‘Cream of the crop’: Three federal employees in Juneau recognized for outstanding work

The phrase “above and beyond” doesn’t quite cut it for David Hydock.

A commercial fishing vessel examiner for the U.S. Coast Guard, Hydock works with fishermen to improve vessel safety. He’s inspected hundreds of fire extinguishers, survival suits and vessel safety plans, working with fishermen to prevent disaster and avoid violations.

Hydock is one of Juneau’s roughly 1,000 federal government employees and one of three recognized for the Juneau Federal Employees Association’s Federal Employee of the Year Awards on Tuesday.

Hydock knows boating safety like a fisherman knows the tides, but he had no way of knowing that a 2017 vessel inspection — one happening on dry land — would turn into one of the very disasters he is tasked with preventing.

In March, Hydock was traveling to Lena Loop Road to inspect the F/V Seahawk, a gillnet and halibut fishing boat owned by local Roger Walling.

It should have been a routine inspection. The boat was still on blocks in Walling’s driveway. The two were familiar, and Walling told Hydock he’d turn on his Dickinson stove and warm the boat for them before Hydock arrived.

It was a little too warm for either of them. The Seahawk was on fire. When Hydock showed up, Walling was on deck, trying to tame the fire with a pair of extinguishers.

“I knew that there was something wrong as soon as I pulled up and saw this customer on the vessel,” Hydock said.

The smoke and flames overwhelmed Walling, but he didn’t want to lose his boat. Hydock took over fighting the fire, but soon ran out of extinguishers. He was able to locate a few extra extinguishers on Walling’s son’s boat, which was on blocks nearby.

That day Hydock “learned a valuable lesson about fire extinguishers,” he said. “Two is not enough.”

Hydock was honored with the Professional Achievement Award at the JFEA. USCG Rear Admiral Michael McAllister, Commander of the 17th District, said he was “inspired but not surprised” to hear of Hydock’s heroics. Such is the quality of employee he’s come to expect.

Over 30 federal agencies make up JFEA, which focuses on building relationships between federal employees and recognizing the work they do. Federal employees are between 5 and 7 percent of Juneau’s workforce, according to the Juneau Mayor Ken Koelsch.

The U.S. Coast Guard makes up the largest contingent of federal employees in town, with about 325. The U.S. Forest Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association both trail the USCG with about 200 employees each.

Federal jobs are high-paying and highly-coveted, Koelsch said. “We fight for every federal job,” he said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s Kristie Balovich was honored with the Administrative Excellence Award.

Balovich has been a federal employee for 22 years. Peter Jones, Chief Operations for NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region, said Balovich is an “outstanding” employee and the recognition “well deserved.”

“She’s one of the key engines that drives our ship,” Jones said.

Edward Williams, from the Alaska Veterans Affairs Health Care System, won the Community Service Award. His wife Pam Baker-Williams accepted the award for him. Williams was in Anchorage. For work, of course.

“He truly cares about his work and the vets he works for,” Baker-Williams said. “He puts long hours and lots of thought into the work that he does.”

Community Service Award runners-up were Graham Lanz, USCG, and Roger Birk, USFS. Runners up for the Professional Achievement Award were NOAA’s Bonita Nelson and Andrew Taylor; USCG’s Nicholas Meyer and Paul Webb; and the Forest Service’s Laurie Craig.

“This is an opportunity to recognize the cream of the crop,” JFEA chair and USFS Regional Forester Beth Pendleton.