NMCSD’s DFA Sailor 360 Program Donates Holiday Care Packages

Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Luke Cunningham | 201204-N-LW757-1033 SAN DIEGO (Dec. 4, 2020) Members of Naval Medical Center San Diego's (NMCSD) Directorate for Administration (DFA) Sailor 360 program load holiday care packages for Sailors assigned to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt's (CVN 71) Medical Department into a vehicle Dec. 4. The care packages included food, candy and other items to boost Sailors' morale during the holiday period. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has changed the way many facets of healthcare are conducted, and NMCSD has adapted some of its techniques and practices to keep both staff and patients safe while delivering the high-quality healthcare they’ve come to expect. NMCSD’s mission is to prepare service members to deploy in support of operational forces, deliver high quality healthcare services and shape the future of military medicine through education, training and research. NMCSD employs more than 6,000 active duty military personnel, civilians, and contractors in Southern California to provide patients with world-class care anytime, anywhere. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Luke Cunningham)  

SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES

12.04.2020

Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jacob L. Greenberg 

Naval Medical Center San Diego

SAN DIEGO – Sailors assigned to Naval Medical Center San Diego’s (NMCSD) Directorate for Administration (DFA) Sailor 360 program collected holiday care packages for Sailors in the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt’s (CVN 71) Medical Department Dec. 4.
The care packages included food, candy and other items to boost Sailors’ morale during the holidays.
“DFA’s Sailor 360 personnel agreed that we wanted to positively impact Sailors’ lives during the holidays,” said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Daniel Eskenazi, NMCSD’s command master chief’s executive assistant. “The holiday period may be rough for some Sailors, and especially hard for those that can’t take leave due to COVID-19 or shipboard duties. We wanted to make sure that those Sailors are remembered, and we were thinking about them. We’re paying it forward the same way most of us got [holiday care packages] while we were deployed.”
After collecting the holiday care packages, representatives from NMCSD’s DFA Sailor 360 program drove them to Naval Air Station North Island, where Theodore Roosevelt is moored. One of NMCSD’s DFA Sailor 360 members has a family member aboard that ship.
“My husband is aboard Theodore Roosevelt,” said Logistics Specialist 2nd Class Imogen MacCarthy, NMCSD’s warehouse assistance leading petty officer. “They’ve quarantined before Thanksgiving and won’t be spending the holidays at home with their families. This is our way of saying ‘thank you’ to those Sailors.”
Sailor 360 is a leadership training program designed to enrich Sailors’ professional development.
“If you’re at the tip of the spear, doing your time at sea, it’s the job of the rest of us, here ashore, to support you how ever we can,” said Eskenazi.
This is just one of many examples of Sailors helping their shipmates and spreading holiday cheer.
NMCSD’s mission is to prepare service members to deploy in support of operational forces, deliver high quality healthcare services and shape the future of military medicine through education, training and research. NMCSD employs more than 6,000 active duty military personnel, civilians and contractors in Southern California to provide patients with world-class care anytime, anywhere.
Visit navy.mil or facebook.com/NMCSD for more information.

• Date Taken: 12.04.2020
• Date Posted: 12.07.2020 18:41
• Story ID: 384269
• Location: SAN DIEGO, CA, US