What NSW is doing to build the resiliency of our warfighters and their families

NAVAL SPECIAL WARFAREISSUE 2

WHEN OUR OPERATORS and mission-critical support

personnel redeploy, they undoubtedly bring home a range

of emotions: pride, relief, perhaps even anger or anxiety. The active duty

leadership does not have an intuitive understanding of the potential long-term

impact of sustained combat operations. The military has not been exposed to this since the

Vietnam era, and consequently, we have not developed the leadership instinct to read between

the lines. The bottom line is we know enough to know we don’t know enough. We are committed to

getting this right for all NSW personnel, both active and reserve, to include their families.

In regard to families, they deserve every advantage we can give them. They hold down the home front and deal with any situation that arises when their family member is forward deployed in the combat zone. Our families are strong and take on their personal issues as a challenge to work through independently. But it’s not always enough.

The Navy has long recognized the challenges facing Sailors and their families caused by long deployments such as financial stress and marital estrangement. That’s why we have institutions, such as the local Fleet and Family Support Center, that deal with the recurring general issues that transcend all branches of the military. However, the unique nature of conducting special operations may create stresses not always addressed with these broader service institutions.

While NSW has found ways to provide support for combat stress, only recently have the families come into sharper focus as an important factor in the readiness of the force. Simply put, if things ain’t right at home, they won’t be right

in the operational environment either. This community, OUR community, rides on our

families. We owe them a back-up plan, something that isn’t already in their

kit bag, some real assistance to address evolving issues. S

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Ethos is an authorized official production of the Naval Special Warfare Command Public Affairs Office, 2000 Trident Way, San Diego, Calif. 92155-5599. Send electronic submissions and correspondence to editor@navsoc.socom.mil or call (619) 522-2825.

PRODUCTION MANAGER > MC1 (SW/AW) Andre Mitchell ART DIRECTOR > Ms. Mandy McCammonLAYOUT/DESIGN > MC2 (PJ) Michelle KapicaSTAFF > MC2 (SW/AW) Arcenio Gonzalez, MC2 (SW) Shauntae Hinkle, MC2 (SW/AW) Erika Jones, MC2 (SW/AW) Dominique Lasco, MC2 Christopher Menzie

COMMANDER > Rear Admiral Garry BonelliFORCE PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER > Commander Gregory Geisen

DEP. PAO/EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS > Lieutenant Nathan PotterDEP. PAO/INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS > Ms. Patricia O’Connor

EDITOR > MCCS (SW/AW) Scott Williams

With that in mind, Naval Special Warfare Command is implementing a new program to help create balance and a sense of partnership and support for the active duty members and families. It’s a brand new initiative that will take a scientific approach to comprehensively identify, assess, educate and mitigate the stresses that throw things out of whack. It’s called the NSW family resilience program.

We don’t want a program so we can say we have a program. We want to develop functional capabilities that serve a tangible purpose. We need active lines of communication – direct interaction – so we can apply the support measures to the community in a way that provides real value. We need direct involvement across all lines and ranks to say what is good, bad, right, wrong, or not useful or practical. That means going to the appropriate meetings routinely and establishing the relationships for effective communication on the right subjects. Inside this issue of Ethos you will discover what this program is all about and how it can make a difference.

Another big topic on the minds of leadership these days is diversity. People may have preconceived notions about what that term means, but here at NSW we are concerned with how we can improve our diversity to improve our operational capability. We want the best people we can find, and we’ve got to try harder to find them. We need to reach out and broaden our effort to inspire the right individual with the right characteristics or traits, to bolster our efforts forward. It all comes down to combat effectiveness. So we’ve launched a new initiative called the NSW Diversity Enterprise. We’ve asked some experts in the field to advise us as we move forward in this important human resources area. We will introduce this program in this edition of Ethos, and you can expect to see more details coming in the future.

The people of Naval Special Warfare have always had the moral courage to think unconventionally to solve problems on the battlefield for success. Now we need to apply that flexible “can do” thought process to issues indirectly related to the front lines while maintaining our expert operational and tactical proficiency forward. Let’s lean forward on this and move out as we do with any challenge presented to the community – by keeping an eye on these emerging priorities for the future.

ETHOS 1Cover art: Photo illustration by MC2 Arcenio Gonzalez. Back cover: Photo by MC1 James ClarkSpecial thanks to Miss Demeter’s 3rd grade class, Central Elementary School, Escondido, Calif.

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Since 9/11, our community has been at war. Our SEALs, our SWCCs, our techs, our families. Sailors, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, men and women are experiencing a level of continuous stress that has been both unforseen and diffficult to bear. Last year, NSW in conjunction with BUMED developed a multi-faceted inititive that will allow us to not only deal with the stresses of war for our warfighters, but aim our sights at research and prevention for every one of our warriors and their families. It is an unprecedented effort to not only treat stress, but to build our resiliency against it and where we can, prevent it altogether.

aval Special Warfare, in collaboration with the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) has initiated an

unprecedented program in an effort to improve combat care and resiliency of service members and their families.

The goal is to proactively help NSW deployers and their families throughout their deployment cycles and their careers become more resilient and deal with stress in an effective way.

Spearheaded by former NSW commander, Rear Adm. Joseph Kernan, the first official meeting for NSW and its component commanders was held May 1, to discuss the four initiatives within the program.

“In our community, our people are our assets,” said Kernan during his opening remarks. “I don’t know of a community that puts more value in their people. What we are committed to is the health and welfare of our members and their families. We have brought together what is I hope the finest team we could.”

These major initiatives resuted from a culmination of research and ideas from NSW doctors and psychologists and meetings with BUMED, assessing where the community wanted to focus its efforts and where the greatest needs were. In October 2007, Kernan met with Vice Adm. Adam Robinson, Surgeon General for the Navy, and discussed the continuing amplified operational tempo and behavioral issues the community was facing and NSW’s needs. As it happened, Navy medicine was granted funds from Congress in June 2007 to support psychological health and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) programs. BUMED decided it would work with NSW to find programs that would meet the needs of its warfighters and their families.

BUMED allocated $8.3 million to the program and began looking for companies that would be able to help NSW meet its goals.

Force Medical Officer, Capt. Jay Sourbeer, compiled a group of subject matter experts within the community to determine needs and goals.

“We spent four days in a room together hashing out what exactly our goals were,”

Sourbeer said. “Between the doctors, psychiatrists and operators, we laid out an initial plan for the admiral on where we wanted to focus our efforts in combating combat stress not only with our Sailors, but with their families as well.”

The result was a plan that included surveys and studies that would allow the command to assess the needs of the Sailors and their families, resiliency and stress management programs that would be open to every family member, Sailor, reservist or IA who needed it, and research and studies on the causes and effects of TBI.

