july 12 newsletter
TRANSCRIPT
FROM THE CO’S DESK
JULY 2012 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 7
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
CMC’s Call
Ccc news
4
4
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
OMBUDSMEN MEMOS
5
6
FRG
Chaplains corner
7
8
Around town
Crew Photos
MILIUS frontline
9
10-11
12
DEPLOYMENT RE-
SOURCES
13
USS MILIUS COMMAND NEWSLETTER
I’d like to extend my thanks to Deisy Saliva Castro for being our FRG President since before we deployed and to Kayla Newbanks who took over this month as our new FRG President. Thank you!! During the month of June, MILIUS promoted 43 petty officers, two senior chiefs, and two LTJGs. We conducted Medical Evacuation exercises and Visit Board Search and Seizure drills with Desert Hawk helicopters, participated in two major exercises with Air Force and Navy units, and conducted Approach and Assist Visits to talk to the local fishermen on dhows. We ran General Quarters Drills, Small Caliber Action Team Quick Fire Drills, Combat System Scenarios, Ballistic Missile Defense Exercises, Damage Control Drills, Engineer-ing Evolutions and Drills, and Seamanship Drills. We completed another Physical Readiness Cycle with no failures. We conducted Air Intercept Controller training with Air Force F-15s and F-22s. We endured the heat and humidity that comes with June in the Arabian Gulf. We had our final round of MILIUS Got Talent, and we had an extended port visit to Bahrain. While we’ve had lots of equipment challenges this month, the crew has persevered and worked through every one and we are all doing well!
Bravo Zulus:
BZ to S-3 Division for their hard work in maintaining the ship's store, keeping the vending machines stocked, and keeping Navy Cash working!
The Ship's Store raised $20,000 in profit for the trimester for MWR. S-3 Division tries to provide the crew what they want and need with the limited stock list in the Gulf. Of course, we can't make money without the crew, so well done to the crew for their support!!
BZ to CF Division for the excellent work restoring from a major SPY casualty, spe-cifically FC2 Litzenberger for the alignment of the D/PD cabinets, FC3 Sirois who can take apart and put together anything he works on, FC2 Beard for his attention to detail and insatiable desire to press forward and be in the mix of the action, FC2 Sigler for administrative support, RPPO work and putting the HVPS back together, and FC2 Skidmore for her leadership of the SPY group,
BZ to the First Class Mess for an OUTSTANDING Nacho Night!!
BZ to our combat team for success during the Joint Air Defense Exercise where I'm proud to report MILIUS was green across all areas graded. Specific well dones to FCC Allen and FC1 Harris for their outstanding work in preparing our portion of the exercise and in white cell execution. Both stepped up to the plate in STO’s ab-sence and absolutely hit the ball out of the park.
BZ to ET1 Quintana and LS1 Barnett on GLO Qualification.
BZ to CSSA Ford and CSSR Wilson. The Sunday Birthday/Father's Day cake was Seaman Ford’s second cake that he baked (they have both been very good). Also, CSSR Wilson did a great job cooking all the steaks Sunday. For two new seamen who just checked onboard, their talent and efforts have contributed to the well being of the morale of the crew. Well Done!
BZ to all the cooks on a Father's Day/Birthday Month meal! The cooks put on another wonderful Lobster, Crab Legs, & Steak Birthday meal where we celebrated both June Birthdays as well as Father's Day.
Great job to CG division! They successfully shot 2,215 rounds across two separate gun shoots with short notice. Although a gun shoot may appear and sound as easy as just pulling the trigger and pointing, CG division dedicates many hours of maintenance to each weapon system to ensure they consistently function correctly every time. Thanks to their hard work the guns talked!
Bravo Zulu to EM1 Magboo, EM2 Guzman, DC3 Merkelbach, FC2 Tanner, FC2 Modlin, IT2 Crowe, and EM1 Weay for their hard work in fixing the FWD VLS Recirculation Fan. EM1 Magboo identified an easier, quicker, and more cost effective way to correct the damaged FWD VLS Recirculation Fan Assembly. His nearly 20 years of experience working with those types of fans and motors was invaluable. After four hours in a hot, uncomfortable fan room with DC3 Merkelbach, the end result was the fan motor was replaced without having to take down VLS Blow Out ventilation, and eliminated the required removal of interferences which would have taken an extra day to tackle. Forward VLS and MILIUS are ready to answer the call thanks to their hard work and thoughtful repair efforts.
