Wednesday, January 17, 2018

San Dimas native named Human Resource Junior Officer of the Year

by Rick Burke, Navy Office of Community Outreach Public Affairs 

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Lt. Cmdr. Scott Bennie, a 2000 San Dimas High School graduate and San Dimas, California, native was recently recognized by the Chief of Naval Personnel as the 2017 active duty Human Resource community junior officer of the year. 

Bennie, Deputy Director of Officer Accessions and Transformation Officer, Commander, Navy Recruiting Command (CNRC) managed all officer accession programs, both active and Reserve, that led to the most successful officer accession recruiting within the last 10 years. Bennie created an Information Technology system to track transformation efforts that helped save CNRC $1 million in IT infrastructure and startup costs, which also provided production, efficiency and attrition analytics to the Chief of Naval Personnel. His efforts are synched to the Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education lines of effort of manning the Fleet, transformation, and Sailor 2025. 

The award, established in 2010, recognizes a Human Resources community junior officer each year for their significant contributions to the Navy. In 2016, the opportunity for selecting Selected Reserve was made an option for the awards selection board. 2017 is the first year for both categories being awarded.

Rear Adm. Ann Burkhardt, Director, Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, is the Navy's senior HR officer who said this is a significant accomplishment for Bennie.

"Bennie has demonstrated all the qualities of an outstanding HR officer," said Burkhardt. "His critical thinking and initiative has resulted in unrivaled contributions that will shape Navy and Joint Human Resources processes for years to come."

The HR community was created in 2001 to recruit, process, and assess Sailors into the Navy. HR officers serve in key positions throughout the Navy and help to improve personnel management and training systems to more effectively recruit, develop, manage, reward, and retain the force of tomorrow.