District 11 Region Active Duty and Reserve Enlisted Persons Of The Year

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Two Coast Guard Petty Officers from the Bay Area were chosen March 16 Wednesday as the District 11 Region active duty Enlisted Person of the Year (EPOY) and reserve Enlisted Person of the Year (REPOY) from a roster of 35 other top performers previously selected from the region.

Named as the D11 Region winners were:

Petty Officer 2nd Class Sharina Lamonica as the active duty EPOY and,

Petty Officer 3rd Class William Hilt as the reservist EPOY.

During an awards banquet Wednesday, keynote and presiding official Rear Adm. Joseph “Pepe” Castillo, 11th District Commander, announced Lamonica and Hilt as selectees for the national-level awards of Coast Guard Active Duty EPOY and Coast Guard Reserve EPOY.

“Both petty officers’ unparalleled leadership and commitment to serving the community exemplify the best of what the Coast Guard has to offer,” said Castillo. “The EPOY award is a reminder of not only the outstanding performance of individuals but also how the selfless contributions of our workforce are the cornerstone of our success as an organization.”

Lamonica is a machinery technician currently stationed to the Coast Guard Pacific Strike Team in Novato. Hilt is a health services technician reservist assigned to Port Security Unit 312 in San Francisco.

The EPOY program recognizes exceptional men and women in the Coast Guard’s enlisted workforce who are top performers. Considered as the “best and brightest” from the field, 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.

Although it encompasses an area of responsibility to include northern and southern California, Arizona and Nevada, the 11th Coast Guard District is part of a larger Bay Area presence of Coast Guard members who number into approximately 4,000 members serving at small boat stations, buoy tenders, air stations, cutters, training centers, and regional headquarters that coordinate operations throughout California and the Pacific. Coast Guard men and women here perform a variety of missions, including search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, marine safety inspections and fisheries, aids-to-navigation, port security and anti-terrorism patrols, illegal drug and migrant interdiction, and environmental protection.