Honorable mention, 2013 Navy Times Coast Guardsman of the Year: Bové

Storekeeper 1st Class Heather Bové

Bové, a dual-military spouse and mother of two, has mastered how to balance work and home life while still devoting countless hours to her community and shipmates.

It’s this selflessness with her time that makes her stand out, her leaders say.

While her main job at Hawaii’s 14th Coast Guard District involves managing the budget, ordering supplies and filing travel claims, her extra duties include: serving on the critical stress management team, as the unit safety coordinator, a victim advocate for her unit, and the assistant unit health promotion coordinator. She is also the treasurer for three organizations: the 14th District Coast Guard Ball, 14th District Morale Committee and the Oahu “Island Style” Branch of the Coast Guard Enlisted Association.

She also runs her unit’s Partnership in Education program, a project she says is dear to her heart. The program helps support a local school in need. She is always moved by the children who participate in the Christmastime angel tree project, and ask for gifts for others, she said.

No matter how busy she is, she always has time to listen to fellow Coast Guardsmen, her immediate supervisor, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Ryan O’Meara, said.

“She is always there ... coming early or staying late to mentor” them, O’Meara said. And she always does all she can to help people, whether it is her fellow Coasties or others in the community. “She finds a way to get the ‘yes,’ she doesn’t stop at ‘no,’” he said.

Bovésaid her favorite part of her job is the customer service she can provide.

“I love to help people,” she said. “It’s just part of my nature.”

She has been selected for chief but has also applied to be a chief warrant officer. She is waiting to hear if she made the cut.