Last November, MK3 Scribellito won the Captain Neils P. Thomsen Award for operations and readiness for his invention of a roll-up damage control kit that enables faster responses to flooding and fire emergencies. His simple design will be implemented on cutters fleet-wide. By the way, the invention has drawn interest from our own small boat community, and even the U.S. Navy. Click here to see MK3 Scribellito talk about his invention at the 2008 Innovation Expo.

MK3 Scribellito exemplifies the motto, “never settle for status quo.” You would never know it from his quiet demeanor, but this young Guardian grabbed hold of a simple idea for an improvement within his world of work, and aggressively turned it into a Coast Guard-wide change (and perhaps even beyond the CG). What a great story, and a great example for all of us. It was enough of an inspiration to draw the attention of a major news publication!

A big Bravo Zulu to Petty Officer Scribellito. Sometimes those small steps turn into giant leaps.