nd NCR
Keeping the
22nd NCR Chaplain Earns Senior Officer Leadership Award
By MCC (SCW) Jeffrey J. Pierce, 22nd NCR Public Affairs
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CDR Anne Krekelberg (left) and RPC Joyce Crawford, nd NCR, prepare to hop on a ferry to cross the Euphrates River during a trip to visit Seabees at Al Taqaddum, Iraq. Photo by MCC (SCW) Jeffrey J. Pierce
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S E A b E E M A g AzINE FALL2008
DR Anne Krekelberg, 22nd Naval Construction Regiment’s (NCR’s) command chaplain, has earned the 2008’s CAPT Joy Bright Hancock (JBH) Leadership Award in the senior officer category. The JBH Leadership Awards honor the visionary leadership of a naval officer whose ideals and dedication led to the integration of women in the regular Navy. CAPT Joy Bright Hancock served in both the First and Second World Wars and was one of the first female officers in the U.S. Navy. She retired from active duty in June 1953. “I feel like the guy at the Oscars who never won an Oscar, but received the lifetime achievement award,” Krekelberg said. “I’m humbled. I’m amazed that anyone would consider me on the same level as Joy Bright Hancock.” Krekelberg says winning this award came as a complete surprise. She didn’t even know she had been nominated by her boss, CAPT Robert McLean, 22nd NCR’s commander. “It recognizes her leadership and service throughout her career but, in my opinion, it most especially acknowledges her pioneering leadership in operational assignments [to include the first female chaplain on an amphibious ship], in serving on the Chief of Chaplain’s staff and as the head chaplain detailer,” McLean said. “It also reflects her leadership within the Naval Construction Force, serving as the first regimental chaplain to deploy to Camp Bucca, Iraq, in support of Navy Provisional Detainee Battalion Two, and her current deployment here with us in Iraq in support of Multi National Force-West.” Krekelberg received her award at the 21st Annual Women’s Leadership Symposium in July at the National Conference Center in Lansdowne, Va. In a career filled with challenging operational assignments, tours where she had a direct impact on the career paths of fellow chaplains, and an assignment providing counseling and ministry in an extremely demanding and highly stressful environment, Krekelberg says she (Continued)