The first initiative, the NSW Family Needs Assessment, began in April. In order to reach the families and assess what areas they felt they could use assistance, Sourbeer, and his staff worked with the Center for Military Relationshps and Families and the University of California, Los Angeles to create a survey and conduct a series of discussion groups for service members and their families that focused on deployment schedules, stress and overall health. Kernan emphasized to all his component commanders the importance of the survey in a letter and message, encouraging maximum participation. Once completed, the Center for Military Relationships and Families conducted the survey and provided a report to the command.

“This work is so important in order to truly find out what are the needs of our community,” explained Cmdr. Lanny Boswell, an NSW medical officer who has been working with the program since its inception. “Families are dealing with so many different issues. This survey will bring them to light and then we can develop a way to address them.”

The Center for Military Relations and Families will work with UCLA in compiling the results and using them to develop programs that will assist the NSW community.

The second initiative, Project FOCUS, which stands for Families OverComing

Under Stress, is a program spearheaded by UCLA Center for Community Health and is focused on resiliency training for military families with children.

The staff for the West Coast Project Focus team will be housed on base in the chaplain’s office and will help families cope with the challenges of multiple deployments stress and physically or psychologically injured service members. The East Coast Project FOCUS team will have its office on Fort Story.

“One of the main benefits of FOCUS is that is it customized to each person’s needs,” explained Wally Graves, the family support coordinator for NSWG-1. “Through focus groups, interviews and outreach briefings, we can find people in need and manually customize training that will help their specific needs.”

The training consists of using developmentally-appropriate education, family resiliency skills such as goal setting, problem solving and emotional regulation, enhanced social support and addressing adversity.

“We feel a strong and resilient family is just as critical to the mental and emotional health of our Sailors,” Graves said.

NSWG-1 held a town hall meeting on June 18 to discuss the program with its families and encouraged everyone to take advantage of the services.

The third initiative is the Resiliency Enterprise, spearheaded by the Center for Military Relationships and Families, aimed at preventing and treating combat stress.

“Since 9/11, each Group within NSW has forward-deployed at least seven times,” Boswell said. “We have no idea what the long-term effects of that are going to be. We do know the longer period of time a person is exposed to stress, — be that stress from bills, relationships or combat, — the higher their risk for problems.”

“In the past, medicine has looked at treating combat stress and things like Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome in a very reactive way,” explained Sourbeer. “Our goal is to be proactive and build resiliency in the Sailors and their families before there is a problem.”

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IFE CAN BE HARD to adjust to after returning from war, but try adjusting after losing your eyesight. That’s what happened to Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Ryan Job in August 2006. Job had dreams of becoming a commercial pilot, but that dream died when he was shot in the face by a sniper’s bullet.

Job found out the damage to his optical nerves was too severe to regain his vision.

“I started thinking what I was going to miss out on,” he said. “I will never see my kids. I will never see my wife’s face again. I’ll never drive. It’s about the lowest low you can go. It wasn’t a huge surprise, but it’s still devastating to hear. It’s forever.”

Job received treatment from three different Veterans Affairs medical facilities before he recovered enough to return to his home in San Diego. But the welcome wasn’t as warm as he’d hoped. He found very limited opportunities for employment.

All of that changed when Job learned about the Sentinels of

Freedom Scholarship Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps members of the U.S. Armed Forces who have been severely injured in the line of duty to readjust to civilian life.

The program helped the Job family relocate to Scottsdale, Ariz., where they will live rent-free for the next four years. It also provided Job with a special computer allowing him to attend online courses to finish his bachelor’s degree.

“I’m not thinking about war anymore,” said Job. “I’m thinking about getting adjusted in Scottsdale and getting a job.”

Sentinels of Freedom Foundation is just one of many organizations committed to helping our servicemembers. These programs range from the Thank You Foundation that donates tickets for sporting events, to the Homes for Our Troops Foundation, that builds homes or modifies existing ones for handicapped access.

There are also programs that assist veterans with legal aid to ensure they are getting the help from the government to which they are entitled.

Family members are not forgotten. No Greater Sacrifice raises money to help fund education for the children of fallen soldiers. It raises money on behalf of charities that are already assisting military families such as the Navy SEAL Warrior Fund, the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, and the Naval Special Warfare Foundation.

It’s impossible to list all of the non-profit organizations that provide assistance to servicemembers and their families. The key is to identify a need and ask for help, just as the Job family did.

For more information on these and other programs contact your Fleet and Family Support Center, www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil or your local Veteran Affairs representative.

- MC2 Erika N. Jones

“It’s so crushing, you don’t

even know what you’re

thinking.”- Ryan Job, former Navy SEAL

The initiative will use various methods, such as surveys to look at individual Sailors and determine what specific areas of their lives are stressful.

Initially, the program will run only at Naval Special Warfare Group One in Coronado, and will serve as the baseline for an NSW-wide program next year.

The final initiative is aimed at learning more about TBI and how to prevent and treat it. TBI has become a serious concern for all services since the start of the war in Iraq because of the mass volume of explosions the service members are exposed to on a daily basis.

“We are taking guys that are normally very resilient and the proximity to explosions can alter their brain chemicals,” explained Boswell. “We need to take a look at what that is doing to them.”

“It’s difficult for us to determine the causes and effects of traumatic brain injuries because we have no baseline established. This is new territory for everyone,” explained Sourbeer. “Our initial goals are to create ways to test the operators before, during and after a deployment and develop a baseline for each individual person. We can learn to track symptoms, possible causes and treatments. We want to take our theories about TBI from subject matter experts and back them with some real scientific data.”

“We will remain committed to the health and wellness of our Sailors and families.”

- Mandy McCammon

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lmost 7,000 heavily-armored Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles have been rushed to Iraq in the last year. “They’ve taken hits, many, many hits that would have killed soldiers and Marines in up-armored humvees,”

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a recent interview.But an increase in the survival rate after serious explosions has spiked the number

of traumatic brain injuries that are occurring as well. The TBI initiative here at NSW will take a serious look into the much misunderstood world of traumatic brain injury.

“The most common cause of TBI in the military today is blast injury, which is poorly understood both in terms of mechanism of injury and long-term effect,” explained Cmdr. Robert Obrecht, clinical neuropsychologist and psychologist for Naval Special Warfare Group One. “Our goals are to; understand what is specifically causing the brain injury and its long-term effects; develop ways to detect blast-related concussions through proper screening; and study the long-term effects of blast injuries.”

When TBI is moderate to severe, the patients show obvious gross neurological and neuropsychological impairment that requires them to be transferred to a medical treatment facility,” said Obrecht. “But when it is mild, the patient’s symptoms are less obvious, leaving great uncertainty about a service member’s readiness to return to combat or training.”

The first part of the current plan at NSW is to conduct baseline and follow-up screening assessments at CONUS SEAL team facilities and to train the embedded corpsmen on the equipment to conduct in-theater testing.

“Ultimately, NSW commanders will receive objective neurocognative information to assist them in the return-to-combat or return-to-training decision-making on behalf of service members who sustain mild TBI,” Obrecht explained.

