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ISSUE DRUG SEIZURE USS Laboon seizes 270 kilograms of heroin in Arabian Sea.
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More than 20 years of serving the Hampton Roads Navy family
Vol. 25, No. 12 Norfolk, VA | flagshipnews.com | 03.23.17-03.29.17
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The news that some Sailors and Marines are using social media to denigrate, abuse, and bully their shipmates online is undermining that trust and our team.” Commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Adm. Phil Davidson
MC2 Kaleb Staples All-hands call on the flight deck of an amphibious transport dock ship.
The best Navy: Trust and teamwork Message from the Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces
By Adm. Phil Davidson Commander of U.S. Fleet Forces NORFOLK
When I travel throughout the Fleet, I am frequently asked, “What is it that makes the best commands better than the rest?” I always say, “Two things: unwavering
commitment to the Navy’s mission, and clear communications.” Our Navy’s mission is quite simple, “to be prepared to conduct prompt and sustained combat incident to operations at sea.” Make no mistake: it is our job to succeed in that mission, to be
ready to not just fight, but to win. The nation depends on it. And it requires every one of us to pull together as a team to be successful in that mission. The only way to develop a winning team is to communicate. And not just down the chain of command. Clear
communications are required up and down the chain, and across the command, in order for all of us to be successful. A destroyer captain depends upon proper communications from his or her officer of the deck to understand the surface traffic around the ship. An aviation electronics
technician depends upon the clear communications of a logistics specialist to understand whether a needed part will make their jet and up the jet for a mission. A submarine captain relies on the underlying reports from » See TRUST | A7
Norfolk health team trains Honduran professsionals NEPMU 2 increases medical capacity through KETs By Continuing Promise 2017 Public Affairs TRUJILLO, HONDURAS
Sailors from Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine Unit (NEPMU) 2 used knowledge exchange and training events (KETs) to help build part-
ner nation capacity during Continuing Promise 2017’s (CP-17) visit to Trujillo, Honduras. From Feb. 21 to March 2, the five-member environmental health team out of Norfolk, held 11 KETs with 108 Honduran participants. Their 375 hours of training included topics on mosquito surveillance and control, solid waste management, and public health disaster response. “Our team is engaged in activities purposefully designed to
further develop the public health capacities of the partner nations participating in CP-17,” CP-17’s preventive medicine detachment Officer in Charge Lt. Cmdr. Lucas Johnson said. One of these events was a workshop attended by 20 Honduran health professionals from Trujillo and its surrounding rural communities which focused on water production and quality. “The United Nations recognizes access to clean drinking water
as a prerequisite of basic human rights,” CP-17 environmental health officer Lt. j.g. Jhermayne Bullock said. “Access to acceptable quantities of safe drinking water is a critical area that needs to be addressed and monitored to protect the health of vulnerable populations, especially children.” The daylong course included a review of common types of » See HONDURAS | A7
ONBOARD BAPTISM Child’s name etched in USS George Washington’s bell
MC2 Ridge Leoni Lt. Farid Hamidzadeh extracts a tooth of a host nation patient at the Dr. Salvador Paredes Hospital in Trujillo, Honduras.
NMCP urges possible traumatic brain injury patients to seek help By MC1 Gary Johnson NMCP Public Affairs
By MC3 Devin J. Bowser PORTSMOUTH
USS George Washington Public Affairs NORFOLK
It’s a room displaying a sharp contrast to the rest of the ship’s dull grays and hard metals. The ship’s chapel aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) holds many meaningful ceremonies, and at times, those events are » See BAPTISM | A7
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MC3 Anna Van Nuys Naval Surface Forces Atlantic Capt. Brian Stamm, a Navy chaplain, performs a baptism for the son of Lt. Joey Zerra in the USS George Washington chapel.
COMMUNITY RELATIONS IN SOUTH AMERICA Service members with the humanitarian mission Continuing Promise 2017 and Honduran residents come together for evenings of cultural exchange.
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As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been drawing to a close, military health care providers continue to see patients that have had prolonged symptoms that are a result of a traumatic brain injury (TBI). March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, and providers at Naval Medical Center Ports-
mouth (NMCP) urge anyone that may be experiencing symptoms to reach out and seek help as soon as possible. “We see a lot of service members that come in after the fact either because they don’t really know that they have an issue right away or they are worried about seeking help because of how it may look,” NMCP neurologist Mark Scialabba said. » See BRAIN | A7
NEW NAVY MOBILE APP LOCKER New application provides direct access point for approved unclassified Navy mobile apps.
GROW AND COOK YOUR OWN PRODUCE Find resources to help you get started.
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