Photo By Grady Fontana | OLONGAPO CITY, Philippines—Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jamil A. Khan, left, chaplain, Military...... read more read more
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Members of Military Sealift Command Far East visited the Center for Youth to share lunch and fellowship with young adults during a community relations event as part of Exercise Balikatan 24 at Olongapo City, Philippines, April 19, 2024.
Olongapo City Center for Youth is a local government facility that provides care and rehabilitation to young adults through counseling, guidance and education. The MSCFE team, composed of active-duty service members and reservists, was in the Philippines assisting in the offload of MSC’s MV Cape Horn at Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Subic Bay, Philippines.
Chief Hospital Corpsman Salvador A. Vergara III, a reservist with MSCFE Expeditionary Port Unit Pearl Harbor and native of the Philippines, spoke to the young adults in Tagalog, emphasizing the importance of education and preparedness.
“My message to the kids was to work hard and be prepared for when opportunity presents itself,” said Vergara.
Marilou Manalo is a psychologist at the Olongapo City Center for Youth; she emphasized the importance of these interactions between service members and the local community.
“This is a therapeutic activity for youths,” said Manalo. “These types of visits give the kids new ideas or information from good role models.”
After lunch and fellowship, the afternoon ended with a pickup game of basketball. The visit left a lasting impact on all participants.
“This was a good opportunity to talk to these kids,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jamil A. Khan, chaplain, MSC Far East in Singapore. “Hopefully, some seeds were planted, and some of the things that were said will have an impact on them.”
Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the U.S. military designed to strengthen bilateral capabilities, interoperability, trust, and cooperation.
MSC Far East supports the U.S. 7th Fleet and ensures approximately 50 ships in the Indo-Pacific Region are manned, trained, and equipped to deliver essential supplies, fuel, cargo, and equipment to warfighters, both at sea and on shore. U.S. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy's largest forward-deployed numbered fleet and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2024, MSC exists to support the joint warfighter across the full spectrum of military operations, with a workforce that includes approximately 6,000 Civil Service Mariners and 1,100 contract mariners, supported by 1,500 shore staff and 1,400 active duty and Reserve military personnel.
| Date Taken: | 04.23.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 04.24.2024 04:16 |
| Story ID: | 469342 |
| Location: | OLONGAPO, PH |
| Web Views: | 60 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, MSCFE Visits Olongapo City Center for Youth, by Grady Fontana, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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