Another goal is to develop ways to detect blast-related injuries. If a service member is on patrol and is exposed to a blast injury, he may not show any outward sign of injury such as bruises or burns, but has still sustained a “real” injury, causing confusion and fatigue.

“Screening for and understanding mild TBI is a safety issue,” stressed Obrecht. “We need to assess the service member’s neurocognitive functioning before we send him out on a patrol with impaired reaction time and concentration.”

The final goal is to study long-term effects of blast injuries. “We want to prevent sending service members home with impaired mental function

and mental problems that may contribute to difficulties with their families,” Obrecht said. “We also don’t want service members being misdiagnosed and getting treatment as a psychiatric patients instead of getting treatment for their TBI.”

“NSW commanders need objective clinical information regarding the effects of TBI to make the best decisions for their service members and our goal is to give it to them.”

MILITARY FAMILIES ARE STAYING CONNECTED with the United Through Reading (UTR) program. The program gives deployed servicemembers a chance to send a message or a recorded reading to their children at home.

The UTR program is a non-profit organization founded in 1989 by Betty J. Mohlenbrock. Its sole mission is to build strong relationships between children and their parents by reading aloud. The program has benefited more than 143,000 families since the military adopted UTR in 1990.

Naval Special Warfare implemented the UTR program in March after military spouse and parent, Joette Seniff, contacted NSWG1 Family Support Coordinator Wally Graves. Within a few weeks, deployed servicemembers were being videotaped as they read stories to their children. The videos were mailed home and played to their children during the deployment.

“I thought he was really talking to me and it felt like he was right in the room with us,” said eight-year-old Blanchard Seniff. Blanchard was happy to see his dad on television and wanted to see it over and over again, he said. “When he started reading to us, he showed pictures and said, ‘Hi boys, it’s reading time!’”

The NSW family grows every year as does the number and frequency of deployments and Graves believes keeping family ties strong is vital to the success of a Sailor and the Sailor’s family.

“It’s important to keep family connections strong while our servicemembers are away,” said Graves. “This program reduces separation anxiety and keeps young children familiar with deployed parents through audio and visual aids,” he said.

“It does amazing things for their growth,” said McDevitt, the UTR’s national program manager for military. “Most importantly it gives the little ones a positive role model. Keeping families connected through reading is UTR’s main focus.”

It’s not uncommon for children to run up and kiss the television when they see their deployed parent, explained McDevitt. Reading along with parents helps children to develop a good rapport with reading and significantly improves their vocabulary.

The program doesn’t just benefit children, but the whole family.

“Our boys were so excited to receive our video in the mail,” said Suzie Thompson, a military spouse whose family received a DVD from her husband. “The boys smiled like the Cheshire Cat at the first sight of their daddy. When Dan started to read, the boys just sat and listened. The next day, we made a trip to our library to find the books so we could read along. I was in heaven watching my husband read to our boys. I had missed that interaction since he had left for this deployment. It felt so good to see and hear him again. It was a much-needed reassurance.”

According to Thompson, the program is a definite success.“There is no doubt in my mind that the UTR Military Program

is a very important program. Even though my husband was on the other side of the world from his family, he remained a constant figure in our home. Thanks to our video, we constantly shared a connection through reading.”

- MC3 Antonio Ramos, NSWG1

CORONADO, Calif. -- Elijah Siren follows along with his mother as his father, Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Terrence Siren, reads a pre-recorded bedtime story. Siren is assigned to Naval Special Warfare Group Three.

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ince the first UDTs made their appearance on the battlefield in 1944, and developing into what are now the Navy SEALs, they have been fighting at the forefront of every major conflict. Since then, more than 200 SEALs have given

their life in the line of duty. Men like Chief Carpenter’s Mate Ralph Blowers, from Endicott, N.Y., who was killed in WWII, to the recent fallen heroes like SEALs Nathan Hardy and Michael Koch, best friends who died together in Iraq on Feb. 8, have lived in the memories of the family, friends and teammates. Soon, they will have a formal monument that will stand as a testament to their sacrifice for all the world to see.

The National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum Association Board of Directors recently unveiled its plans to construct a memorial to SEALs and their predecessors who have died in the line of duty. The memorial, slated to be completed in 2009, will feature the name, date of death and BUD/S class of each person etched into granite walls. The memorial walls will be centered around a monument, commissioned by the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum.

“Currently, there is no monument or memorial in existence dedicated exclusively to the Navy SEALs and their predecessors,” remarked project leader David Godshall, former Navy SEAL and vice president of the Navy UDT-SEAL Museum’s board of directors. “Building a memorial to honor our NSW teammates who made the ultimate sacrifice is long overdue,” said Capt. Michael Howard, retired SEAL and executive director of the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum.

The official unveiling is scheduled for Memorial Day 2009. The ceremony will be open to the public, and next of kin and teammates are highly encouraged to attend. The names of the 220 memorial honorees are listed on the official Navy SEAL Memorial Web- site.

MUSEUM ANNOUNCES MEMORIAL HONORING US NAVY SEALS

HONORING FALLEN HEROES

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Building a memorial to honor our NSW teammates who made the ultimate sacrifice is long overdue.

- Capt Michael HowardRetired Navy SEAL

The memorial team is also asking current and former team members to submit information about any of the fallen SEALs. A kiosk will be constructed to display stories and photos of the honored men.

“What we are looking for are stories, swim buddy names, honoree nicknames, how to contact any of the families or friends, pictures and whatever else anyone can provide,” said Jan Albertie, member of the UDT-SEAL memorial team. “Any information will be

greatly welcomed.”Submissions must be received no later

than Dec. 31.The museum was recognized by the United

States Congress as the official museum of the US Navy SEALs. Representative Tim Mahoney (Fla.-16) recently presented the museum with the official legislation, which was signed into law by President Bush Nov. 13, 2007. The museum was dedicated in 1985 and since

that time, a continuous stream of history and artifacts has returned home to Ft. Pierce.

The Navy UDT-SEAL Museum is the only museum dedicated to preserving the history of the Navy SEALs and their predecessors, including the Underwater Demolition Teams, Naval Combat Demolition Units, Office of Strategic Services Maritime Units, and Amphibious Scouts and Raiders. Located in Fort Pierce, Fla. – the birthplace of the Navy Frogman – the museum promotes public education by providing the opportunity to explore the history of the Navy SEALs in an atmosphere of respect and honor.

For more information, including updates and how to participate in this event, visit www.NavySEALmemorial.net or contact Rolf Snyder at (913) 642-5134 or by e-mail at Rolf.Snyder@gmail.com. Anyone interested in submitting information for the kiosk should contact Jan Albertie at (408) 654-7900 or e-mail jalbertie@businessdesign.com.

