SONAR TECHNICIAN ZACHARY NIELSEN IS SAILOR OF THE YEAR

Groton — The Naval Submarine School has selected Sonar Technician (Submarines) 1st Class Zachary Nielsen, leading petty officer of the Sonar Technician Submarine “A” (Apprentice) School, as its 2015 Sailor of the Year.

Capt. Andrew C. Jarrett, commanding officer of the sub school, cited Nielsen’s “superb initiative, technical expertise and dedication to the students and staff of the school.”

“He is a natural leader and mentor in every aspect of his professional and personal life and consistently pursues every opportunity to better himself through his volunteering, which benefits Naval Submarine School and the Navy by continuing to provide the highest caliber Sailor to the fleet.”

Nielsen previously has been recognized for outstanding performance as the Naval Submarine School Sailor of the Quarter for the Second Quarter of 2015.

As leading petty officer, Nielsen is responsible for the supervision and administration of one of the largest initial accession “A” schools in the Navy. His specific duties include supervising curriculum and administration for a division of 13 instructors and approximately 120 Sonar Technician Submarine (STS) students at any given time.

In addition to successfully supervising his division and providing the submarine force with highly trained initial accession sonar technicians to assure mission readiness, Nielsen also was praised by Jarrett for his involvement with the Silver Dolphins Honor Guard, exclusively comprising Submarine School students, and for his role as a founding member of Devyn’s Charm, a nonprofit organization that supports military families with children in hospitals.