by unknown author

Petty Officer 1st Class VanDell Dawson (center) is pinned as a chief petty officer by Vice Adm. J.P. Currier (left), Deputy Commandant for Mission Support, and Chief Warrant Officer Brian Addicott (right), the 2011 Jarvis award winner, during the Navy League’s 2011 Sea Services Awards Ceremony Oct. 28, 2011, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

U.S. Coast Guard photo

Petty Officer 1st Class VanDell Dawson, a yeoman at Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma, was awarded the Navy League's 2011 Munro Award for Inspirational Leadership at the Navy League’s National Convention in Chattanooga, Tenn., Oct. 28, 2011. Dawson demonstrated exceptional leadership as the head of the Training Center Petty Officer Indoctrination Program, where he personally met with and mentored 895 "A-School” students. He provided them with leadership, wellness and military training to prepare them to excel as petty officers while significantly reducing student attrition rates.

At the ceremony, Dawson received the award and was pinned as a chief petty officer by Vice Adm. J.P. Currier and Chief Warrant Officer Brian Addicott, the 2011 Jarvis award winner.