A Navy petty officer, a community volunteer, a support program for injured veterans, the crew of the USS Essex and a decorated rear admiral received achievement awards Wednesday from the San Diego Military Advisory Council.

Vice Adm. Nora Tyson, commander of the Third Fleet, opened the annual awards at Naval Base Pt. Loma by thanking San Diego for its support of the Navy and Marines.

“This group is pretty incredible,” she said. “There is seamless integration with our military and the community of San Diego.”

She said local community support is crucial when “we ask a lot of our young men and women who volunteer to serve their country in uniform.”

The awards went to:

• Michael Carfaro, a Navy petty officer who has dedicated his time to a series of community projects, from the Coronado Speed Festival to Father Joe’s Village.
• Bill Lober, who has donated over 500 hours in support of Operation Connect, a service for transitioning service members.
• The Warrier Foundation-Freedom Station created by Navy wife and mother Sandy Lehmkuhler and Cmdr. Jim Bedinger to help injured veterans.
• The sailors of the USS Essex for volunteering at Chet F. Harritt Elementary School in Santee in addition to helping many other local organizations.
• Retired Rear Admiral Ronne Froman-Blue, who received the Bruce Boland lifetime achievement award. She served 31 years in ther Navy and later was chief operating officer of the City of San Diego.

SDMAC was founded in 2004 to support and promote the common interests of the military and defense industry in San Diego.

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