The Navy has honored a Coronado native with one of its most prestigious training awards.

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) Petty Officer 1st Class Jared Whitefield was recently named a finalist for Naval Education and Training Command’s Military Instructor of the Year in the category of mid-grade enlisted sailors.

A Master Training Specialist who has demonstrated highly effective teaching skills and a comprehensive understanding of how to run a military schoolhouse, Whitefield serves at the Center for North Island’s Security Forces Detachment as an instructor in Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape techniques.

Called “SERE” in the military, those are the skills service members can use to endure captivity or isolation, often in austere conditions.


“I truly believe in what we teach at SERE, and I put everything I have into the course,” said Whitefield in a written statement emailed to the San Diego Union-Tribune. “We aren’t teaching these things for fun or because it’s cool. We’re teaching people how to survive in the absolute worst-case scenarios. I feel that believing in what you teach is the key to inspiring students to listen, ask questions and, once they understand, apply what they have learned.”

A noted leader in mentoring, instructing and evaluating both instructors and the SERE curriculum, Whitefield was one of two finalists who emerged from a pool of nearly 8,000 instructors within Naval Education and Training Command.

A 1995 graduate of Marshland High School in Cambridgeshire, the United Kingdom, Whitefield was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for his achievements during a special Dec. 14 ceremony at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida.

“I firmly believe that you get out of the military, what you put into it,” Whitefield added. “Helping junior sailors understand that will be one of the biggest things I take back to the fleet. You can either be on the sidelines complaining about things you can’t control or you can take control of those things and make the best of it.”


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cprine@sduniontribune.com