Aviation Support Equipment Technician 1st Class Mark Farley

Petty Officer 1st Class Mark Farley excels at whatever he does, from striving for quality control at his naval station to dedicating his free time to coordinate community activities. Petty Officer Farley is a superb manager with the proven ability to successfully supervise the functions and activities of others while surpassing command objectives and ensuring optimum operational readiness. As the naval station's aviation intermediate maintenance unit's production control leading petty officer, Petty Officer Farley was the driving force behind the processing of 15,376 items over the last year, including 244 critical F/A-18 engines and modules. That number exceeded Commander, Fleet Air Mediterranean's goals by 22 percent. His senior NCO said, "during my 20+ years of experience and wide range of duties, I've never met or known anyone that has performed at his level in so many facets. He is the type of sailor our Navy needs to lead us through the 21st century." Petty Officer Farley's abilities led to his nomination for the 2002 CINCNAVEUR Leadership Award for outstanding leadership and NAVSTA Rota's Senior Sailor of the Year Award.

"Not only is he superbly performing the duties normally assigned to a higher rank, but he has been a dynamic and active contributor in all aspects of the local community, off and on base," says his supervisor. "Bottom line…if I wasn't a direct witness, I wouldn't believe anyone could sustain his performance." Petty Officer Farley gets actively involved with his local community. The annual inter-cultural celebration involving over six thousand US and Spanish nationals has been a success during his tour at Rota because of the many hours he dedicates to the details. Other times of the year his volunteer hours are devoted to youth sports, a local orphanage and elementary school. Petty Officer Farley is a fine example of the superior quality of the men and woman serving in today's Navy.