Criteria 

Eligibility: Candidates will be junior Surface Warfare Officers (SWO) and junior Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialists (ESWS), United States Navy, and United States Naval Reserve, who have exhibited sustained excellence in the operational art of Surface Warfare as demonstrated on US Navy surface ships completing deployments during the calendar years ending on 30 September. Candidates must be grade E-3 through E-7, W-2 through W-4, or O-1 through O-4. Clearly, this award focuses on and recognizes the superior operational performance by our junior leaders.

Certification: Any surface ship squadron commander, operational ISIC 06 and above, or Commander, Forward Deployed Naval Forces, Commander, Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific, or Commander Western Hemisphere Group.
(Note: Units homeported overseas (FDNF) which do not maintain the traditional deployment regiment shall be nominated by operational commanders for operational commitments roughly equivalent to BG or ARG deployments over the same one year (October-September) period.)

Selection 1) Upon return of the deploying group from extended deployment of 120 days or longer, is requested to identify one SWO officer and one ESWS Sailor from the deployed ships’ crews who displayed exceptional execution of Surface Warfare Operations during the deployment. Every aspect of Operational Surface Warfare should be taken into account when considering selectees. These aspects are not limited to, but include the following: Deck Seamanship, Shiphandling, Weapons Control, Engineering, Maintenance, Damage Control, Navigation, Welldeck & Flightdeck performance, Fiscal Management, Leadership, Training, Command & Control, Communications, Food Service, and Administration. Selectees should have demonstrated superior action or commendable results in one or more of these significant Surface Warfare disciplines.

2) Selectees' accomplishments will be reviewed by the SNA Awards Committee during October of each year. One officer and one enlisted member each from Atlantic and Pacific commands deemed by the Awards Committee to be especially worthy of further recognition will be proposed to the Executive Committee for invitation to attend the annual SNA Symposium in order to receive a special award.

3) While no truly worthy SWO or ESWS member should be overlooked in the nomination processes, the target recipients for these awards are Enlisted Members, E-3 to E-7 and Officers, W-2 to W-4, O-1 to O-4. The focus of this award is on the junior leaders of our community.