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First in History: Special Boat Team 20 Receives Inaugural Battle “E”

by Chief Petty Officer Dustin Kelling

20 March 2023 VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- Special Boat Team 20 (SBT-20) received the 2022 Naval Special Warfare Battle Efficiency Program Award in a message released Jan. 23, 2023.

This is the first year that the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) community has awarded the Battle Efficiency Program Award. Simply known as the Battle “E”, it is given to NSW teams that demonstrate a high degree of performance in an operational environment throughout the fiscal year.

“Earning the Battle ‘E’ is incredibly important as it validates the hard work and personal sacrifice of every Sailor that worked to make SBT-20 operationally focused and battle ready,” said the commanding officer of SBT-20.

The Battle “E” program within Naval Special Warfare Group 4, the NSW community’s special boat team headquarters, recognizes the unique challenges that Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen (SWCC) team members must navigate and overcome. SBT-20 had to dedicate time and funding to training a task group while maintaining standard command duties and responsibilities of manning, training and equipping deployable combatant craft detachments.

SBT-20 received the award in part for validating ground-breaking tactics and increasing the scope of combatant-craft capabilities.

“We had to get creative with our task group, requesting support from other NSW and Navy commands to ensure we could function as a command-and-control element,” said the commanding officer.

SBT-20’s success ties into every facet of an operational command such as “training, equipping, and manning,” said the SBT-20 Command Master Chief. “The SBT-20 Task Group is a great example of this, the Battle ‘E’ award confirms and reinforces the command’s ‘Brilliant on the Basics’ approach to excellence,” he said. “The command’s focus on individual Sailors through human factors, career development boards, recognition, and mentorship, highlights the link between effective sailorization and mission success.”

SBT-20 is a subordinate command under NSWG-4. As the NSW community focuses on strategic competition and contested maritime domains, the SWCC teams of NSWG-4 continue to grow and develop emerging capabilities to deter any threat and protect America from attack.

“I am incredibly proud of my Sailors,” said the SBT-20 commander. “They have constantly performed at an exemplary level as they prepare for and execute special operations in the maritime environment across multiple domains.”

Naval Special Warfare is the nation’s elite maritime special operations force, uniquely positioned to extend the Fleet’s reach and gain and maintain access for the Joint Force in competition and conflict.
For more news from Naval Special Warfare Command, visit https://www.facebook.com/NavalSpecialWarfare or https://www.nsw.navy.mil/.
For more news from NSWG-4, visit https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/NSWG4.

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