful for the opportunity to come overseas and work for NAVFAC Far East,” he said. “I would encourage anyone considering working overseas to seek out the opportunity to come to Japan to enrich their professional, personal, and cultural experience.”
Toshihide Kakiuchi
A civil engineer hailing from Tokyo, Kakiuchi is the supervisory engineer managing all engineering work in NAVFAC Far East’s Design and Construction Business Line civil/structural branch and has been working for NAVFAC Far East for 18 years.
“Kakiuchi-san is an outstanding engineer, supervisor, and mentor to junior staff,” said Jennifer Blaess, NAVFAC Far East Design and Engineer director.
Because there are so many civil engineering projects within the command, Kakiuchi said he enjoys learning something new with each project.
“Our civil and structural team accomplished many large and complicated project designs and studies, such as an entry control point project, various military construction projects, maintenance dredging, utility projects, and seismic analysis,” said Kakiuchi, who is the command’s subject matter expert for geotechnical engineering.
He also took on various additional assignments and extra projects in the past year, including recently graduating from the command’s Leadership Development Program for host nation employees.
“I was assigned as a team leader of the Strategic Recruitment Team (SRT), which addresses hiring issues and improves recruiting success,” said Kakiuchi, who worked for a Japanese construction company prior to working for NAVFAC Far East and cited long hours and not much time for family as his reason for leaving. “This year, I decided to get a U.S. engineering license. I spent my time on this and finally I passed the exam and was successfully registered in Oregon as a professional engineer.”
He said being named Host Nation Engineer of the Year for 2022 is not just an honor for him, but it is based on many people’s support such as his staff, coworkers, and supervisors.
“Kakiuchi-san’s positive attitude, strong work ethic, and dedication to professional development are an example to all engineers in our area of operation,” said Blaess, who nominated him for the award. “He goes above and beyond every day to deliver designs on mission critical projects in Japan.”
NAVFAC is the Systems Command that delivers and maintains quality, sustainable facilities, acquires and manages capabilities for the Navy's expeditionary combat forces, provides contingency engineering response, and enables energy security and environmental stewardship. Additional updates and information about NAVFAC can be found on social media sites Facebook and Twitter. Become a Fan at www.facebook.com/navfac and follow us at www.twitter.com/navfac
| Date Taken: | 11.02.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 11.02.2021 01:05 |
| Story ID: | 408484 |
| Location: | YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA, JP |
| Hometown: | TOKYO, TOKYO, JP |
| Hometown: | JUNCTION CITY, KANSAS, US |
| Hometown: | TAMPA, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 240 |
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