Local Coast Guard Officer to Receive National Award for Inspirational Leadership
PETALUMA, Calif. – Adm. Robert Papp, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, has selected Training Center Petaluma’s Chief Warrant Officer Jason Briggs to receive the 2014 Capt. John G. Witherspoon Inspirational Leadership Award. Rear Adm. Scott Buschman, commander of the Virginia-based Force Readiness Command, will present the award during an all hands event at training center on Thursday, May 22, at1 p.m.
Briggs, who has been stationed at Training Center Petaluma since 2010, leads the 23-person Maintenance Branch responsible for upkeep of the training center’s 837-acre property which includes 116 buildings and 127 residences. He lives in Petaluma with his wife and three children.
The Witherspoon Award annually recognizes the Coast Guard officer, active duty and reserve, who best exemplifies the Coast Guard’s core values of honor, respect, and devotion to duty.
“This Award is highly competitive and truly honors the best of our leaders throughout the Coast Guard,” said Capt. Charles E. Fosse, commanding officer of Training Center Petaluma.
Jason Briggs, a 1987 graduate of Oskaloosa Senior High School, received the Coast Guard’s Capt. John G. Witherspoon Inspirational Leadership Award on Thursday, May 22. Briggs was raised by his aunt and uncle, John and Cynde Briggs of Oskaloosa. He enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1989 and was commissioned as a warrant officer in 2005. His current duty station is Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma, Calif.