KANSAS CITY, Mo. (December 12, 2022) – Rear Admiral Kristin Acquavella, Director, Logistics, Fleet Supply and Ordnance for the United States Navy is the 2022 recipient of the Jerry Yeagley Award for Exceptional Personal Achievement. She will be honored during the annual All-America Ceremony on Saturday, January 14, 2023, in conjunction with the 83rd annual United Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia, Pa.

The award is presented to a former collegiate soccer student-athlete who has demonstrated extraordinary accomplishments and service beyond the sport itself. The award is named in honor of the legendary Indiana University men’s soccer coach (1973-2003) who won 544 games and captured six NCAA championships.

“Admiral Acquavella is certainly quite a deserving recipient of the Yeagley Award,” said Ashlee Fontes-Comber, United Soccer Coaches President. “She is a wonderful example of a former soccer player who has taken the lessons learned in the classroom and on the playing field into an important and impactful career and, in this case, service to her country.”

Acquavella is a 1993 graduate of the University of North Carolina, where she earned her commission through the Navy Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program. She played on four NCAA Division I Women’s National Championship teams winning titles with the Tar Heels from 1989-91, and then again in 1993. She holds a Master of Science in Management from the Naval Post Graduate School and is also a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton Executive Education Program.

“Kristin was an excellent player and important part of our championships, and we could play her anywhere because of her coachability and discipline,” said Anson Dorrance, Hall of Fame coach at North Carolina. “We could see the future admiral in her when she was hired to work our soccer camps. She was so good that we literally turned the administration of the camp over to her and she ran with it. She was so organized that she put the rest of our staff to shame with her logistical expertise.”

Acquavella’s operational tours include supply officer, PCU Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78); supply officer, USS Vella Gulf (CG 72); material officer and aviation repairable officer, USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70); supply officer, USS Brunswick (ATS-3); and Multi-National Forces-Iraq contracting officer, Baghdad, Iraq.

Her shore duty assignments have included special assistant to the Commander, Naval supply Systems Command; chief of staff, Logistics Supply Chain Operations, Office of Naval Operations, Washington, D.C; director Logistics Readiness Center/Current Readiness, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; deputy force supply officer and carrier strike group readiness officer, Commander Naval Air Force Atlantic, Norfolk, Va.; director F/A-18 Integrated Weapons Team and Common Systems Integrated Weapons Team, Naval Inventory Control Point, Philadelphia, Pa.; special assistant to the director of Supply Corps Personnel and Career Counselor at Navy Personnel Command, Millington, Tenn.; procurement Contracting officer, Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C.; and aviation support division officer, Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily.

Acquavella’s personal awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, and Navy Achievement Medal. She is a qualified Surface Warfare Supply Corps Officer and Naval Aviation Supply Officer and has earned Acquisition Professional Membership.

Kristin has been a member of the All-Navy Women’s Triathlon Team, All-Navy Women’s Soccer Team and the All-Armed Services Soccer Team.