Seaman Ava Meneses Earns Military Excellence Award
by U.S. Navy Marc Lindsay, Recruit Training Command
June 8, 2025

Seaman Ava Meneses graduated as the top Sailor from Recruit Training Command, earning the Military Excellence Award (MEA) on June 5, 2025.

Meneses, from Alton, Illinois, said she enlisted for a variety of reasons, including the chance for a fresh start.

“After high school, I wasn’t in a good place,” Meneses said. “I had a lot of stuff going on in my personal life, and I felt like I’d become less ambitious. I knew I could do better than I was at that time, and I needed to move on and try something different. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to reach out to a recruiter to pursue a career in the military. The Navy seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to build the discipline, motivation, and integrity that I felt I was lacking.”

Meneses, 20, graduated from Roxana Senior High School, where she was a member of the National Honor Society and Student Council. Before joining the Navy, she attended Lewis and Clark Community College and was working toward an associate degree in the dental program.

The Navy Club of the United States Military Excellence Award is the top award presented to the recruit who best exemplifies the qualities of enthusiasm, devotion to duty, military bearing, and teamwork. The award places her at the pinnacle of today’s newest Sailors. Meneses is awarded a flag letter of commendation as part of her recognition.

According to Meneses, the award is the best possible first step to begin her naval career.

“Up until the week before I found out I’d won, I didn’t even know the award existed,” said Meneses. “All I really wanted to do while I was here was make my RDCs, shipmates, and family proud. Of course, there were times that I wanted to give up on certain things, but I pushed through and was determined to continue what I started. It shows how much I’ve grown here mentally, and I’m in a much more positive space. Moving forward, I hope to continue to make those I work with proud and represent the values that I stand for.”

Meneses’ RDCs (Recruit Division Commanders) were Chief Aviation Boatswain’s Mate, Aircraft Handling (ABHC) Mark Usi, Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (HM1) Karyl Mae Miguel and Mineman 1st Class (MN1) Kevin Carpenter and they guided her through the nine-week process.

“When I got here, I hated getting yelled at,” she said. “Being a flag bearer within my division, I was constantly making small mistakes, and Petty Officer Miguel made sure I knew about each and every one of them. When I corrected those mistakes, she would always point out something else. At first, I was discouraged, but as time went on, I realized that I was improving, and that my RDC’s job was to make sure I was living up to a standard. The validation was seeing how much my attention to detail had improved by the end of training.”

In addition to her RDCs, Meneses found inspiration from her family.

“I thought about my little sister back home a lot,” Meneses says. “She looks up to me and always copies everything that I do. I want to be a good example for her and a role model. Even if she doesn’t realize it, she pushed me to be the best version of myself.”

Meneses said the most significant challenge she faced in boot camp was learning to step outside of her comfort zone.

“Two things that I’m not really comfortable with are confrontation and dealing with emotions,” said Meneses. “Being in a leadership position, I was constantly put into situations where I had to be the peacemaker. I struggled quite a bit with this at first, as emotions are always involved. Everyone here is stressed and overwhelmed, and we all have families we miss back home. Getting to know each other and realizing we were all in this together made the uncomfortable situations much easier. Instead of being a group of individuals, we eventually became a unit that could work together effectively.”

After graduation, Meneses will attend Fire Controlman “A” School in Great Lakes, Illinois, for training in basic electronics, trouble-shooting techniques and procedures, 2-D and 3-D radar, missile and gun system ballistics, and fire control basics.

Training at RTC is approximately nine weeks, 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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