- UDT SEAL Museum

ETHOS 9

than threatening signs” for the region. On May 15, Adm. Stavridis met with Latin American military

chiefs to reassure them of peaceful intent. “The 4th Fleet’s entire purpose is cooperation, friendship,

response to natural disaster, missions of peace, and counter-narcotics work, as is traditional,” he told reporters afterward.

“Our intent is not to colonize the area, as some leaders would believe,” Kernan explains. “Our full intent is to promote the tenants of democracy, which we firmly believe in. We want to help the security environment, and help them to take care of their own countries. All along the way, those things will encourage relationships and trade as we learn from each other.”

According to the Navy Office of Information, “40 percent of U.S. trade and 50 percent of oil imports are within this hemisphere, including more than 33 percent of U.S. energy imports. Also, half of Latin exports go to the United States.” Considering that most of the world’s population lives on or near the coastline, and that so much of U.S. commerce sails across the water, the Navy is a great resource in our country’s ability to build relationships and make sure the waterways are safe for transportation.

“As our security and prosperity are inextricably linked with those of others, U.S. Maritime Forces will be deployed to protect and sustain the peaceful global system comprised of interdependent networks of trade, finance, information, law, people and governance,” states the Maritime Strategy.

The new fleet has no ships permanently under its command. Instead, ships that cross into 4th Fleet’s area will fall under its responsibility. Kernan imagines only the potential for a flagship in the future, but doesn’t see it as a current necessity.

In the future, Kernan plans to stay in close touch with Naval Special Warfare forces working in the U.S. Southern Command range of operations. He similarly wants to coordinate with every U.S. agency that works in the 4th Fleet area, whether it is the Coast Guard, State Department, or humanitarian groups.

In Kernan’s words, “The sum of all those parts will have a great effect on what we’re trying to do in the region.”

-MC2 Christopher Menzie

Rear Adm. Joseph D. Kernan, commander, 4th Fleet

Economies, boosted by the prices of commodity exports, such as oil, soy and copper. Also, military spending in countries like Brazil, which has

seen an increase of 53 percent in its military budget this year. Oh, and the U.S. Navy’s focus on the region.

On April 22, the USS George Washington (CVN 73) visited Rio De Janeiro for UNITAS, a cooperative exercise between the U.S., Argentina, and Brazil. A week later, the USS Boxer (LHD 4) departed San Diego to reinforce bonds and provide relief operations to Latin American nations – Guatemala, El Salvador, and Peru. Also during the month of April, the Chief of Naval Operations, (CNO) Adm. Gary Roughead, announced a plan to re-establish the U.S. 4th Fleet, nearly 60 years after its dissolution.

“Reconstituting the 4th Fleet recognizes the immense importance of maritime security in the southern part of the western hemisphere, and sends a strong signal to all civilian and military maritime services in Central and Latin America,” Roughead said during his announcement. ”Aligning the 4th Fleet with our other numbered fleets and providing the capabilities and personnel are a logical execution of our maritime strategy.”

The strategy he refers to, “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower,” focuses on “building confidence and trust among nations through collective security efforts based on common threats and mutual interests.”

It’s a bold move aimed at sustaining a positive relationship with the Southern hemisphere as it grows; one that Roughead has chosen a two-star admiral and Navy SEAL — Rear Adm. Joseph Kernan — to lead.

takes the helm of historic

You heard it right. The Navy has chosen a Navy SEAL to spearhead a mission for peace.

Kernan relinquished his position as commander, Naval Special Warfare Command to Rear Adm. Garry Bonelli on June 20 and took command of 4th Fleet, based out of Mayport, Fla., on July 12.

“I am thrilled with the choice of a Navy SEAL for this important and expeditionary job,” commented Adm. James Stavridis, commander of U.S. Southern Command. “He is the right officer for the challenging tasks in the region, and he has a strong sense of theater security cooperation and interaction with our partner nations.”

“In our (NSW) community, we’re all about engagement,” said Kernan. “Engagement for us is all about going into a country, learning about a culture, and learning about local politics, and of course, their security environment. I will be an advocate of the

Navy getting close to these countries and even going ashore as opposed to staying far out at sea and only operating with countries on an ‘at sea’ exercise.”

Although Kernan has served most of his Navy career as a SEAL, he is familiar with the surface Navy, having served as an engineering officer aboard the USS Horne (CG 30) earlier in his career. He is the first SEAL ever to command a U.S. Navy fleet.

Kernan’s new job is an echelon-two command, where he must focus on 15.6 million square miles of water surrounding the Caribbean, Central and South American countries. Administratively, he reports directly to the CNO. Operationally, he is under Adm. Stavridis. Kernan notes that there

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Former NSW commander

“The mission this time is more of engaging with other countries and creating cooperative security agreements and has nothing to do with submarine hunting.”

USS Belknap (DD 251)operating within the former

4th Fleet AOR. Date unknown.

are no operational similarities between the 4th Fleet of old and the new one he is now commanding.

“The mission this time is more of engaging with other countries and creating cooperative security agreements and has nothing to do with submarine hunting,” Kernan said in reference to 4th Fleet’s original role.

The fleet was created in 1943 to protect vital Allied shipping routes, blockade Axis routes, and sink German U-boats in World War II. After the war, the fleet’s use became obsolete, and it was absorbed into 2nd Fleet in 1950.

“People need to understand that in each of the regions of the world, a fleet was assigned so that people could engage with the navies of other countries,” said Kernan. “Southern Command is the only area without a fleet. To raise a fleet makes our engagements with other countries more effective.”

According to Adm. Stavridis, the extra layer of support added onto U.S. Southern

Command “would allow a much better and more concerted response to problem sets that range from hurricanes to medical diplomacy to counter-narcotics, counter-terrorism kinds of operations. Speed is very important in all those scenarios.”

“It sends the right signal, even to people that you know aren’t necessarily our greatest supporters,” notes Rear Adm. James Stevenson, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command.

So far, that signal is being met with caution and skepticism by some in the 4th Fleet’s area of operations. In response to the fleet’s creation, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro wrote “The aircraft carriers and nuclear bombs that threaten our countries are used to sow terror and death, but not to combat terrorism and illegal activities.” Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, called it the “4th Fleet of Intervention” during an interview. Even in Mexico, one journalist from “La Journada” argued that the establishment of 4th Fleet signaled “more

or part of an organization engaged in combat (however loosely organized). Innocent bystanders, civilians, and others not in any way engaged in combat are obvious non-combatants. When referring to someone who we can’t intentionally kill or harm, the term non-combatant would also apply to anyone who is under our power and control, such as prisoners, detainees, disarmed or incapacitated terrorists who we have captured, — Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden (if/when we catch him) — in our custody, as well as people who might be enemy combatants but we can’t be sure. It is the moral duty of the warrior to not intentionally kill or harm these people, whether we like them or not.

How then, does the warrior distinguish a combatant from a non-combatant, or someone who is NOT a legitimate target, when terrorists live among and disguise themselves as civilians, and someone who appears to us to be a non-combatant today, may well be a terrorist tonight? What are reasonable efforts to protect these non-combatants? How much risk do we expect our warriors assume to protect the lives and property of people who may hate us, and who may be ready to take up arms against us whenever they can, but who are technically non-combatants? And when and under what circumstances may military necessity over-ride non-combatant immunity?

These are not simple questions, and they have no easy answers. It is important however, that we do ask these questions and struggle with the associated issues before we are suddenly confronted with a decision that has to be made right now to shoot or not shoot, kill or not kill. JAGs help soldiers and commanders with the legal ramifications and nuances of applying non-combatant immunity, discrimination, and proportionality to specific circumstances. JAGs also provide guidance to help warriors determine what actions can legitimately be taken, to include violence, arrest, or detention when confronted with a non-combatant who the warrior considers a likely threat, but who may not be demonstrating hostile intent right now. But morality and legality are not the same, and the JAG is not the

warrior on the street or in battle who must make the decisions on the spot. The warrior must understand the principles upon which the JAG tries to make his interpretations. The JAG and the rules of engagement he prepares can never anticipate all or even most of the circumstances the warrior will face in combat.

It is fundamental to our moral maturity as warriors to understand that our moral, legal, and professional obligation requires us to do the best we can to protect non-combatants,

and this means that we must be ready to assume risk to do so. Warriors who seek to hold on to their humanity while engaged in the violence of war constantly struggle to balance the duty to protect non-combatants, against the dictates of mission and the obligation to protect their own troops. In the heat of battle, and with the best of intentions, it is easy to make mistakes. Every warrior of conscience, who has made decisions in which non-combatants have suffered, been injured or killed, has afterwards asked himself whether he really did all that he could to prevent unnecessary death and injury to non-combatants. This is healthy and necessary. And next time, he will (he must) again, do the best he can.

The obligation to protect non-combatants is particularly incumbent on SOF, because SOF are America’s most effective combatants when it comes to applying violence in a discriminating

and proportionate manner and the ability to work effectively and morally in the difficult gray areas. America spends millions of dollars to train the SOF warrior to fulfill his mission for maximum effect, with as little killing as possible. Our nation chooses to send its best trained and most discriminating warriors to fight in the most ambiguous and difficult environments. It is part of the warrior/diplomat identity of SOF. When in doubt, anyone can overload; SOF are expected to get the job done with the least

amount of violence, discretely, and intelligently applied. Every member of the US military is required to fight effectively,

and minimize harm to non-combatants. The SOF warrior/diplomat is expected additionally to have the training, experience, understanding and wisdom to appropriately deal with those who fall in between — people who may or may not be innocent, but whom he is required to protect. Precision, experience, intelligence, moral maturity — these are what America expects of our SOF warriors. If it were easy, anyone could do it.

Bob Schoultz retired from the Navy in 2005 after 30 years in Naval Special Warfare. He is currently the director of the Master of Science in Global Leadership Program at the University of San Diego.

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his is a short article on a very complex subject I will seek to provide a brief primer

on the fundamental principles of ethics on the battlefield, then

briefly discuss some of the difficulties of these principles in today’s conflict. Finally, I will note how SOF in particular should be even more concerned with these principles than other conventional, or general purpose forces.

The discussion of military ethics on the battlefield begins with the fundamental principle of non-combatant immunity. Non-combatant immunity requires the warrior to make all reasonable efforts to protect non-combatants from the violence and destruction of war. Non-combatant immunity has two supporting principles: discrimination and proportionality. In doling out death and destruction in warfare, the principle of discrimination requires the warrior to distinguish between combatants and non-combatants in battle, and to target only combatants. Discrimination and non-combatant immunity include the prohibition against ever intentionally killing or harming non-combatants. When military necessity makes harm to non-combatants unavoidable, due to proximity to ‘legitimate’ military targets, such as enemy combatants, infrastructure, support activities, etc., the warrior must consider the principle of proportionality. When harm to non-combatants is unavoidable, it

must never be intentional, and it should be proportional to the value of the military target. In other words it may be proportional to cause unintended, but likely, harm to a non-combatant near a terrorist as we target that terrorist, but it does not meet the stipulations of proportionality to destroy a village or neighborhood to kill a terrorist hiding there.

Those, in a nutshell, are the fundamentals of professional military ethics in war. The hard part clearly lies in applying these principles in practice. Currently our enemies seek to use our efforts to protect non-combatants as a tool against us. They know that we seek to not harm non-combatants, so they seek to look like non-combatants. They know that we will avoid non-proportional responses to their actions, so they will hide in crowds and in populated areas. When our enemies act and look like non-combatants, we have to ask, just who is a non-combatant?

Probably the greatest practical and ethical challenge in irregular warfare is discriminating between combatants, who are legitimate targets, and non-combatants who are not. This is not easy for the warrior on the ground (or at sea or in the air), for the Judge Advocate General (JAG), or even for the academic theorist. This is complicated by the reality that there are many and differing definitions of non-combatant, some with legal implications that may not have ethical import for the warrior in combat. In short, and for the purposes of what a warrior needs to know about who he can intentionally kill or harm, a non-combatant is anyone who is not engaged in combat

U.S. Army Pfc. Shayne Sanderson, of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, looks through his M-24 Sniper Weapons System while providing security in Tall Afar, Iraq, May 24, 2006.

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HE MEN WHO FILL THE RANKS OF THESE PLATOONS have proven themselves time and again, both on and off the battlefield, to be singularly driven, highly professional and dedicated to mission accomplishment. Naval Special Warfare’s reputation of excellence and professionalism is directly tied to the past and present performance of its individual operators at the platoon level. However, though the two terms “SEAL” and “NSW” are often used synonymously, there is quite a bit more to Naval Special Warfare than the SEAL teams.

If SEALs can be considered the action arm of Naval Special Warfare, then combat-support Sailors comprise the supporting “bones” of that arm. A large part of the success of any SEAL mission is due to the vast amount of support services that are brought to bear on behalf of NSW operations. From targeting to ordnance, from medical assistance to supply, SEALs rely heavily on the services provided by NSW support personnel.

An NSW squadron will typically deploy with roughly 300 personnel, of which only 120, or 40 percent, are SEAL operators. The bulk of deploying personnel are combat support personnel, whose primary mission is to ensure that each SEAL operator is ready from

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Builder’s Mate 3rd Class Adam Turbeville checks the plumb of a truss while working on the construction of a fellowship hall at Camp Ramadi, Iraq, Dec. 20, 2007.

by the SEAL operators is put to good use by a proper conviction.

Communications, the lifeblood of NSW operations, is covered by the Troop Information Systems Technicians and the highly-specialized personnel of the Mobile Communications Team. SEALs know that they can always turn to the MCT for technical expertise on advanced communications equipment for both in-field and Tactical Operations Center use.

