Leahy Earns Military Excellence Award at Recruit Training Command
GREAT LAKES (NNS) – Fireman Michael Leahy graduated as the top Sailor from Recruit Training Command (RTC) Great Lakes, earning the Military Excellence Award (MEA) Aug. 20, 2026.
Leahy, 27, of Pembroke, Massachusetts, said the honor is less a finish line than a daily standard he intends to hold himself to.
"Winning the Military Excellence Award means that for as long as I'm in the Navy, I'll perform to the best of my ability," Leahy said. "I don't plan to rest on my laurels. I want to keep earning this award every single day."
The Military Excellence Award is presented to the recruit who best demonstrates enthusiasm, devotion to duty, military bearing and teamwork throughout training. As part of the recognition, recipients receive a flag letter of commendation.
For Leahy, the decision to enlist came from a straightforward sense of duty.
"I joined the Navy because I feel strongly about doing my part to defend the freedoms our country is built on," he said. "I wanted to contribute to something bigger than myself and serve alongside people committed to the same purpose. From what I’ve experienced so far, I feel like I’ve found that.”
At 27, Leahy arrived at RTC with years of demanding work already behind him. He attended Massachusetts Maritime Academy and spent his working life in physically punishing jobs, plumbing by day and cleaning carpets on the side, often stringing together long shifts in New England's harshest weather.
"I worked 16-hour days of constant manual labor, half of it outdoors in the bone-chilling winters and sweltering summers around Boston," Leahy said. "That kind of work prepared me for the long days of training I’ve experienced here."
That endurance carried him through the central challenge of training, which he described not as any single event but as a daily choice.
"The toughest part of boot camp was deciding, in every moment of every day, to give my best effort no matter the circumstances," Leahy said. “There’s plenty of times when you just don’t feel like doing what’s being asked. I tried to remind myself that I was doing this for my family, and I pushed myself to not just be satisfied with getting through it, but to be better each day."
Leahy credited one of his shipmates for keeping his spirits up, challenging him when his shoes weren’t shined, and motivating him through the hardest weeks.
"Our first Sunday, Recruit Vo invited me to attend Catholic Mass, and I ended up enjoying it so much that I started to look forward to it every week," Leahy said. "Whenever I needed help with anything, he gave up his own limited time and energy to lend a hand. Vo is the kind of person I strive to be: selfless, kind and genuine."
Following graduation, Leahy will report to Electrician's Mate (Nuclear) "A" school, where he will learn to operate, test, maintain and repair the electrical circuits, motors and equipment that support the Navy's nuclear propulsion systems.
Training at RTC is approximately nine weeks long, and all enlistees in the U.S. Navy begin their careers at the command. More than 40,000 recruits train annually at the Navy's only boot camp
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