The Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Award for Inspirational Leadership is a United States Navy award established in 1980 by United States Secretary of the Navy Edward Hidalgo to honor the inspirational leadership of James Stockdale, a Medal of Honor recipient in the Vietnam War, who exhibited exemplary leadership while a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for nearly eight years. The award was first presented in 1981.[1]
Each year two commanding officers below the grade of captain are selected, one for the United States Atlantic Fleet and one from the United States Pacific Fleet. A board of peer-nominated officers, one from the Atlantic and one for the Pacific, select the winners, based on the five criteria of inspirational leadership that Vice Admiral Stockdale identified in his writing and teaching on leadership.[2] These criteria are:
| Year | Atlantic | Pacific | |
| 1981 | CDR John J. Coonan | CDR Philip M. Qwast | |
| 1982 | CDR E.L. Watkins | CDR G.R. Fister | |
| 1983 | CDR J.B. Johnston | CDR William J. Hancock | |
| 1984 | CDR Frank L. Yusi | CDR Edward K. Kristensen | |
| 1985 | CDR Larry L. Ernst | CDR W. Hudson | |
| 1986 | CDR M.A. Rogers | CDR B.J. Coyle | |
| 1987 | CDR C.W. Moore | CDR Michael Mullen | |
| 1988 | CDR W.J. Riffer | CDR J. Grossenbacher | |
| 1989 | CDR R.M. Wikstrom | CDR Thomas B. Fargo | |
| 1990 | CDR J.C. Holloway | CDR A.R. Gorthy | |
| 1991 | CDR F.J. Dobrydney | CDR T.L. Travis | |
| 1992 | CDR B.W. Cavey | CDR Jonathan W. Greenert | |
| 1993 | No Award | CDR C.A. Miletich | |
| 1994 | CDR R.D. Jenkins | CDR R.C. Massey | |
| 1995 | CDR J.T. Bader | CDR F.M. Drennan | |
| 1996 | CDR R.D. Holland | CDR James P. Wisecup | |
| 1997 | CDR J.L. Clark | CDR M.W. Kenny | |
| 1998 | CDR M.E. Kosnick | CDR Cecil D. Haney | |
| 1999 | CDR Walter E. Carter Jr. | CDR Bruce E. Grooms | |
| 2000 | CDR M.D. Davis[3] | CDR R. Hennegan | |
| 2001 | CDR Jeffery Scott Jones[4] | CDR John M. Richardson | |
| 2002 | CDR Peter H. Young[5] | CDR John W. Covell | |
| 2003 | CDR Kevin J. Kovacich[6] | CDR Charles M. Gaouette | |
| 2004 | CDR Scott D. Conn[7] | CDR Lee R. Hankins | |
| 2005 | CDR Robert P. Burke[8] | CDR James W. Kilby | |
| 2006 | CDR Richard L. Clemmons[9] | CDR Brian T. Howes | |
| 2007 | CDR Frank J. Olmo[10] | CDR Craig A. Clapperton | |
| 2008 | CDR Robert Smith[11] | CDR Paul J. Lyons | |
| 2009 | CDR William J. Parker III[12] | CDR Robert A. Baughman | |
| 2010 | CDR Jeffrey M. Grimes[13] | CDR Michael A. McCartney | |
| 2011 | CDR Robert B. Chadwick II[14] | CDR Gerald N. Miranda, Jr. | |
| 2012 | CDR Brian L. Sittlow[15] | CDR Chase D. Patrick | |
| 2013 | CDR Leif E. Mollo[16] | CDR Richard N. Massie | |
| 2014 | CDR Thomas J. Dickinson[17] | CDR Gavin Duff | |
| 2015 | CDR Anthony S. Grayson[18] | CDR Matthew J. Duffy | |
| 2016 | CDR Ken J. Kleinschnittger[19] | CDR Gary G. Montalvo | |
| 2017 | CDR Eric M. Sager[20] | CDR Brian M. Drechsler | |
| 2018 | CDR Allen M. Siegrist[21] | CDR Michael T. Lisa | |
| 2019 | CDR Patrick O’Loughlin[22] | CDR Carl Trask | |
| 2020 | CDR William H. Wiley[23] | CDR Bradley D. Geary | |
| 2021 | CDR Ronald H. Rumfelt[24] | CDR Steven C. Lawrence | |
| 2022 | CDR Adam J. Thomas[25] | CDR John W. Keefe |