By MC2 Nathan K. Serpico

Chief Yeoman Kenneth Winston, left, pins First Class collar devices on Electronic Technician 2nd Class Donnie Williams during a promotion ceremony, July 12. Williams was the second NPS Sailor to be promoted through the Navy’s Meritorious Advancement Program (MAP).

“I was relieved that I had finally earned and achieved this goal,” said Williams. “I have a lot of friends that have all put on First Class and have been poking fun and asking when I will finally make it.”

Capt. Mike Ward, NPS Chief of Staff, congratulated Williams on his promotion.

“Getting selected for this promotion means a couple things,” said Ward. “It means you have proven yourself among your peers, and it means that we believe in you to carry out the duty and responsibilities of a First Class Petty Officer.

“It also means more money,” Ward continued with a chuckle.

Williams has been a lab technician for the Engineering Enclave for Maritime Security, which falls under the Center for Cyber Warfare here at NPS. At the end of his current tour, he will return to sea duty.

“I’m really excited to go back to a ship,” he said. “I really want to be [a leading petty officer] and have a division or just Sailors of my own to help either get their careers moving faster than mine, or get them in the same track that I’m going and just help out. I love teaching and training.”

Williams encouraged any Sailors who feel discouraged about career advancement to keep doing the best work you can and believe in their chain of command.

“They have seen progression in me and they have helped me because I’m not good at taking the test,” Williams said. “I’m just really thankful for the chain of command here; especially Chief Winston and ET1 [Jennifer] Macaya because they are the ones who have been pushing me the whole time I’ve been here.”

The MAP program is intended to give commands greater authority to better shape their workforce and the Navy by developing and rewarding their best talent. This is the third year that Sailors assigned to shore commands have been able to receive promotions under the program. This year, MAP will account for approximately 15 percent of all E-4 through E-6 advancements, with 7,012 MAP quotas, an increase of 2,795 quotas from 2017.