Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Sydney Milligan | 210630-N-XO158-1004 NORFOLK (June 30, 2021) – Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Fuel) 2nd...... read more read more
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To go above and beyond the call of duty is a quality all U.S. Navy Sailors strive to embody. This phrase can be applied to everyday scenarios, to the Sailors who give 110%, and also to the Sailors who find themselves in difficult or dangerous situations. Every year the Aviation Mate Association recognizes two sailors from the Aviation Boatswain’s Mate community who they feel best represents these values.
Aviation Boatswains Mate (Fuel) 2nd Class Shelby Foster, assigned to USS Wasp (LHD 1), was a recipient of the Lieutenant Commander Regina Mills Leadership Award. She was shocked upon learning that she was one of the two Sailors to receive the award this year.
“I was elated,” said Foster. “I was like, no I did not win that. I was in disbelief, like really, I competed against all these people… and I was actually out of words.”
Foster competed against all the ABs in the Atlantic Fleet for the leadership award and is continuously working to improve upon herself and those in her division. Foster is the second Sailor assigned to the Wasp who has received the leadership award in the last two years.
“She’s already assigned as an LPO at sea, leading 26 Sailors including three E5s in all professional and personal matters,” said Senior Chief Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Fuel) Hawa Riley, Foster’s Leading Chief Petty Officer (LCPO). “She’s a role model for all Sailors.”
To Foster, being a leader doesn’t just mean giving orders, it means being there for her Sailors all while ensuring the task at hand is completed correctly.
“A leader is someone who is easy to talk to, someone well rounded,” said Foster, “someone that knows everything about everything, and somebody that is patient and approachable.”
Lt. Cmdr. Regina Mills was the perfect example of that kind of leader. She served on the USS Nimitz as the aircraft handling officer, and was responsible for aircraft arrangement on the flight decks. Mills was the first Limited Duty Officer on the Nimitz for ABFs, which is a male dominated rate. She broke new ground for women in the Navy as the first and only woman to serve in the fleet as an aircraft handling officer.
Senior Chief Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) Dennis Yanez, the Air Department LCPO, who had previously worked alongside Mills, only had positive things to say about her.
“I remember her always being the one person who could brighten up any Sailors day with her witty humor and AB mentality,” said Yanez. “She influenced others by helping them realize their true potential and what it took to obtain it. She did not mind getting dirty and showing you how the job is done.”
Mills passed away on Jan. 23, 2012 while helping a motorcyclist who had skidded off the road in front of her. While standing on the right shoulder with a state trooper and the motorcyclist, a truck skidded on the black ice into the stopped cars, which in turn hit the group. Both the trooper and the motorcyclist were injured, but Mills was killed.
After Mills' sudden passing, the Lieutenant Commander Regina Mills Leadership Award was created in her honor.
| Date Taken: | 07.15.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 12.31.2021 21:13 |
| Story ID: | 412282 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 35 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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