Bravo Zulu to GSE1 Delrosario, GSE2 Hu, GSE3 Ramos, and GSE3 Oleary for their dedicated troubleshooting and repair of NR 1 GTG. They fought through a complex electrical casualty and restored NR 1 GTG to operation late last night, putting us back at maximum equipment for GTGs.
Bravo Zulu to GSM1 Hubbard, GSM2 Soepangat, and GSM3 Garcia for cleaning one of the lube oil coolers for NR 3 GTG and noticing some degradation to the seawater piping. HT2 Willen made early morning repairs to the pipes and prevented its impending failure. Even though we had 2 GTGs available, their positive and effective response to prevent an impending casualty is allowing the rest of the engineers to continue with much needed maintenance on their generators. Well done!
BZ to EM1 Magboo for recognizing that NR 3 GTG was approaching an alarm condition. And BZ to GSM1 Hubbard and GSM3 Garcia for quickly cleaning the lube oil cooler. It’s never easy reporting a system degradation when you know it means more work for you, but it’s the right thing to do and prevents actual casualties from happening down the road. In this case, we are able to execute all tasking without worrying about lube oil overheating on a GTG. And good job to the EOOW and CSOOW organization for communicating and keeping our equipment safe. Everything was secured in accordance with proper procedures and in ample time to avoid overheating, keeping MILIUS at maximum war fighting capability.
Great Job to the Flight Deck Crew for a successful execution of training / exercises / DLQs all month. Great work!
BZ to the Engineers for a great day of operating in Beast Mode. A-Gang replaced an entire HP pump and pressure chamber on 1A RO and did all the rigging themselves, something that we would have an entire team of riggers do in homeport. Six weeks ago, A-Gang noticed a potential problem with 1A RO and took the time to CASREP and or-der the parts so they would be ready if and when it failed and we restored full water making capacity within hours.
Well done to combat systems and engineering for coordinating another efficient Scott Foam and agglomerator cleaning for our generators. Both GTGs were done in under two hours. Well done!
USS MILIUS COMMAND NEWSLETTER
FROM THE CO’S DESK CONT . . .
PAGE 2
BZ to ET3 McGrath for his tireless efforts last Wednesday troubleshooting our surface radar. He spent a greater part of the day with his hands in equipment taking readings to affect the successful repair of our primary sur-face search RADAR. His willingness to get the job done has restored MILIUS’ other set of electronic eyes.
BZ to EM3 Bataille for taking all the cruise book photos. He dedicated his time to take and edit them all and did a fantastic job!
BZ to OS1 Pacheco who received praise from USAF pilots and USN pilots for an excellent job as ASTAC.
Bravo Zulu to S-2 Division on fantastic hot plates/box lunches made for all of the helicopter crews to come to MILIUS this deployment. I haven't been counting but we must have made over 100 box lunches so far.
Well done to ET3 Reinke on an outstanding job during a General Quarters drill when she stepped up to take charge and train others as a Forward Battle Dressing Station member. In the event that something happens, it is comforting to know we have people like her on our team.
Bravo Zulu to GM2 Montoya for her awesome shots during UNREP. ONE shot ONE kill! Right on Target.
Sincerely,
CDR Nikki Bufkin
FROM THE CO’S DESK CONT . . .
