A handful of local RCMP officers were applauded by family, friends and colleagues Thursday, as they stepped forward to receive awards of recognition for their service to the force.

Among the officers honoured was Cpl. Karen Olito, who has served as a Mountie for 25 years, every one of them in the Yukon.

Born in the Yukon, Olito began her career as a special constable in the early 1980s.

At that time, the RCMP were recruiting citizens with special talents or knowledge they could contribute to the force. Northern first nations people formed an important part of that program, and they were often hired for their traditional knowledge and special undertanding of their communities.

The program was eventually amended. Many special constables, Olito among them, were recruited and trained to become regular members.

After receiving her training in Regina, Olito returned to the Yukon, a move that was unusual for the time.

"It's definitely exceptional," Sgt. Mark Groves said of her posting back in the territory. "In traditional RCMP practices, we don't post officers to their own provinces or territories."

Asking officers, especially inexperienced ones, to police their own families and neighbours was considered too difficult a task, Groves said, but that attitude has changed.

"In the past few years, we've done a 180 on that and now it's quite the norm to post people in their home, but definitely for Karen to come back up here after her training is remarkable."

RCMP officers are expected to make a five-year commitment to whichever jurisdiction they are posted in, and here again, Groves said, Olito stands out.

"She's certainly surpassed her five-year commitment," he said. "She has given a lot to the Yukon."

Olito has served in Dawson City, Whitehorse, Old Crow and Pelly Crossing, where she has been the detachment commander since 2006.

Yesterday, she received a long service award alongside five of her colleagues: S. Sgt. Maj. Alan Hubley, 35 years; S. Sgt. Douglas Harris, 35 years; S. Sgt. Patrick Egan, 25 years; Sgt. Daniel Gaudet, 20 years; and Sgt. John Sutherland, 20 years.

Harris is another who has gone above and beyond in terms of the time he has served in the Yukon. The staff sergeant has been here since 1981.

Three auxiliary constables also received their five-year service awards: Dave Avoledo, Brian Cox and Ken Milne.

Auxiliary constables are volunteer members of the force who assist with a variety of police tasks, including community education and foot and bike patrols.

Avoledo earned special recognition for far surpassing the 350 annual volunteer hours required of auxiliary members. He has served more than 1,100 volunteer hours in the last two years, and was given the RCMP volunteer award for his efforts.

The final award of the day, the St. John Ambulance Life Saving Award, was reserved for Const. Dale Ristau.

He was the first officer on the scene on the afternoon of Aug. 9, 2007, when young Myles Correos slipped into the Yukon River.

The boy's mother, Josephine, and father, Benjanmin (Benji) Correos, quickly jumped in after him. The father managed to get ahold of his son and pull the boy's head above water as the two were carried downstream.

Ristau and another officer had been in Riverdale responding to another incident when they received the call.

"When we got there, someone had already managed to pull (Myles) from the water," Ristau recalled Thursday. "The other officer with me was pretty new, and I took the lead in administering first aid."

The officer turned the boy on his side to get the water out of his lungs, then began giving him CPR.

RCMP officers are constantly practising and upgrading their first aid skills, Ristau said, to keep them from getting rusty.

"You need to be able to act quickly when the time comes," said the young constable, who has been on the force for almost five years.

Myles survived. His father, sadly, did not. His body was recovered from the river two weeks later.

Several other people have been recognized over the past year and a half for their help that afternoon; Brendon Preston, Louis Paul Courbron and Kimpton Gagnon have all received the Commisioner's Award for Bravery.

Courbron and Gagnon, who are cousins, pulled Myles from the river, while Preston went back into the water several times, trying to find Benji.

Benjamin Correos was given the award post-humously last July.