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GROWLTHE GATOR

BATAAN SAILOR VOLUNTEERS AT SHELTER

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 9BATAAN GOES PIERSIDENEWLY PINNED CHIEF PETTY OFFICERS

The editorial content of this newspaper is prepared, edited and provided by Bataan’s Public Affairs Office. This newspaper is an authorized publication for members of military services at sea. Its contents do not necessarily reflect the official views of the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense or the U.S. Navy and do not imply endorsement thereof.

Commanding OfficerCaptain John “J.C.” CarterExecutive OfficerCaptain Eric N. Pfister

Command Master ChiefCMDCM(SW/AW) Scott HarvillePublic Affairs Officer MCC(SW/SCW) Dennis Herring

News Team 5MCC(SW/SCW) Dennis HerringMC1(AW/SW) RJ StratchkoMC1(AW/SW) Julie Matyascik

MC1(AW/SW) Gary Prill MCSN Caleb StrongSN Raymond Minami

Layout and Design MCSN Caleb StrongEditor MC1(AW/SW) Gary Prill

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YOU’VE EARNED ITDON’T WASTE IT

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Story by MCSN Caleb Strong

NORFOLK, Va –Logistics Specialist 2nd class Bill Bonner from Cleveland, Ohio volunteers in his free time to help teach and mentor children from the Seyton Youth Shelter.

“It’s a shelter for kids who are out on the street who ran away from their home and need somewhere to stay”, said Bonner. “The shelter goes out with a food van and goes to an area where kids are highly at risk and gives them food. They also try to get the kids to come with them back to the shelter if they need a place to stay.”

Bonner has been mentoring kids there for about four months. He mentors a 13-year old named Christopher.

“I’ll usually pick him up, and we will hang out at my aunt’s house,” Bonner said. “The main purpose is to be a positive influence in these kid’s lives. They might act up since their family member can’t be there for them at that time.”

Bonner said he tries to teach Christopher useful things he needs so he can develop as a person.

“I’ve talked with his Mom and she was concerned that he wasn’t being a protective older brother for his sibling on the playground,” said Bonner. “I talked to him about it and his mom said he started becoming much more helpful to his brother. He also needed help with school. He wants to be an engineer, so I worked with him on his math. I’ll talk with his mom about everyday activities that he needs help with and then I’ll work with him on it.”

There is a process to becoming a mentor with the program.

“In order to become a mentor you have to fill out an application, get a security screening and they check your records to make sure you don’t have any

crimes or abuse in your past. It takes a month and a half to get through the background checks. You then fill out another form and put your habits and likes and what kind of kid you want to work with, then they try to match you with a similar mentee.”

Why does he do it? “At first I decided to volunteer

at the food banks, but I didn’t think that would benefit me on a personal level,” said Bonner. “I looked online for shelters and I saw this one. I knew this is something where I could give back and feel good about it, to influence a kid’s life.”

This program takes commitment.

“We have to be committed to the program for a year and after you

choose to still work with the same kid or someone else. I know I’m going to stay with him. Christopher is a good kid and I’m helping him out. I feel I’m being helped myself too. I think I’m going to be doing this for a while,” said Bonner.

If anyone wants to participate in this program and help those who have no one to turn to, they can talk with Bonner for information to contact the shelter.

“If there is anyone who wants to participate with this program they can contact the shelter and the shelter can help them out. There are numerous programs; the mentoring program, the outreach program, and an after school program to help children study,” said Bonner.

BATAAN SAILOR VOLUNTEERSAT SHELTER

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NORFOLK, Va - As the sounds of bells bellow through the ship’s passageways, and the hum of Sailors going about their daily routine steadily increases, it’s a sure sign that USS Bataan is nearing the end of her maintenance period at BAE Shipyards.

For a large percentage of Bataan’s Sailors this is the first time they will get to experience a ship at-sea. These Sailors have only experienced the shipyards, the environment that welcomed them from boot camp and started their Navy careers. For others that are nearing the end of their tours on board, they are experiencing the successful completion of a year worth of repair and replacement tasks that they have been essential in its accomplishment.

You may ask yourself, what is the big deal of Bataan returning to the water? Does it really mean that much of a change to our daily routine? For some they’re asking what exactly did we accomplish here, what has our time in the yards been about?

“Bataan’s crew has accomplished an amazing feat. Many ships that have been in the yards have failed to meet the schedule,” said Lt. Cmdr. Michael Webb, Bataan’s new Operations Officer. “Bataan has stuck to the schedule, with all the new systems successfully installed, to include an all new CANES system, designed to streamline how information is transmitted to and from the ship.”

With this new phase come new responsibilities for Bataan’s crew, although there is still a long road ahead, in order to fully complete our yard period and return the ship to her ready-fighting condition. The ship is still riddled with scaffolding, wires and

Story by MC1 Gary Prill

hoses running throughout her maze of accesses and spaces. There are still spaces awaiting a fresh coat of paint, and new gear to run through its start-up phase.

“As we move out of the yards, we have qualifications that will need to be renewed,” said Webb. “We will start with contractor sea trials, putting each system through a battery of tests to ensure proper operations of each system that was repaired or upgraded while in the yards.”

Following Contractor Sea Trials, Bataan will return to the shipyard for any minor repairs in preparation for her TYCOM sea trials and her ultimate goal of certification for open water operation.

“With the focus changing and preparations being made for shipboard qualifications, training methods will also change,” said Fire Controlman 1st Class Robert Schwenk, Training Leading Petty Officer. “With the fiscal year budget, we will still focus on required schools and critical Naval Enlisted Classification for the crew,

but we will begin to see less Sailors temporarily away from the command to facilitate on board training to prepare for the ship’s qualifications.”

Along with the ships basic qualification phase, the ship will have to re-certify on many aspects of basic shipboard operations, to include life saving operation, damage control, and preventative maintenance along with many other aspects of combat operations.

“The ship will certify in all aspects of the mission, to include amphibious operations, surface warfare, air warfare and anti-submarine warfare to name just a few,” said Webb. “Following that we will receive our certification for independent steaming and move onto preparations for future operations with our Phase 2 certifications.”

Following all her qualifications and re-certifications the Bataan’s crew has a full schedule of evolutions for next year, ultimately returning her to her rightful place steaming at-sea and providing forward deployed Sailors and Marines supporting global operations.

BATAAN GOES PIERSIDE

Photo by MC1 RJ Stratchko

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CHIEF PINNING CEREMONY