Photo By Chief Petty Officer Lawrence Davis | 200229-N-GT710-0549 AUSTIN, Texas (February 29, 2020) Chief Culinary Specialist...... read more read more
FORT WORTH, Texas (March 5, 2020) – The life of a Navy Sailor isn’t easy. The task of finding a balance between maintaining a military mindset and career while also attempting to devote quality time and care to a spouse and children can be challenging for anyone. Now, add in the factor of also having a civilian job or career. Each of these areas being equally important, respectively command and deserve enormous amounts of attention and effort.
Navy Reservists know this scenario all too well. Some Reservists have analogized the importance of maintaining a healthy balance between family life, the military, and a civilian career to the individual significance of each leg on a three-legged stool. The degradation of one affects the others and ultimately renders the whole virtually useless.
This is by no means a new concept. Standing true to the notion of Sailors being its greatest resource, and remaining dedicated to perpetual improvement of its methods and practices the Navy continues putting programs, policies, and initiatives in place which support the well-being of its members. One of those programs established long ago is the Returning Warrior Workshop (RWW).
A component of the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program (YRRP), RWW is designed to help ease the transition of Active and Reserve Component Sailors returning from deployments and individual augments, also known as mobilizations.
As stated on YRRP’s website, www.yellowribbon.mil, “the workshop provides members with the opportunity to reconnect with their loved one, share their mobilization experience with others who also returned from mobilization, and learn about many valuable resources available to assist them with reintegration.”
Navy Region Southeast Reserve Component Command Fort Worth kicked off its first RWW of 2020, welcoming 58 Returning Warriors and 45 of their guests for a therapeutic all hotel room-expenses paid, three-day event at Renaissance Austin Hotel in Austin, Texas.
“We’re taking three days to celebrate the return of our Warriors who have mobilized in support of Uncle Sam and all of our missions worldwide,” said Commander, Navy Region Southeast Reserve Component Command Capt. Todd Perry.
“We had our keynote speaker kick things off and he spoke about encouraging others, about ‘writing your own story,’ being your authentic self,” said Perry. “All too often in the military we present a tough exterior and we don’t share some of the struggles, the human condition. We’re all struggling. So this event is about opening up. It’s about sharing our stories, listening to others, and providing that strength and connection in a network to help each other out.”
Comfortably dressed in business casual attire, each of the warriors and their guests sat at round tables in the hotel ballroom where they were given the opportunity to engage in conversations and get to know each other. The group also observed several presentations by guest speakers and former service members who shared stories about how they navigated their personal struggles as military service members.
Topics discussed included some of the difficult challenges encountered by former Navy Hospital Corpsman Dr. Catherine Warren, who revealed her struggles as a young, single mother in the military. Another subject of critical importance brought up by guest speaker and former Navy Aviation Machinist Mate Karen Alexandrou was the well-known concept of “As the Sailor serves, so does the Family!”
Keynote speaker Dr. David Anderson spoke at length with the Warriors and their guests about courage and resiliency, and shined light on an idea he called “same, same, but different.”
“Everyone experiences deployment differently; therefore, they experience reengagement differently,” said Anderson. “What we know for sure is that everyone has a story, and story is powerful. So, it’s within that story, and the hardship in our stories, and then being able to navigate that hardship, that helps us generate resiliency in our lives. So, we want people to tell their story, and for other people to hear their story because when other people hear their story then it normalizes them and we think that’s a big, big part of this weekend. It’s powerful.”
Navy Operational Support Center Houston Reservist Chief Culinary Specialist Araceli Segar, who recently returned from a one-year mobilization in Bahrain, and who attended the workshop, spoke about some of the key takeaways of her experience at the event.
“I’m not alone,” said Segar. “Everyone has gone through something whether it’s separation from family, a rough deployment, or not getting paid, I am not the only one and they have helped me try to resolve the issues and that’s the best part right there. I have never felt so supported.”
Former military spouse and Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program Specialist Roxy Carrillo expressed gratitude for having the opportunity to impact a community which she feels a special connection to, and explained some of the resources provided during the RWW event.
“We bring a lineup of resources that support military service members and their families: such as Military OneSource; Tricare; ESGR; and United Concordia,” said Carrillo. “We have a military family life consultant on site to provide counseling to anyone who may want to talk further about things they’ve experienced whether on deployment or during the transition of coming back home. We also have our Psychological Health Outreach Program on site as well as our Chaplains.”
Lt. Sean Decker, a Reservist assigned to Cryptologic Warfare Group Six, who attended the workshop, spoke about the importance of other Sailors’ need to know about the benefits of attending an RWW.
“Anyone who doesn’t know about the Returning Warrior Workshops, and you’re in the Navy Reserve, it is absolutely vital that you know that this is out there so that when you come back from a mobilization, you don’t struggle through all of these things on your own. The Navy’s got some great programs that can help us all,” said Decker.
The three-day workshop concluded with a full spread of breakfast foods, coffee and tea, and inspirational words from Navy Chaplain Lt. Cmdr. Elias Paulk, assigned as the 23rd Marine Regimental Chaplain.
“I want to bring a concept to you all,” said Elias. “You’ve heard of Semper Fidelis which means ‘always faithful.’ You’ve heard of Semper Fortis, ‘always powerful.’ There’s a number of different Latin terms we use to symbolize always faithful, always ready, but ‘S.E.M.P.E.R. Tough!’ is a concept I want to bring to you so that we are ‘always tough in all ways.”
Elias spoke to a PowerPoint presentation slide which listed the assigned meanings to each letter in his acronym of S.E.M.P.E.R.
“Whether it be: spiritually; emotionally; mentally; physically; environmentally; or relationally, we are always tough,” said Elias. “’S.E.M.P.E.R. Tough!’ always, in all ways of our life,” said Elias.
| Date Taken: | 03.05.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 03.05.2020 17:41 |
| Story ID: | 364587 |
| Location: | FORT WORTH, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 209 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Honoring Our Home Front Heroes: NAVREGSE RCC Fort Worth Holds Returning Warrior Workshop Austin 2020, by CPO Lawrence Davis, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT