VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Coastal Riverine Squadron 4’s (CRS-4) ombudsman was selected as a recipient of the 2018 Mrs. Sybil Stockdale Ombudsman of the Year Award on July 23, 2018.
Tiffany Croshaw, a Virginia Beach native, was selected from hundreds of ombudsmen serving all the sea commands part of Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command and was one of four recipients throughout the Navy.
“This command has a strong Family Readiness Group and the best triad I’ve ever worked with,” said Croshaw. “Working together is the most important part of a successful family readiness program.”
The award is named in honor of Mrs. Sybil Stockdale who supported the families of Prisoners of War during her husband, Vice Adm. James Bond Stockdale's internment in Southeast Asia. Each year ombudsmen are selected to receive the award for serving their command and families with extraordinary, selfless dedication and commitment to family readiness. Croshaw was nominated by the CRS-4 Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Bill Swinford, and Executive Officer, Cmdr. Michelle Korn.
“Mrs. Tiffany Croshaw truly plays a key role in CRS-4’s mission accomplishment, leading alongside us in a complex and widely dispersed organization. Her pedigree and amazing accomplishments made her the perfect candidate for this prestigious award,” said Swinford. “She is a welcoming, caring, and professional individual who has a natural ability to bring our families together.
She’s been a staunch supporter of our Navy families and an exceptional advisor to my command leadership team.”
Croshaw, a retired chief petty officer and Navy spouse, has been involved in command support and training roles for 16.5 years and feels that the role of the ombudsman is especially important in the expeditionary command structure. In addition to the new and experienced spouses coming into the command, the families coming from surface or air commands have to learn the nuances of service in the Navy’s expeditionary communities. Although their deployments are not like shipboard deployments, strong communication is still the key to helping families.
“If you don’t have that one person to communicate with the command, it’s difficult – even when they [Sailors] aren’t deployed, they aren’t home,” Croshaw said. “The ombudsman needs to be the person the spouses can rely on to provide resources and be available.”
Croshaw is also actively involved in the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) Family Readiness Program.
“She utilizes the NECC Family Readiness blog and assists in keeping our online toolbox updated,” said NECC Force Family Readiness Director May Jacobs, who also volunteers as the NECC command ombudsman. “The toolbox consists of government and civilian resources available to both active and Reserve Sailors and families throughout the Force.”
The Stockdale Ombudsman of the Year Awards will be presented at the Naval District Washington Ombudsman Appreciation Luncheon on 16 October 2018 AP style at the Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling Club.
For more information on NECC, the Coastal Riverine Force or NECC Family Readiness visit:
http://www.public.navy.mil/necc/Pages/default.aspx
https://www.facebook.com/NavyExpeditionaryCombatCommand/
http://neccfamily.blogspot.com/