Photo By Regena Kowitz | Chiefs from Naval Medical Forces Pacific take a celebratory selfie after the pinning...... read more read more
SAN DIEGO—Naval Medical Forces Pacific (NMFP) welcomed its newest chief petty officer, Chief Hospital Corpsman Rashanta S. Pippins, into the chiefs’ mess with a pinning ceremony, Jan 29.
The ceremony was the culmination of six weeks of training that started the day advancement results were released, announcing the Navy’s newest chief selects. During this time, Pippins met with chiefs from across the region to learn from their experiences, forge lasting bonds, build trust, and understand the responsibility that comes with pinning on anchors.
Pippins joined the Navy Reserves in 2012 and was assigned to Operation Health Support Unit San Diego. Since then, she has gone on to graduate from National University with a Bachelor of Science in public health and Master of Science in health informatics, demonstrating her commitment to excel personally and professionally.
Currently, Pippins is the NMFP assistant plans, operations, and medical intelligence officer and helps manage the region’s personnel assignments to medical platforms, such as acute care and rapid rural response teams, in support of the COVID-19 response. This includes the responsibility for ensuring that medical staff are forward deployable, fully trained, properly manned, and capably equipped to execute operational medicine responsibilities in support of the warfighter requirements.
And it’s her strong sense of responsibility, which has permeated both Pippins career’ and individual growth, that she carries forward as she assumes her role as a chief petty officer.
“Being a chief means we take care of our people, our Sailors, the Navy and each other. We set the example by being a leader, a subject matter expert, and the consummate professional. It is important that our Sailors know we are here for them and that they can trust us. Ultimately, ensuring we remain approachable and allows them and others to always “Ask the Chief,” said Pippins.
Due to COVID-19, this year’s chief season had to adapt to the new safety precautions set in place, which included limiting the amount of people who could gather in a group and wearing a mask at all times—two things that made the training more challenging than usual.
“Moving forward to join the CPO Mess it was important to learn how to function within a group” said Command Master Chief Howe. “We were trying to teach team concepts, while limited in our ability to assemble in teams. In the end, we persevered and all grew together as we adapted and overcame adversity and I am overjoyed we found a way to continue this process and celebrate Chief Pippins’ acceptance into the mess despite a major pandemic.”
Naval Medical Forces Pacific (NMFP) provides oversight for 11 Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Commands (NMRTC), on the West Coast and Pacific Rim that train, man, and equip medical forces, primarily in military treatment facilities. NMFP also oversees eight research laboratories that deliver cutting edge health and medical research to enhance the deployment readiness and survivability of our Joint Forces.
| Date Taken: | 01.29.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 02.10.2021 13:18 |
| Story ID: | 388781 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 49 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Naval Medical Forces Pacific Pins Anchors on New Chief, by PO2 Faith Taylor, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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