A command primarily composed of ITs and ETs, MCT personnel are the experts when it comes to any electronic communications platform or information technology problem.

Their working knowledge of NSW’s communications systems comes from the large amount of training that they receive. Their initial training pipeline is 12 to 18 months long — but it doesn’t stop there. MCT personnel are constantly training, either conducting refreshers or learning about new technologies as they become available.

ITC Candy Shire, the MCT training department head said, “Due to the vast amounts of training that MCT personnel receive we have to screen prospective people wanting to come to this command. NSW can’t afford to lose these highly-qualified people once they have been through the training pipeline.”

During ULT, MCT personnel will often be requested to support comms-intensive blocks of training such as special reconnaissance. However, they usually will not attach themselves to the squadron until SIT.

Once on deployment, MCT can be expected to set up the various NSW TOCs, to include computer networks, radio base

stations, communication lines, unclassified and classified phone lines, and just about anything else that requires wires and a power source. When necessary, MCT personnel will depart with the SEALs on convoys or other operations to provide in-the-field tactical communications expertise.

The actual logistics of moving personnel and materiel across the battlespace is coordinated and delivered by the Combat Service Support Detachment. CSSD is a highly mobile and flexible component of NSW that provides SEALs a home away from home wherever they may go. Composed primarily of Seabees, CSSD can be counted on for the delivery of necessary supplies, camp build-up and maintenance, and the construction of just about anything that SEALs need to get business done.

According to Construction Electrician 1st Class James Hicks, the LOGSU CSSD LPO, “The quality of life that NSW personnel can expect while in-theater is a direct result of the efforts of CSSD. Without us, things could get pretty miserable; you definitely don’t want a generator to go down on you without CSSD support.”

area is frequently used as a starting point for tactical decisions.

In conjunction with the troop ISs, Cross Function Teams (CFTs) provide an invaluable host of resources that the Troops can readily draw upon. Due to the unique hands-on capability that CFTs provide, target processing time — from the gathering of information to the reality of SEALs “going outside the wire” — is much quicker than traditional methods.

In addition to their traditional role of providing force protection and physical security needs, troop Masters-at-Arms find themselves extremely busy processing and transferring detainees.

“A lot of what we do now in Iraq is police work,” said MAC Jimmy Miekosz, command master-at-arms for SEAL Team Seven. Once detainees are brought in from a mission, the troop MA begins the long process of gathering witness statements, collecting, organizing and marking items to be used for evidence, and completing the vast amount of paperwork that is necessary for detainee processing. The MAs transport the detainees to the local receiving facility and coordinate any further correspondence between the holding facility and the troop.

The overarching goal of the MA’s role is to ensure that the hard work performed

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Unit Level Training (ULT) and Squadron Integration Training (SIT) and will work to build a rapport with their respective troop by traveling with them on select training trips. On deployment these support personnel will move with the troop and will continue to fill their primary positions as well as taking on additional responsibilities that are unique to in-theater duty.

GMs, for example, are the subject matter experts on the NSW weapons inventory; everything from heavy machine guns down to the SIG Sauer pistol. If a SEAL has a serious weapon malfunction or a weapon failure that is beyond his capacity to repair, he knows he can count on the Troop GM to take care of the problem.

“Coming from a ship, I had a lot to learn about how NSW does business,” said GM1 Bernard Kindred, SEAL Team Seven ordnance department leading petty officer, “but I would recommend this tour of duty for any experienced GM who is looking for a challenging and rewarding work environment.”

Additionally, GMs prep and coordinate all troop ammunition requests, procure and report ordnance inventories, and draw the appropriate munitions and ordnance for the next troop exercise or operation. The GM’s will provide as much support as they can so that SEAL platoon ordnance reps can spend more of their time shooting, moving and communicating.

The HMs assigned to each troop are primarily responsible for all aspects of medical and dental readiness — immunizations, preventative medicine, health record verifications — as well as standing by for any sickcall needs. Each HM is a qualified independent duty corpsman, which allows the SEAL corpsmen to focus their training on combat casualty care/trauma medicine and sports-related injuries. During Professional Development (PRODEV) and SIT, as well as when they are overseas, troop HMs will cover high-risk evolutions

so that platoon corpsmen can train with their respective platoons — a huge benefit for platoon integrity.

Due to the asymmetric nature of counter-insurgency operations, troop intelligence specialists find themselves busier than ever providing targeting opportunities for the operators.

An IS will spend vast amounts of time researching and crosschecking hundreds of pieces of information with the intent of providing an actionable target/mission to the SEALs from an otherwise jumbled assortment of data. Though ISs do not advise on tactical considerations during mission planning, their analysis of the situation and knowledge of the target

head-to-toe to accomplish the mission and return to base safe — and be prepared to do it again and again. Though their work is typically not as high-risk or attention grabbing as a special reconnaissance or direct action mission, combat support sailors often find that they work just as many hours, if not more, as their SEAL brethren.

So exactly who are these hardworking NSW personnel? Many of them fall under Naval Special Warfare Logistics Support Command.

If LOGSU cannot fill all of the billets at a SEAL team, they will often pull from an Operational Support Team (OST), Naval Special Warfare’s reserve component.

For example, each SEAL troop (new term for task unit) will typically be assigned a gunners mate (GM), hospital corpsman (HM), intelligence specialist (IS), information systems technician (IT), master-at-arms (MA), operations specialist (OS), storekeeper (SK), and yeoman (YN). These personnel are usually attached to the troop throughout

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support and extensive communications support. During deployment, theater-specific requirements will determine whether the boat teams will deploy attached to the squadron or head to another location in support of the Global War on Terrorism. Regardless of the operational configuration, the Riverine Task Unit, composed of SWCC personnel from Special Boat Team 22 are finding themselves busy enough supporting multiple special operations units on the rivers and lakes of the virtually landlocked state of Iraq.

Other boat teams, deployed to Central Command and Pacific Command, are finding plenty of work in providing comprehensive training to U.S. allies. By teaching the skills necessary for the host nation to fight terrorism in its own backyard, SWCC personnel are making a direct impact on preventing the spread of terrorism in nations with moderate to high levels of political or economic instability.

Also in the NSW Squadron arsenal are the Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians. EOD personnel are regularly attached to NSW squadrons in 10-man elements.

EOD personnel conduct their own sustainment training but sometimes work with the SEAL teams, particularly during the arduous training blocks of land warfare, mobility, and close quarters combat. Integrating their training with the SEALs allows EOD personnel to learn the tactics, techniques, and procedures of the men that they will be working with overseas. Furthermore, it allows SEALs and EOD to become familiar with one another, which is especially important during deployment because EOD personnel are frequently called upon to head to the “front of the train” in a direct-action mission. EOD capabilities include the removal or deactivation of all types of ordnance, both conventional and unconventional, on land and underwater. They are the technical experts when it comes to any type of unexploded ordnance problem; anything from IED and booby trap clearance to suicide vest and car bomb deactivation.

