Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Quinton Lee | Capt. David Adams, Commander, Fleet Activities Sasebo, and Master-at-Arms Seaman...... read more read more
Commander, Fleet Activities Sasebo (CFAS) security department held its inaugural Master-at-Arms (MA) Ball at CFAS Aug. 26, 2022. The ball is the first of its kind on the installation, but not unheard of on other bases throughout the world.
“There is quite a significance to the MA Ball”, said Master-at-Arms 1st Class Jeremy Lynch, a leading petty officer of CFAS’s security department. “It started in the 2010s at both Strategic Weapons Facility, Atlantic and Strategic Weapons Facility, Pacific, Bahrain, and most recently Pacific Northwest bases in Washington state, or other MA centralized areas. The ball we are holding here in Sasebo is the first one to happen in Japan and we hope it will be held annually in the future.”
The Navy MA rating performs in and trains personnel in force protection, physical security, and law enforcement to provide waterborne and land security, aircraft and flight line security, strategic weapons and cargo security, maritime security and platform protection. It is one of the original United States Navy ratings, first established in 1794, disestablished twice before 1973, when it then finally returned, but only available to Sailors in the E-5 paygrade or above who transferred to MA from other ratings. The rating finally became available to entry-level applicants in 2003. The long history and significance of the rate has inspired some bases around the world, like CFAS, to throw balls in celebration of the work that MAs do year-round.
“We just got a 90 on the Command Assessment of Readiness and Training (CART)”, said Lt.j.g. Zachery Bixby, assistant security officer of CFAS’s security department. “That is hard to do and is almost unheard of. We crushed it and we’re super proud of the team and the hard work and effort that they put into it. I think that this ball is in recognition of the respect and the credit that they deserve.”
Through challenge coin sales, internal fundraisers and events, the CFAS security department was able to raise the funds needed to throw the ball.
“Fundraising was done through a lot of coin sales. Fortunately for the department, we have quite a few people that are into designing and making coins, which we took advantage of to help raise funds for the ball. The other ways that we were able to raise money were through booths at the July 4th and National Night Out events, and having internal fundraisers like Pie in the Face and parking spot raffles”, said Lynch.
The hard work required to execute the ball reflects the work that CFAS MAs perform each day to enhance the security, readiness and capability of the base. They directly support the base’s mission of enabling forward deployed U.S. and Allied Forces while providing a wide range of support to the CFAS families and the community.
“Being an MA is such a privilege and such an amazing opportunity for these Sailors,” said Bixby. “Without them, 7th Fleet is not mission capable at all. Their jobs are so important that sometimes I don’t know if they even realize it. They come in every single day and do what is sometimes a thankless job. We’re truly saying thank you to them by giving them the opportunity to have an MA ball. And for those that can't go this year because they're on watch, thank you for standing the watch.”
For more information, please visit https://www.facebook.com/CFASasebo.
| Date Taken: | 08.29.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.29.2022 02:16 |
| Story ID: | 428229 |
| Location: | SASEBO, NAGASAKI, JP |
| Web Views: | 166 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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