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    NRD Miami: Hope in The Face of Disaster

    NRD Miami: Hope in The Face of Disaster

    Photo By Senior Chief Petty Officer Kimberly Martinez | Sailors from Navy Recruiting District Miami load humanitarian assistance items donated...... read more read more

    Prior to Hurricane Irma, NRD Miami Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Jason Ketelsen, issued an evacuation order for Sailors in South Florida. Nearly 200 Sailors and their families evacuated to various destinations within 300 miles of a designated remote safe haven area. Once the storm passed, those Sailors and their families safely returned to their homes. Sailors in Puerto Rico, largely unaffected by Irma, were not required to evacuate and weathered Irma in their homes. That would not be the case during Hurricane Maria.
    As the storm pummeled the U.S. Virgin Islands and aligned itself to steam roll Puerto Rico, Americans watched the weather reports with baited breath. During the storm’s aftermath, 95 percent of the island of Puerto Rico was left in the dark, creating an emergent situation and dire conditions for our Sailors still trapped on the island. Their resiliency and mental toughness kicked in. As the command went into overdrive planning a mandatory evacuation for our Sailors, DOD Civilians and their dependents, our Puerto Rico –based Sailors went into survival mode.
    “Our recruiters established defensive positions in their neighborhoods, using cars to block the roadways and created a watchbill amongst the residents to ensure security,” said Senior Chief Navy Counselor Michael Rodney, NRD Miami assistant chief recruiter. “ Prior to the hurricanes, the divisions received regular security posture training from our district’s security officer who taught them techniques to create a safe security posture in the event of an emergency,” said Rodney. “Not only did our Sailors ensure the safety of themselves and their families, but of their neighbors as well. This was Navy community outreach at its best!”
    After employing several unconventional means of communicating with one another, like driving for several hours each day to a rally point to link up with other Sailors on island, the team was able to receive many items essential to their daily survival.
    “Our command, headed up by our Chief’s Mess, sent many aid items donated by our Sailors here in Florida and the surrounding community to our Sailors still in Puerto Rico,” said Master Chief Navy Counselor Heather Charara, NRD Miami chief recruiter. “We were able to fly out nine pallets of humanitarian assistance to our Sailors who stayed on island and their dependents. Our Sailors selflessly shared many of those aid items with others still on island who were unable to establish communications with a support system back in the states.”
    Of the 81 Sailors, dependents and DOD Civilians stationed in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, four Sailors and 15 dependents stayed behind to care for elderly family members. These four Sailors were critical in the relief efforts and evacuation of the division immediately following Hurricane Maria and are still the command’s sole points of contacts currently on island. These Sailors, Chief Aviation Ordinanceman Eddie Madera, Navy Counselor 1st Class RaymondVega, Navy Counselor 1st Class Angel Cintron and Machinist Mate 2nd Class Miguel Rivera, are the conduit through which all communications on island happen.
    “We evacuated the majority of our DOD civilians, recruiters and their dependents,” said Charara. “The four Sailors who stayed behind, opted to because of family reasons, but they have continued to be invaluable resources on the island,” she added. “Petty Officer Vega has been our key point person on the island, coordinating everything after the storm passed. For weeks, he walked from his home to the Cauguas recruiting station to ensure he could communicate via phone with the command back here in Florida,” said Charara.
    Many organizations from the U.S. and around the world converged upon the island to provide assistance to the residents faced with many daily challenges. With scarce supplies, food and water, the day-to-day luxuries once taken for granted, are now non-existent or limited at best.
    Up for the challenge and ready to help in any way, NRD Miami Sailors did not hesitate to support their efforts in a variety of ways.
    “Petty Officer Cintron volunteered as a translator with FEMA, which came to his city to coordinate aid,” said Charara. “Our other two Sailors on the other side of the island, Chief Madera and Petty Officer Rivera were instrumental in offloading supplies in the San Juan area and worked with Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 56 to distribute supplies to anyone in need. They also helped with the transport of our Sailors, dependents and civilians who evacuated the island.”
    Today, the district has many of its Division 7 Sailors reassigned throughout the command at various stations in South Florida. Puerto Rico is regaining electricity in many of its cities, but many cities are still in the infantile stages of recovery.
    Our recruiters on the island still continue to thrive and look forward to recruiting the nation’s best and brightest once they are given the ok by Navy Recruiting Command. As the team works to regain a sense of normalcy, they continue to shine in the face of adversity.
    Puerto Rico is part of NRD Miami’s Division 7, which consists of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The territory assigned to the district spans 54,252 square miles in Florida, 3,515 square miles in Puerto Rico and 133 square miles in USVI. Puerto Rico is 23 percent of the market territory.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 11.16.2017
    Date Posted: 11.16.2017 17:42
    Story ID: 255607
    Location: SAN JUAN, PR

    Web Views: 218
    Downloads: 0

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