EOD operators have proven themselves, time and again, to be extremely reliable in their work and highly knowledgeable about changing enemy tactics.

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There are many other ratings that support the teams. As one can clearly see, Naval Special Warfare is a robust, multi-faceted combat team. SEALs constantly train hard to shoot, move and communicate: they train, they deploy and they get the mission accomplished. At their side and behind them stand NSW’s finest combat support personnel who are similarly committed to mission accomplishment and the rewarding experience that comes from knowing they made a difference.

- ENS Christopher Sanchez, SEAL Team 7

A special boat operator secures a crate containing a Scan Eagle UAV to a truck ready for transporation to a high-speed MkV boat at North Island Air Station, Coronado, Calif., Feb. 4.

divers (NDs) who have a wide range of experience. The department works hard to provide regular diving requalification training for the SEALs as well as standing a rotating dive chamber watch that can respond to any West Coast diving-related medical emergency.

Although SEAL operators are given training on how to tactically maneuver their humvees in a combat environment, as well as how to care for and maintain them, there are some repairs that go above and beyond their qualifications. The solution to the ground mobility piece in-theater is

the LOGSU transportation department. The constuction mechanics and equipment operators who make up this department ensure that the humvees are ready to go at a moments notice. Considering the harsh extremes of the operating environment as well as the heavy use and abuse that comes with the nature of special operations, keeping the humvees in good working order is no small task.

When it comes to moving around on the water, the Special Boat Teams are NSW’s premier waterborne mobility platform. The special boat operators who comprise this distinct aspect of Naval Special Warfare power projection are the best in the business when it comes to small craft handling. Much like their SEAL counterparts, SWCCs have their own training pipeline and their own PRODEV and ULT phases of training.

During ULT and SIT the boat teams will work closely with the SEALs to provide insertion and extraction platforms, Visit, Board, Search and Seizure support, UAV

Aside from overseeing the day-to-day operations of the various NSW camps in-theater, CSSD personnel are regularly tasked with building innovative structures in direct support of counter-insurgency operations. From shelters for the protection of the humvees against harsh elements, to checkpoint stations along major coalition forces transportation routes, CSSD is there to get the job done even in the face of increased operational risk.

LOGSU air and diving departments provide the needed support to ensure that SEALs have the option of jumping or diving as a method of insertion or infiltration.

While at home, the air shop, consisting of roughly 10 aircrew survival equipmentmen (PR), is responsible for packing and maintaining 240 land and water static-line parachutes and 240 reserve static-line parachutes, in addition to nearly 300 free-fall rigs.

Though not typically engaged in CENTCOM operations, the air department maintains a rotating tour of duty to Guam in support of air operations for Naval Special Warfare Unit One. The level of support they provide to the teams during ULT and SIT is extensive. The department will run SEAL Team air weeks, support duck drops, water jumps, final training exercises, and will provide HRST/CAST Masters in support of helo or tower operations, all in addition to providing jump re-qualifications every two months.

The “dive locker” also supports the SEAL teams by maintaining and repairing equipment needed to operate in less than ideal conditions — more than 200 Draeger closed-circuit rigs and 120 open-circuit rigs, in addition to all of the accessory diving equipment.

Supporting six combat swimmer blocks of instruction every year in addition to other support requests from the SEAL teams, the LOGSU diving department always stands by ready to send a NSW Squadron out the door with any theater-specific dive gear requests. The department is composed of all Navy

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q Stand up a Force Diversity Start-up team to work on the NSW three-year plan.q Convene NSW Enterprise Diversity Executive Advisory Board.q CNSWC address component commanders.q Convene NSW Diversity Working Group summit.q CNSWC present NSW diversity benchmarks and plan to CNO.q Hire a force-wide, full-time diversity officer.q Submit a resource plan and associated budget to include Recruiting Directorate and echelon III requirements.q Release commander’s message to the force.q Implement pilot officer “outreach” program.q Move forward with a plan for force operational diversity.q Institute a diversity officer “slate.”

q NSW Force Diversity Leadership team achieves full manning.q Update diversity objectives for operational force.q Develop performance assessment to monitor diversity initiatives.q Implement force-wide diversity training.q Move forward with mature / persistent “out-reach” program.q Implement a mid-career mentorship program.

q Measure success of program by evaluating set goals.q Align SEAL / SWCC career path to include individual recruiting positions / efforts.q Assess “pillars of excellence” effectiveness.q Define and demonstrate multiple levels of NSW diversity impact.

the historically black colleges’ and universities’ swim programs and USA Swimming.

The NSW Recruiting Directorate, which focuses on enlisted recruiting, has developed various marketing strategies featuring NSW minorities. Additionally, they have put in place direct marketing programs — the SEAL Fitness Challenge and an in-fleet fitness preparation program. One of the most recent SEAL Fitness Challenges was held in Dearborn, Mich., which is an area highly populated with Arab-Americans. The in-fleet fitness program in Little Creek, Va., assists sailors who need help preparing themselves to qualify to enter BUD/S and SWCC Basic.

There are many things to take into consideration when developing a successful and effective diversity program. Our diversity program will be built on the “pillars of excellence.” We must be aware of what our people need to become successful. Programs such as mentoring and education must not only bring value to the total force, but of value to each individual who makes up the Naval Special Warfare community. In our growth initiatives, we must not only grow our numbers but our talent too. We need to implement outreach and recruitment programs that bring results that are operationally applicable and can be measurable.

Finally, quality — the cornerstone that makes our community great — must never be sacrificed or mitigated. Therefore, to understand if standards are being maintained, we need to identify correct metrics that are meaningful to the community. Additionally, when computing results we must insure good “data integrity” — collection to archiving — and that the measuring process is quick, accurate and repeatable.

- Capt. Richard Sisk (SEAL), Force Diversity Officer

What is NSW’s way ahead?

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The NSW three-year plan that has been briefed to and approved by the CNO is as follows:

aval Special Warfare’s diversity policy is to “ensure mission success in an environment that encourages and enables all Sailors and civilians to reach their professional potential. Increased diversity in our ranks enhances our operational

capability and flexibility, and better reflects the diverse nature of our country.” Bottom line is, to maintain the high level of excellence within NSW, we need to institutionalize a culture that fully leverages and values a diverse workforce.

To maintain quality and remain operationally relevant, NSW must “anticipate and embrace demographic changes” that are occurring in our country. According to R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr in the Harvard Business Review, “More than half the U.S. work force now consists of minorities. White males will make up only 15 percent of the increase in the work force over the next ten years.” And, within the next 40 years it is projected that there will be no majority race in the United States. Additionally, moving toward a more diverse work force and leadership team in the NSW Enterprise becomes an operational imperative as we continue to counter a global, asymmetric/indirect threat, while at the same time increasing the size of our force.