PAGE 3 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 7
PAGE 4 USS MILIUS COMMAND NEWSLETTER
Hello MILIUS Families! Another month has passed by and we are moving into a critical time of deployment. The last 60 days are the most critical for several reasons. First, we have to resist the temptation of day dreaming about home and family and not concentrating on Safety and the Mission. Second, we have to adjust and prepare for homecoming. For the last 8 months we have been told what to wear, where to be and what to do almost every minute of every day thanks to our XO’s Plan of the Day (POD). At home we are going to be expected to make decisions that we have not had to think about for 8 months. Seems simple enough, do you want steak or shrimp? But something as simple as that may end up being the straw that broke the camels back when it comes to homecoming stress. The best way to prepare is to understand that this stress truly does exist and it is normal for BOTH the family and the service member to feel it. You’re Fleet and Family Service Center has information about homecoming stress and we will be addressing it here with your Sailors. Don’t worry, these next 60 days will be filled to the brim with work and time will fly until we are home with you! We are making the last push for ESWS and studying for advancement exams so we can advance even MORE on the fall exam cycle. Thank you MILIUS Families! I appreciate all you do. Take care!
Sincerely,
CMC
CMC’s CALL
FROM THE COMMAND CAREER COUNSELOR Aloha, MILUS Crew, Family & Friends,
Another month down and closer to home! “Navy issues guidance for Sailors transitioning from Active Duty to Reserve Compo-nent” NAVADMIN 179/12 outlines a new process for Active Duty and FTS Sailors transitioning to the Selected Reserves (SELRES) via PTS or ECTP to receive Navy Personnel Command (NPC) funded separation orders with an intermediate stop at their requested Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC). Sailor’s who receive a SELRES quota through PTS or ECTP must use Career Manage-ment System (CMS) to select a NOSC nearest to the area they intend to reside after release from Active Duty. A Reserve screening checklist will be complete with the Command Career Counselor and forwarded to the Career Transition Office (CTO) to ensure completion of all required enlistment and Reserve documents. Transitioning Sailors who complete this process at least two months prior to separa-tion will receive funded orders from their command to their NOSC where they will complete their release from active duty (separation) processing and Reserve affilia-tion. Under this process Sailors affiliating with a NOSC greater than 50 miles from their residence are authorized up to three days per diem while completing their ac-tive duty to SELRES processing at the NOSC. If you have any questions, please ask your Sailor. Aloha and Happy 4th of July! Sincerely,
NC1 (SW/AW) B. Baraoidan
Promotions LTJG Lewis LTJG Kirby Selection to SENIOR CHIEF. FCCS (SW) Chris Allen OSCS (SW) Lumarie Suders
Reenlistments IT1 (SW) Ray Ellison BM1 (SW) Lucky Hughes Navy & Marine Corps Commen-dation Medal MA1 (SW/SCW) Keith Sloan Navy Achievement Medal LTJG Christina Celline FC1 (SW) Derrick Wilson STG2 (SW) Xavier Varela SH2 (SW) Justin Saliva OS2 (SW) Averill Hamana Letter of Commendation STG2 (SW) Jerrica Johnson YN3 (SW) Joshua Beaty Enlisted Surface Warfare Special-ist (ESWS) IT1 (SW) Cory Allen FC2 (SW) Joshua Ortiz FC2 (SW) Murray Wilson STG2 (SW) Eric Hernandez OS2 (SW) Jeremy Perussi QM3 (SW) Robert Barnett FC3 (SW) Katherine Tannahill FC3 (SW) Sarah Mercer FC3 (SW) Paul Lycan
A big BRAVO ZULU to the follow-ing Sailors on their recent Reenlist-
ments, Advancement, Promotions and Awards:
Happy Birthday and Anniversary to all this month!!
July 4th - FREE Freedom Festival 3 to 9 pm NMAWC Bay
July 11th - FREE Groceries at BVH from 1:30 to 3:00 pm
July 14th - FRG MEETING MCYC
July 21st - FRG LEI MAKING PARTY
FREE Beach Movies at NASNI; Mon, Tues, and Wed (none on July 4th)
For more info call 619-545-24
FREE Museums; for more info check out the website
http://www.nea.gov/national/bluestarmuseums/toolkit-logo.html
* Annotates in-port, away from home port
—Blue highlighted boxes annotate underway periods
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There are many things to look forward to with homecoming just around the corner; the moment you see your sailor walk off the ship, children happy to have their other parent home and many other happy moments. This is indeed a VERY happy time for all of us, however, with it comes a few potential stressors. Keep plans and expectations realistic. Sometime through deployment we have all had that moment where we stop and think to ourselves “I wish he/she was here” or “she/he would really like this” and expect our sailor to want to almost immediately go out and do these things we thought they would enjoy while they were gone. Don’t feel hurt if your sailor wants to stay home for a little while and enjoy chilling out on the couch! You will get to do those fun things in time! Couples and families should work on resetting their expectations and roles for after homecoming. Relationship dynamics sometimes change during deployment so it’s key to keep those lines of communication open!
Return, Adjustment and Renegotiation
The return to home and family stage. The couples are back together physically but are not emotionally adjusted to being together. They still may feel distance and have trouble sharing decisions or talking to each other. Be patient, this stage will take time to complete.
Here are some suggestions: Husbands and Wives: 1) Need to refocus on the marriage- share experiences, feelings and needs and avoid forcing issues on each other. 2) May stop being "single" married spouses and start being married again. 3) May feel a loss of freedom and independence- feel disorganized and out of control as "deployment" routines are disrupted. 4) Need to renegotiate roles and responsibilities. Service members often feel isolated, unwanted, unneeded, which can cause arguments and hurt feelings for both partners. 5) Need to be aware that too much togetherness can cause friction due to having been apart so many weeks/months. 6) Need to begin to share the decision-making hat. 7) Need to increase their time to talk together and with the children. They may want to plan special activities of short duration as a couple and as a family. 8) Will need to progress slowly with desired sexual relations, which may fall short of expectations. This can be frightening and produce intense emotions. Spouses may feel like they are a stranger and can be hesitant at first about intimate relations. Be considerate of your partners feelings. 9) Need to allow sufficient time to court each other before true intimacy can occur 10) May find questioning threatening and see their partner as being judgmental and not just curious. 11) May miss the friends that helped them through the separation or who served with them during the deployment.
Reintegration and Stabilization
Sometime within 6-12 weeks after homecoming, spouses have stopped referring to "my" car, house, kids, and returns to using "we" or "our" and service members feel more at home, needed, accepted, and valued. Be patient! Ask for help, if needed!
1) New routines have been established and adjusted to by the family. 2) Both partners are feeling more secure, relaxed, and comfortable with each other. 3) The couple and family are back on track emotionally and can enjoy warmth and closeness with each other and their chil-dren
Please check out www.afterdeployment.org. Keep smiling and enjoying the sunshine because we are in the homestretch!
Your Command Ombudsman Team,
Teresa and Jeri
OMBUDSMAN MEMO
PAGE 6 USS MILIUS COMMAND NEWSLETTER
Ombudsman Info:
OMB Phone– 619.417.9980
Careline– 619.338.1754
PAGE 7 USS MILIUS COMMAND NEWSLETTER
FRG NEWS AND NOTES Greetings Milius family! Another four weeks have flown by, and the USS Milius Family Readiness Group is bustling. Here’s a look at what we’ve been up to and what we have coming up:
June kicked off with our first-ever beach cleanup. On the second of the month, a group of us sported our USS Milius shirts and roamed Gator Beach on Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in search of litter. We filled about 12 big garbage bags with trash and debris — getting it off one of our Naval beaches and into the Dumpsters where it belongs. After a fun beachside morn-ing, the group agreed more cleanups are to come!
Spouses had a motivational recharge at June’s monthly FRG meeting where a Fleet and Family Support Center speaker pre-sented, “How’s your bounce? Resilient or stuck in a rut?” The mid-deployment brief supplied coping tips for the difficulties of deployment and the demands of the Navy lifestyle.
The Milius FRG said goodbye to President Deisy Saliva as she stepped down to move on from the Navy with her husband. I said goodbye to my position as the group’s vice president and I stepped up to lead the group as president. Thanks Deisy for vol-unteering and dedicating so much of your time and energy into our FRG. She is a part of the group’s success today. We wish your family best of luck, and we will miss you!
At the end of the month, the USS Milius FRG started its preparations for HOMECOMING! Hooray, and we need your help!
