Harpham Selected as TR Sailor of the Quarter
Story Number: NNS051012-21
Release Date: 10/12/2005 10:08:00 PM
By Journalist 1st Class Daniel A. Bristol, USS Theodore Roosevelt Public Affairs
ABOARD USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (NNS) -- USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) selected Aviation Support Equipment Technician 1st Class (AW/SW) Kevin Harpham as its Sailor of the Quarter (SOQ) Oct. 7.
Harpham represented aircraft intermediate maintenance department (AIMD) as its SOQ, which put him into the running with first class petty officers from all other departments on the ship.
“It was an honor to be selected as the Sailor of the Quarter for AIMD because it is a huge department,” Harpham said. “But to be recognized as Sailor of the Quarter for the entire ship, that’s an even bigger honor.”
Harpham checked aboard TR in February and said he has worked hard to get where he is today.
“It was very self-gratifying to know that I have not even been on board a year yet and already I have been recognized as the Sailor of the Quarter for the ship,” Harpham said. “I got here and hit the ground running. I try to be a team player and help everyone. I give 100 percent, and I don’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”
Harpham’s strong work ethic caught the eye of his chain of command, which was responsible for nominating him for the award.
“He is the type of Sailor who, from the day he checked on board, showcased his qualities as a leader,” said Chief Aviation Support Equipment Technician (AW/SW) Nathaniel Mejorada, IM-4 division's leading chief petty officer. Harpham, of Willard, Ohio, works in AIMD as IM- 4 division’s production leading petty officer.
Harpham is responsible for 58 Sailors, six work centers and more than 1,600 items of support equipment, including the hangar bay forklifts and cranes. Harpham also assists with any personnel, maintenance and equipment evolutions within the division.
“His superb performance is one key factor that got him selected,” Mejorada said. “He is the one running the show in the shop. We (the chiefs and officers of IM-4) are here for guidance and suggestions.
Harpham said for now he is concentrating his efforts on being selected as Sailor of the Year, but he is looking at one day becoming an IM-4 division officer.
He said he is constantly trying to improve as a manager and leader, and his advice for all junior Sailors is, “Take every opportunity you have. Don’t pass up anything that allows you the opportunity to grow and learn.”
