Honorable mention, 2013 Navy Times Sailor of the Year: Floer

Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (FMF) Marvin Floer

Floer’s first tour of Afghanistan opened his eyes — and focused them on, of all places, an ice hockey rink.

Back in the states in March 2011 after nine months in the war zone, Floer wanted to help wounded service members beyond the battlefield.

“I began to realize that we’re trained to take care of initial injuries, but ... I can’t do anything about the long-term effects,” he said.

That led Floer to create the Patriots hockey team — a squad of active, reserve, former and retired service members who skate in benefit games to raise money for various military-related charities. The Southern California-based team has taken in close to $10,000 for those organizations so far, Floer said.

“When you have a sailor like HM2 Floer, who sets a great example for others to get involved with the community, it becomes contagious and helps others want to have similar values,” said HMCS (FMF) Juan Rodriguez, Floer’s boss at Camp Pendelton.

Floer handles scheduling, booking and promoting duties for the team, does some coaching and plays right wing. But the Detroit native and lifelong Red Wings fan was out of the loop for much of 2012 thanks to another trip to Afghanistan: 10 months this time, serving as 1st Marine Division’s primary patient tracker.

He tracked hundreds of American, coalition and Afghan casualties from their injury point to their return home — everything from monitoring transportation to preparing the concussion-incident reports critical to treating traumatic brain injuries.

Back stateside later that year, he took on command sponsor coordinator duties within 1st Marine Division’s Headquarters Company, helping new service members through the permanent change-of-station process and coordinating care plans for dependents with disabilities or medical conditions.

He also volunteered with a local church youth group ... and made it back for two Patriots hockey games. The team’s played four times in 2013 (as of July 5), including a June 29 contest to benefit Operation Help A Hero, which supports military families before and during a service member’s deployment, and with the transition back home.