YN1 Nicholas Durrant

Married to Kari

Yeoman 1st Class Nicholas Durrant doesn’t shy away from a long day at work.

As a recruit company commander at the Coast Guard’s Training Center Cape May, N.J., Durrant would frequently work 60- to 70-hour weeks to make sure recruits were trained and his shipmates were taken care of, District 13 Chief of Staff Capt. Anne Ewalt wrote in her nomination. .

Durrant, 30, also takes volunteering seriously, having donated time and materials over the past year to build two park benches dedicated to Coast Guard heroes. He’s an unpaid volunteer in his local police department in Washington state and arranged a food drive that collected more than 600 pounds of supplies for the Food Bank of Southern New Jersey in February 2010. .

Durrant not only leads subordinates, but also offers advice to senior leaders, said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kimberly Angel, a friend and former supervisor at Cape May. “He takes time to listen and assist fellow Coast Guardsmen and ... women in need,” Angel wrote. “He is a true shipmate and a perfect example of someone in our service who took the charge of our commandant seriously.” .