JULY
The FRG is building a new lei for the ship’s homecoming. We need all capable hands to help us turn about 1,500 red, white, blue and yellow plastic bags into a 75-foot lei that will adorn the bow of our ship when she comes back home. And we want our lei to POP with pride for our sailors and our mighty vessel, welcoming them home!
After making a dent in the preliminary construction at the first lei making, which took place June 30, our group has scheduled more workdays for the month of July.
JULY 14: We’ll reserve much of our monthly meeting time for lei making. The meeting will start at 11 a.m. and run until 2 p.m. at the Murphy Canyon Youth Center. MCYC is located at 4867 Santo Road, San Diego, CA 92124. After we adjourn our meet-ing, we will work on cutting, tying and folding the bags, prepping them to be attached to the rope. We’ll order pizza for lunch, and childcare will be provided for the meeting and work time. If you’re bringing your kids, please let us know ASAP — by Monday, June 9! Email the number of children attending with you, along with their ages to [email protected]. We need this information so the childcare providers will know what activities to plan.
JULY 21: If you’re hands are free on July 21, please join us for a sequel lei making event. We’ll continue our same work until all of the bags are prepped. Once that phase is complete we’ll have a fluffing party to make it come to life. This work time will start at 1 p.m. at the park adjacent from the Murphy Canyon Youth Center — it’s located right next to the entrance of the parking lot.
If you haven’t been out one of our events in a while or you’ve never come at all, you ought to! We love seeing new faces, and we need your help to create the Milius’ new lei.
As always, your attendance at our meetings and events will put you in the drawings for the First Kiss and First Hug!
For all the FRG’s latest news and information, remember to add miliusfrg.org to your favorites. Or register on the site to have notifications sent directly to your inbox.
Have a Happy Fourth of July!
Kayla Newbanks and your FRG Team
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 7 PAGE 8
Greetings family and loved ones of MILIUS- I want to thank you for all of the fantastic effort you are consistently putting forth at home. I continue to give thanks for the opportunity to be onboard providing Chaplain cov-erage to this dedicated crew! To all of you dads at home, Happy belated Father’s Day! As you are reading this you are nearly six months into this deployment. I want to speak for a few moments about commitment and dedication. The commitment that you all are showing consistently is a testament to the quality people you all are. From my perspective, an organization is strongest when there is commitment on the hearts and minds of all in-volved. I want to encourage you all to maintain a level of commitment for all in the days to come. If this mindset is maintained there is virtually nothing that can not be overcome or accom-plished. With this as the thread that binds you all together as one, there is nothing that can break that. So, when adversity or long days come, you have each other to continually lean on and draw strength from. Because of your dedication to your loved ones on board ship, they have the motivation they need to do amazing work while away from home. You have much to be proud of. Your sailors have much to be proud of too when they think of you all. Please know, and always remember, that you are appreciated from afar. Continue to look out for each other, and where there is a moment of struggle for someone; perhaps this is an opportunity to lend a shoulder for support or an ear to listen. Dedicate yourself to giving of who you are for the well being of all. In turn, I believe you will receive the same gift as well. You all continue to be in my prayers. Be safe, and continue to walk your journey taking one step at a time. Take care. Enjoy your day. Peace, Chaplain Shane Freiberg
PAGE 9 USS MILIUS COMMAND NEWSLETTER
These “ Things to do” will be held at: The HUB– NBPL, NBSD, Liberty Hall, NBPL and NMAWC. Call your local base to see what is happening near you. July 4th FREE Freedom Festival, Wednesday 3 - 9 pm, Join America’s party along the NMAWC bay.
July 13th Friday the 13th Movie Marathon ALL day FREE, Get a stamp for each film you see and the person with the most stamps will win. Horror film trivia, in a case, Dead Lock. FREE popcorn for all movie goers.
July 13th Giant Jenga 5pm FREE
July 15th National Ice Cream Day 5pm FREE Join the HUB as we enjoy a deli-cious treat. They have all the yummy flavors. Try them all, which is your favor-ite.
July 19th Karaoke Night 6 to 9 pm FREE Warm up your vocals cords and WOW the crowd. Bring your friends to the HUB and rock out!!
