NORFOLK, Va. – Sailors from Norfolk area commands attended a Carrier Strike Group Religious Ministry Team conference at Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet Maritime Headquarters, March 15.
“This is the first-ever predeployment and post deployment combination brief,” said Martha MacKenzie, chief religious programs specialist, C2F’s RMT coordinator. “This training was great for teambuilding and to see how we can make RMT more adaptable to global changes.”
The goal of the conference was to promote effective and open dialogue among RMT’s and to capture lessons learned, so they can continue to develop quality religious accommodations that enhance strike group mission and readiness.
One example showed how USS Harry S. Truman RMT, in support of mission readiness, provided invaluable support to the sailors of the strike group through multiple schedule changes, certifications, and numerous underway times to support the strike group mission.
“As a team we focused on unit-level brilliance on the basics to our Sailors by providing quality worship experiences, getting them access to religious sources and materials, providing mid-week Bible studies, and being there when a sailor needed someone to talk to,” said Cmdr. Jerome Hinson, Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group chaplain.
Vice Adm. Daniel P. Holloway, 2nd Fleet commander, knows that chaplains and religious programs specialists have the tools in place to take care of sailors and get them through those tough times.
“In one good visit to a chaplain a chronically depressed Sailor can be turned around for the better. It just takes one visit to change that Sailor around,” said Holloway.
According to RP1 (SW) Michaella Saffa-Wuya from Truman RMT, it was nice to hear firsthand the admiral’s thoughts and his awareness of issues that impact the fleet.
“This was very beneficial to me because the admiral thanked us for what we do, which was nice,” said Saffa-Wuya. “He understands how much stress the sailors and their families go through and is well aware of some of those issues and provided some good insights for us as well.”
The training provided chaplains and religious programs specialists a chance to network with each other and ask tough questions so they are better able to solve problems now before anyone deploys on a ship or as an Individual Augmentee Sailor.
One of the major challenges Truman’s RMTs faced during deployment was having a chaplain onboard each ship in the strike group at least once every fifteen days.
“After crossing the Suez Canal the strike group splits up and people go everywhere, and that huge piece of geography has to be dealt with,” said Hinson “Gone are the days where ten ships streamed close by the aircraft carrier, and it was easier to take a helicopter to multiple ships on Sundays for services.”
Chaplains and religious programs specialists from USS George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group RMT interacted with their peers from the Truman on what they could do better for their deployment by sharing ideas how to provide great customer service to the strike group.
“Training was very productive in not only building camaraderie with everyone, but also getting firsthand knowledge of what the Truman went through so we can better prepare ourselves for our own deployment,” said RP1 (SW/FMF) Dana Saunders, George H.W. Bush RMT.
The overall theme of the conference was to put names with faces, and to get information to formulate a successful plan.
“The predeployment portion of the brief was to help chaplains and religious programs specialists going forward to understand the challenges they will face in theater and expectations that can be put upon them, especially during missions the strike group will be preparing for,” said Cmdr. Wayne Macrae, Second Fleet chaplain. “The post deployment portion of the brief was the best way to capture and process experiences from a unit returning from a deployment and share those with their peers going forward.”
| Date Taken: |
03.17.2011 |
| Date Posted: |
03.17.2011 10:00 |
| Story ID: |
67211 |
| Location: |
NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, US |
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