NAPLES, Italy – Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Europe Africa Central (EURAFCENT) announced the winners of the 2022 Hard Hat Awards June 2. Nikolaos Kokonas from Public Works Department (PWD) Souda Bay, Greece won in the Construction Engineer category and Leo Tancreti from PWD Rota, Spain won in the Construction Engineering Technician category.

The Hard Hat of the Year program recognizes construction field office technical staff, including Construction Engineers, Construction Managers, and Construction Engineering Technicians, who make day-to-day construction management decisions and exercise technical authority on construction projects.

“Nikolaos and Leo deliver innovative and pragmatic solutions to complex problems,” Capt. Joe Harder III, NAVFAC EURAFCENT commanding officer, said. “Both of these gentlemen have excelled and protected the best interests of the Navy and supported commands in one of the most challenging areas of responsibility within NAVFAC.”

Kokonas, a construction engineer in the Facilities Engineering and Acquisition Division (FEAD) Project Management and Engineering (PM&E) Branch at PWD Souda Bay, manages 16 projects valued at over $21 million and was an early adopter of utilizing the electronic management systems (eCMS) and has been active in providing feedback to improve the product.

“It feels great to realize that my efforts have been acknowledged, and I am grateful for my colleague’s support and assistance in performing my duties,” Kokonas said.

Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Public Works Officer (PWO), Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Reige, said, Kokonas’ attention to detail and efforts in analyzing contractor baseline schedules, monthly updates, and time impact analyses is second to none.

“Nikos was nominated due to his high-level performance managing one of the largest construction portfolios for a single construction manager in the region,” said Reige. “His winning is a reflection of the commitment to the mission and high level of performance of all the employees at PWD Souda Bay, and is constantly recognized from supported commands and visitors from the FEC [Facility Engineering Command].”

Tancreti, a construction engineer technician in the FEAD PM&E Branch at PWD Rota, manages 11 projects valued at $17 million. He successfully provided quality assurance on completing five job-order contract actions, four indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity roofing projects, and the closeout and turnover of the Minnow Ground Terminal Project in support of the Space Force.

“I’m very excited about winning and being recognized. However, it wouldn’t have been possible without my colleagues and supervisors,” Tancreti said. “Leadership recognizes the work we all put in as a group. The supervisors here are very well-aware of each construction manager and engineering technician, and I am humbled that they nominated me.”

Naval Station Rota, Spain PWO, Cmdr. Joseph Dunaway said he has a team of outstanding professionals, and Tancreti’s award is an example of this.

“He was nominated due to the high-quality work he performs across his portfolio of high-profile projects,” Dunaway said. “Leo sets the standard in diligence and attention-to-detail, as well as keeping the contractors accountable at all times.”

Harder said Leo and Nikos embody the spirit driven by a shared objective of outstanding support to the fleet and warfighters.

“We have a bias towards forming high-performing teams,” Harder said. “Taking the time to recognize their hard work will pay dividends in the future.”