By Airman 1st Class Jon Ortiz-Torres, USAF.
US NAVAL STATION GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA - Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Daniel Foy earned the Joint Task Force (JTF) Service Member of the Year award recently here.
Foy, a boatswain’s mate with the Port Security Unit here, traded the high seas aboard a 282-foot cutter for a 25-foot, high-speed Boston Whaler here in Guantanamo Bay (GTMO).
With only two years in the service, he was already volunteering for assignments in support of the Global War on Terror and finally landed an assignment to GTMO few months ago.
When Foy first arrived here, it was his first time working with smaller boats. The job was different; the climate was different; it was a challenge that never seemed to faze him.“It was somewhat challenging getting a feel for the boats,” he said, “but I was lucky enough to have some real good mentors.”
Within a month, he became the coxswain in charge of the boat, which means he gets to navigate and is responsible for everyone on the boat during missions and sorties.
“Foy was not part of the initial group of boat coxswains that we trained for the GTMO mission,” said Coast Guard Cmdr. John Laufer, JTF-GTMO Port Security Unit detachment commander. “After our arrival in GTMO last May,” he said, “Petty Officer Foy quickly showed his determination and willingness to learn and achieved his coxswain qualification.”
Command Master Chief John Stafford, PSU detachment, said when Foy returns home to his duty-station he will have passed his “Navigation Rules of the Road” course; his Boatswain’s Mate II course; earned the Joint Services Commendation Medal for being named Joint Service Member of the Year and soon will have earned another stripe. “These are terrific accomplishments for a first term enlistee,” Stafford said. “I have no doubt Petty Officer Foy will continue to contribute to our small, but dynamic service and wish him all the best when he returns to his unit.”
For Foy, it was just another day on the job. “It’s simple: I just do my job,” he said. “Ever since I joined the Coast Guard, I’ve always taken my job seriously and try my best to do good wherever I’m assigned.” The selection board, made up of senior enlisted members from each service branch, met Oct. 20 to decide a senior and junior service member for the quarterly awards.
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