As the fight to gain and retain good people becomes more difficult, we need to remove barriers to diversity, demographically and operationally. These barriers can be broken down into three general descriptions: (1) tendency to “go back to the well” and recruit individuals from certain locations and organizations that have been successful in filling our ranks in the past; (2) various ethnicities perceive NSW is not a welcoming profession; and (3) lack of effort and dedication from our community to establish long-term, diverse outreach, recruiting and career-mentoring programs.

Diversity deals with much more than race and ethnicity; it also involves personal traits such as work/life experience, gender, mental/physical abilities, language/cultural astuteness, work style, and emotional intelligence. Diversity is not a numbers game. It is voluntary and encompasses an individual’s entire career. Also, it includes and involves everyone, and is built on what is best for an organization as a whole. Owing to this total inclusion concept, the nature of diversity must be built upon three “pillars of excellence”— our people, our quality and our growth. Like a three-legged stool that falls down if one leg is missing, all pillars must be in place and strong to allow NSW to remain the premiere special operations force that it is today.

Our people must be mentored, educated and treated fairly, enabling us to retain and promote our best and brightest. Our quality must be retained. As we strive to improve the “diversity health” of our force, we must maintain or increase the graduation rates in courses such as BUD/S. Finally, to grow diversity, we must add

additional resources to focus on external outreach, recruiting and education, and not burden or depend on what is currently in place and working. An old business adage says that to grow your sales you must first prevent losing your current business. This applies to our all our key accession programs.

What studies have shown, and in particular the latest one by the National Urban League entitled “Diversity Practices That Work: The American Worker Speaks,” is that there are five keys to a successful diversity program — leadership, training and reinforcement, recruiting, external outreach and long-term commitment.

Leadership. Leadership’s involvement goes far beyond the programmatic efforts. There is a personal commitment to diversity that starts at the top — with leaders setting goals (not quota) and driving the direction of the efforts over time, holding themselves and others accountable. Management review and succession plans must be forward-looking and diversity-sensitive. Leaders should sponsor diversity councils and affinity groups, promoting broad employee involvement in diversity programs

Training / Reinforcement. Effective diversity training increases diversity awareness and provides skills that can be used to improve combat readiness. A curriculum of diversity training and education begins with each new recruit and continues throughout a Sailor’s career progression.

Recruiting. Successful organizations have an established track record for recruiting people of diverse backgrounds.

External Outreach. Organizations succeed by extending diversity efforts and input to outside communities. Reaching back to diverse groups at younger ages and helping them with self improvement develops a positive image for everyone involved.

Long-term commitment. There is no simple, single answer to achieve progress in diversity. Diversity and inclusion are long-term strategies which require comprehensive and integrated management. Diversity efforts must be broad, strategic, and holistic in nature.

In December of 2007, an NSW Force Diversity Implementation team was set up to prepare a “way ahead” strategy until a Force Diversity Leadership team could be put in place and to prepare the commander, Naval Special Warfare Command for a diversity discussion with the CNO and Vice CNO. Also, a Diversity Executive Advisory Board, made up of outside experts and senior NSW leadership, has been established to advise the team on developing successful, sustainable strategies and create ties to diverse communities and outreach avenues. One of the officer recruitment outreach efforts being discussed is a partnership with

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What is diversity?

What’s the secret?

Diversity in NSW today

NEW YORK - A MK V Special Operations Craft pauses in front of the Statue of Liberty during New York’s Fleet Week, May 24. The craft,

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AS A COMMUNITY OF WORKERS, Naval Special Warfare (NSW) is represented by active-duty personnel, working alongside their reserve counterparts, and being supported by civilian employees and contractors. NSW’s employees vary in sex, age, race, responsibility, and service, yet we are all focused on one common goal — mission success.

Rarely in years past did people discuss their pay system and how it affected the commands’ mission. But in 2006, the Department of Defense implemented a new civilian employee system, the National Security Personnel System (NSPS). This system would change the way every civilian employee at NSW would be evaluated, paid and rewarded, and so the discussions began!

“The 50-year old civil service system was changed in an effort to better attract, retain, compensate and manage employees,” explained Jerome Halbig, NSPS manager for NSW. “It is a system that values performance and contibutions to the overall mission, encourages communication and promotes excellence in the workplace.”

Under the previous system, an employee was given an annual raise regardless of performance and could receive sometimes hefty bonuses based solely on their supervisor’s recommendation. The new system requires each employee to have job objectives aligned with their command’s mission.

NSW transitioned from the previous civil service personnel system to NSPS in January 2007. One of the real challenges, according to R. Wythe Davis, NSW comptroller, was dealing with the staff members’ fear of the unknown.

“In the first few months, there was quite a bit of training given to the staff and supervisors, but it was really more quantity than quality,” explained Davis. “The first time we ran a mock review (in June 2007), and gave feedback to the staff, was really the first time the staff began to understand the system and we made strides to improve it.”

Let’s give a quick overview of how the system works and how reviews and

payouts are conducted.At the beginning of every year, an employee

and supervisor come up with job objectives that are expected to be fulfilled by the end of the year.

The objectives must be aligned with the overarching mission of the command and be measurable. At

the end of the year, employees must write a self-assessment outlining how they feel they accomplished

their objectives and their supervisor must complete an assessment on them. The reviews are compiled and each assessment is reviewed by the command’s pay pool panel.

What’s a pay pool panel, you say? Well, it’s different for every command, but here at NSW, the panel was selected so that a senior member of each department was present to judge and advocate for its members. Since there are also single civilian employees scattered throughout WARCOM, a staff member was chosen to represent them. Once the members, compiled of both military and senior civilian personnel, were chosen, they chose a pay pool manager. Since a large portion of the pay pool dealt with money, Davis, who serves as the comptroller, was chosen as NSW’s pay pool manager.

The purpose of the pay pool is to review each job objective and assessment and assign a value to it.

If a person successfully meets their objectives, they would be assigned a rating of three on a scale of five. The poorer you perform, the lower the rating and the more you perform above your objective, the higher the rating.

How do you surpass your objectives?“There are many employees who ask me ‘how

do I do something that isn’t a job objective?’” said Davis. “But there are simple things you can do that would help your section and the command.”

One suggestion Davis gives is for every employee to create a desk guide.

“Creating the guide would take a few minutes a day and would be an invaluable tool in the case that someone had to do your job for a time,” Davis said. “Ideally, they could look at the desk guide they created

and be able to somewhat step in for you on a moment’s notice. Things like that are helpful to your section, the

command, and your performance rating.”According to Davis, the growing pains are lessening

and the system will work as it is designed.“In my opinion, in my nearly 25 years of government

service, this is the best rating system we have ever had. It allows the employees to have a voice, forces managers to

actually do a rating on their employee and every staff member gets treated fairly.”

- Mandy McCammon

NSW sees success afterfirst NSPS ratings cycle

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