DALTON —
Cynthia Pendley said she and her family were “shocked” when her brother, David Akins, came home and told them he had enlisted in the Navy at age 19.
“He’s always played down his actions, especially since he’s been in Afghanistan, saying they never do anything dangerous,” she said. “And then I hear of him winning this award for bravery.”
Akins, a chief petty officer with Alfa Company of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74 in the hostile Helmand Province, has been named the 2009 winner of the prestigious Robert Stethem Award, which recognizes “outstanding individual moral courage in support of the traditions of the Seabees while in the course of operations,” a Navy press release said.
Akins, a 1993 graduate of Northwest Whitfield High School, has been deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom since last fall and received the command’s nomination for his “exceptional work ethic and leadership.”
“I feel humbled, really,” said Akins, who was born in Dalton but grew up in Cohutta, in the press release. “I’m a pretty quiet person. I don’t think anything that I do is any more special than anything anybody else does. I just try to do the best I can, make things better on a daily basis and try to learn something every day.
“It is definitely an honor. I know a few of the past Stethem Award winners, and to be put into the same category as one of these guys who has received it in the past is a big honor.”
“In addition to outstanding daily performance, Akins got the opportunity to demonstrate his moral courage while leading a crew outside the wire, working on a mission critical project in harm’s way,” the release said.
Stethem, a Seabee diver, was killed during the 1985 hijacking of a TWA (Trans World Airlines) flight. Naval Construction Force officers and enlisted men are eligible for the award.
Akins’ commanding officer, Cmdr. Bruce Nevel, delivered the good news.
“His performance has really stood out, because he did one of the few projects outside the wire,” he said. “The Gypsum Road Project was really the highlight of his performance here. That was a very successful detail with high visibility. Not only was it outside the wire, which made it dangerous, but it was also critical to the mission for MEB (Marine Expeditionary Brigade), the Marines. I am very pleased with his performance.”
Akins said he’s always had “a Seabee mindset without knowing what a Seabee was.”
“I kind of grew up with that ‘can do, get it done, fix it, make it work’ kind of attitude,” he said. “I’m definitely glad I chose the way I went. I’ve had a tremendous amount of fun and good experiences since I’ve been in the Seabees. You couldn’t ask for a better organization to work for, or a better group of guys and girls to work with.”
Akins is the son of Harold and Connie Akins of Cohutta. Pendley said she “keeps begging him to get out, but he keeps re-enlisting.”
“He’s a wonderful guy, and I just love him to death,” she said of her oldest brother. “He just needs to come home.”
She said his tour in Afghanistan is supposed to be finished near the end of April.
Local News
Related Photos
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HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan (Feb. 26, 2010) Chief Construction Mechanic David Akins, from Cohutta, Ga., assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 74, Alfa Company, stands in the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) section of the Alfa Yard on Camp Krutke. Akins, on deployment to Afghanistan supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, was recently selected as the 2009 Stethem Award winner. The Stethem award recognizes a Naval Construction Force officer or enlisted who demonstrates outstanding moral courage in support of the traditions of the Seabees while in the course of actual operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ryan G. Wilber/Released)
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March 17, 2010
Dalton native earns Seabee honor
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