Photo By Bruce Cummins | PENSACOLA, Fla. – Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola Sailors process incoming service...... read more read more
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Story by Mass Communications Specialist Seaman Apprentice Jon Jezreel Japay Andres
PENSACOLA, Fla. – Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola’s Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC) activated its Emergency Family Assistance Center (EFAC) Oct. 25 at the installation’s Navy Inn in response to a Naval Station Guantanamo Bay non-mission essential personnel movement.
The EFAC, a temporarily activated entity in response to an event causing relocation through which service members and eligible beneficiaries can receive disaster relief services and information, essentially serves as a one-stop shop. Controlled by NAS Pensacola’s FFSC, several installation departments and community mutual aid partnerships such as the Pensacola-area American Red Cross were involved in the ongoing evolution.
‘About 864 [Naval Station] Guantanamo Bay service members, family members and contractors were part of this non-mission essential personnel movement, and each individual has a series of questions which we were able to answer,” said NAS Pensacola FFSC Director R. Train Hatton. ‘From lodging and accommodations to emergency orders to getting needed items, we were able to successfully in-process and direct these displaced members of our Navy family to the appropriate resources.’
Along with NAS Pensacola’s Unaccompanied Housing employees, staff from the Navy Lodge; Navy Inn; the Navy Exchange (NEX); Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) Child and Youth Programs; the NAS Pensacola Religious Ministries; and Legal; other organizations such as the Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society (NMCRS) and off installation organizations including the American Red Cross played a pivotal role in ensuring the arriving eligible beneficiaries were aware of available resources.
Hatton said the streamlined process during the two-day non-mission essential personnel movement involved the intake those displaced and ensuring they were made aware of services. FFSC employees directed arriving personnel to areas where they were able to discuss their unique situations and receive information or resources. Hatton said the EFAC focus centered around recovery and ensuring every arriving displaced individual had the resources needed.
'This is a response-centric evolution,” he said. “Our coordinated response is part of the recovery phase of an incident, and we’re able to focus not on the event itself but on the support of the service members and their families.'
NAS Pensacola Commanding Officer Capt. Chandra ‘Mamasan’ Newman lauded the efforts of the installation’s departments, citing the efforts of the air station’s hundreds of service members and employees in coordinating the arrival of about 864 Naval Station Guantanamo Bay non-mission essential personnel.
‘Large-scale evolutions such as this are complex and the level of professionalism, compassion and willingness to help others during their time of need is something the NAS Pensacola staff takes very seriously,” she said. ‘So many of our employees, service members and volunteers were crucial to the overall success of relocating these members of our Navy family, and I couldn’t be prouder of their efforts.’
NAS Pensacola, the only Navy installation in the Gulf with both a deep-water port and active airfield, previously received non-mission essential personnel during 2016’s Hurricane Michael, and also serves as a safe harbor for numerous U.S. Coast Guard and USNS ships during extreme weather situations.
| Date Taken: | 10.27.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 10.27.2025 09:58 |
| Story ID: | 550455 |
| Location: | PENSACOLA, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 207 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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