Sailors Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity during OKC Navy Week

Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class James Vazquez | 170921-N-KB426-165 OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 21, 2017) Naval Aircrewman (Mechanical) 1st Class Lionel Brown, assigned to Commander Strategic Communications Wing 1, Tinker Air Force Base, hammers a wall frame during a community relations event with Habitat for Humanity as part of Navy Week Oklahoma City. Navy Week programs serve as the principal outreach effort into areas of the country without a significant Navy presence, helping Americans understand that their Navy is deployed around the world, around the clock, ready to defend America at all times. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James Vazquez/Released)  

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, UNITED STATES

09.21.2017

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class James Vazquez 

Navy Public Affairs Support Element West

Command Master Chief Delbert Terrell, Jr., Deputy Director of the Navy's Senior Enlisted Academy and a Kingfisher, Okla., native, along with more than 35 Sailors assigned to Commander Strategic Communications Wing 1, Tinker Air Force Base, or “Take Charge and Move out” (TACAMO), helped with the construction of a new home in Mustang, Okla.

“I want to thank the Sailors who are here today,” said Terrell, a construction electrician who is serving as a senior representative for Navy Week Oklahoma City. “TACAMO has been here for more than 25 years and it is important for them to give back to the community that supports them.”

During the event, the Sailors helped frame walls by cutting wood, measuring wall panel lengths and putting up the walls of the home.

Naval Aircrewman (Avionics) 2nd Class Oscar Rosales, a TACAMO Sailor, was happy to volunteer for the event.

“I have been stationed here in Oklahoma for more than seven years and the community is unlike any other with their support of the Sailors at Tinker Air Force base,” said Rosales, who helped saw wood for the home’s walls. “This is the least I can do to help.”

Although Terrell is a Seabee, he understands how different of an environment this is for Sailors in different Navy careers, known as ratings.

“Some of the Sailors are getting an opportunity to give back even if this type of job is not what they usually do,” said Terrell. “They are here not because they have to be, but because they choose to be.”

Keyla Garza, the recipient of the home being built, was present during the event and even helped construct the walls of her future home.

“I am truly grateful to have the Navy team helping build this house,” said Garza. “It’ll be something I won’t forget for as long as I am here.”

According to its official page, Habitat for Humanity partners with people in communities all over the world, to help them build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage.

Oklahoma City Navy Week is one of only 15 Navy Weeks in 2017 that focus a variety of assets, equipment and personnel in a single city for a weeklong series of engagements designed to bring America's Navy closer to the people it protects.

For more information and a full schedule of events, visit www.outreach.navy.mil.

• Date Taken: 09.21.2017
• Date Posted: 09.21.2017 18:46
• Story ID: 249174
• Location: OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, US