MCAGCC TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. -- Petty Officer 1st Class Major F. Warren, Leading Petty Officer of the Preventive Services Department at the Robert E. Bush Naval Hospital, has been named the Marine Forces Pacific Sailor of the Year. In competition with all Sailors at Marine shore commands in the Pacific theater, Petty Officer Warren's outstanding military performance and achievements in his professional and personal life have placed him at the very top in Navy excellence.
Warren competed with Sailors from commands throughout the Western Hemisphere, including California, Washington, Hawaii, and Japan. He is now in the running for the CINCPACFLT Sailor of the Year, which places him in competition for recognition as the top sailor of all Navy/Marine commands in the Pacific Fleet. If selected over the other seven sailors, Warren will be advanced to the rank of Chief Petty Officer after only five years as a First Class Petty Officer.
When asked the best part of this honor, Warren replied, "Any higher level award or competition will create name recognition. Now when your name is out there and a package is submitted to a board, that name is going to cause a spark."
Deviating from his long family heritage of Chicago Police Officers, Warren joined the Navy in 1984, and began his career as a Seaman Recruit at the Submarine School in Groton, Conn. A year later he attended Hospital Corpsman "A" School.
His career as a corpsman reflects a wide variety of tours including Naval Hospital Great Lakes, the cruiser USS Josephus Daniels, 2nd Recon Battalion Camp Lejeune, Leading Petty Officer of acute care in Camp Lejeune, 2nd Battalion 2nd Marines, 3rd FSSG Okinawa, Portsmouth Naval School Health Sciences, and Reserve Center Buffalo, NY where he was named Sailor of the Year and earned his promotion to First Class Petty Officer. Arriving here in Twentynine Palms in January of 2000, he was appointed as Leading Petty Officer of the Preventive Services Department, his present position. Warren and his department specialize in the health inspections of the barracks, base food service, water plant, gymnasiums, and playground parks. He is also in charge of the infectious/communicable disease prevention program at the hospital and is the liaison to the Public Health Department.
Command and community involvement is important to Warren. He is co-chairman of the base Black History Committee, sits on the board of directors for the Filipino-American Committee, participation in the Asian-Pacific Islander Association, and has taught preventive medical training to Naval reserve units participating in the CAACS Regimental Service. One of his greatest achievements in the local community is with the Oasis of Mara Masonic Lodge number 735. Warren has just completed his Master Mason training and became a Senior Deacon. Following the motto of "work hard, play hard," Warren has varied off-time activities such as bicycle racing, running, photography, and attends many college classes. Off-duty education is a high priority, and Warren is planning to complete his RN degree by the end of this year, while also attending classes for a degree in business. His Goal is acceptance into the Medical Enlisted Commissioning Program, which will enable him to attend the University of Buffalo to become an acute care nurse practitioner. He has an admirable long-range goal of seeking political office in the healthcare area in order to improve current policies.
When asked what the main ingredient is to achieve superior performance, he was quick to reply, "All of the junior people. Without them I don't have a job. There would be nobody to mentor and nobody to learn from. You can learn a lot from senior people, but if you don't have any junior people working for you then you can't apply what you've learned and discover what works and what doesn't."
The competition for CINCPACFLT Sailor of the Year has already begun. Any competition or board should be planned for from the beginning of your career. The sooner you work at stellar performance, the better the chance of promotion and recognition. Warren offers this advice to junior personnel.
"I would give the same advice to junior personnel that Admiral Boorda gave to me...if you're right about something and you know you are right, and you can back it up, then regardless of rank you need to stand your ground. As long as you can prove it and you are respectful to them, they will respect you for your integrity."