July 21st National Hot Dog Day, 5pm FREE, The HUB will be grillin up some “dogs” and other” eat with your hands food.”
July 29th Ready…Set...Tricycle...2pm FREE...Race around the HUB on a gi-ant tricycle to win great prizes.
July 31st Harry Potter Movie Marathon 10 am FREE, In celebration of J.K. Rowling's birthday, lets watch Harry and the gang all day! FREE popcorn or a sweet treat is waiting for the first 50 movie goers. Kids of all ages welcome!
PAGE 10 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 7
CREW PHOTOS
PAGE 11 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 7
CREW PHOTOS
MILIUS’ deployment continued in the month of June with weekly flight evolutions, unreps, training, MWR events and steel beach picnics.
The MILIUS Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) team had the opportunity to play the enemy with a US Navy helicopter squad-ron also currently deployed to the Arabian Gulf. The VBSS team from the helicopter squadron landed on MILIUS and practiced boarding and searching techniques with MILIUS’ team while the ship provided some unfamiliar territory as she conducted high speed maneuvers. “The exercise was awesome,” said VBSS Boarding Officer Lieutenant Junior Grade Robert Kelly. “It was great training for both sides. It allowed us to see how the environment changes with a helicopter. It adds value to our team to do these kinds of drills.”
The flight deck team, medical division and VBSS team also got to practice medevac drills with the helicopters.
“It was the first time we were able to practice a real medevac nine-line,” said Kelly. “These are all things that improve our medical abilities out at sea as well as theirs. It was incredibly valuable and exciting.”
The First Class Petty Officers Association and the Junior Enlisted Association also kept MILIUS Sailors satisfied on the weekends with some amazing steel beach picnics while MWR provided some one-of-a-kind entertainment
The talent show proved to be entertaining as a duet with MILIUS’ Ensign Izadel Kelley and Seaman Shane McMurdo wowed the crowd with their own beats and hip-hop lyrics leaving many Sailors laughing and bobbing their heads to their catchy phrases.
It was a successful month with two more officer promotions, one reenlistment in a helicopter, seven more Enlisted Surface Warfare Qualifications and a port visit in Bahrain to finish off the month. With only a few months left, MILIUS Sailors are leaning forward and keeping up a steady strain of good work.
PAGE 12
MILIUS FRONTLINE NEWS
By LTJG Rhianna Cole
If you have questions, comments or suggestions for MILIUS FRONTLINE NEWS, please email the Public Affairs Officer at [email protected]. Also, please check the Facebook page and contact our Ombudsmen for more information!
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 7
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 7 PAGE 13
DEPLOYMENT RESOURCES
Deployment Resources & Information
Naval Base San Diego FFSC (619) 556-7404 or (866) 923-6478
American Red Cross (877) 272-7337 www.redcross.org
Military OneSource (800) 342-9647 www.militaryonesource.com
FOCUS (619) 556-6075 www.focusproject.org
NBSD Legal (619) 556-2211 www.jag.navy.mil/legal_services/nlso/nlso_southwest.htm
Tri-West Healthcare Alliance (888) 874-9378 www.triwest.com
TRICARE Dental Program (800) 866-8499 www.TRICAREdentalprogram.com
NMCRS (619) 238-1587/88 www.nmcrs.org
USO Downtown Center (619) 235-6503 www.usosandiego.org
Naval Base Chapel (619) 556-2658 www.chaplincare.navy.mil
Armed Services YMCA (858) 751-5755 www.militaryymca.org
Child Development Center (619) 556-8491
Operation Home front (866) 424-5210 www.operationhomefront.net
211 www.211sandiego.org
Sitter city www.sittercity.com/dod
Women, Infant, & Children (WIC ) Program (800) 500-6411 www.sandiegowic.org
Monthly Bread Ministries & Monthly FREE Food Ministries (858)688-5015
Bring your ID card, bags to carry food items. Please contact them for locations and times.
We have plenty of other resources for you from Healthy Military Families and Toddler Time to Furniture and Used Items to Websites and Re Sale Goods Items. Call the Om-budsman for more details.