Skywriter — March 2022 by Naval Air Facility Atsugi

Naval Air Facility Atsugi March 2022

NMRTU Atsugi continues to provide care during pandemic Saberhawks earn Phoenix Award for superior maintenance

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Public Affairs Officer Howard Sam Samuelson Deputy Public Affairs Officer Greg Mitchell

Protecting Personal Health Data From Foreign Exploitation PG. 4

Editor Greg Mitchell Skywriter Staff MC1 Richard Gourley MC2 Olivier Clement MC2 Rafael Avelar Public Affairs Staff Ikumi Tanaka Maika Fujisaki

NMRTU Atsugi Continues to Provide Care During Pandemic

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HSM-77 Earn Phoenix Award for Superior Maintenance PG. 9

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Front: Female leadership from NMRTU Atsugi pose for a photo in honor of Women's History Month. (U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Rafael Avelar) Back: Collage of influential women in the military throughout history in honor of Women's History Month. (Graphic Courtesy of MyNavyHR)

CMDCM CORNER W i t h C o m m a n d M a s t e r C h i e f We b a R o b e r t s

The month of March happens to be Women’s History Month. It has its origins as a national celebration since March 7, 1982, when then President Ronald Reagan authorized and requested to proclaim that week as “Women’s History Week.” Over the course of the next five years, Congress continued to pass joint resolutions designating a week in March as “Women’s History Week.” In 1987 after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project, Congress passed a law which designated the month of March 1987 as “Women’s History Month.” Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions requesting and authorizing the President to proclaim March of each year as Women’s History Month. Since 1995, presidents have issued a series of annual proclamations designating the month of March as “Women’s History Month.” These proclamations celebrate the contributions all women have made to the United States and recognize the specific achievements women have made over the course of American history in a variety of fields. So with that, there are an unlimited number of women who have been an influence to all, from our mothers to prominent, historic members in the public eye. While speaking in terms of the armed forces, I would like to say that I am a proud female member of the United States Navy and that our contributions to our country are plentiful in nature and know no boundaries. I would like to join my sisters in arms in saying happy Women’s History Month to all!

March 2, 1973

March 5, 1942 The "Seabees" name and insignia are officially authorized. Rear Adm. Ben Moreell personally furnishes them with their official motto: Construimus, Batuimus -- "We Build, We Fight."

Women begin pilot training to U.S. Navy.

March 7, 1994

On This Day...

The Navy issues the first orders for women to be assigned on board a combatant ship, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69).

March 20, 1922

The former USS Jupiter (Collier #3) was recommisioned as the USS Langley (CV1) to become the U.S. Navy's first aircraft carrier, paving the way for the aircraft carriers we have today.

Navy Medical Readiness and Training Unit Atsugi continues to provide care during pandemic NAF Atsugi Public Affairs Office ATSUGI, Japan – After two years, the coronavirus pandemic continues to maintain a presence throughout the entire world. According to the World Health Organization, to date, countries have reported over 376 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, to include over five million COVID-19 deaths (5,666,064 deaths), with over 9.9 billion vaccine doses having been administered. The impact that the pandemic has had on the world’s health care system has been dramatic; long hours, fatigue, lack of proper PPE and resources to include short staffing are just some of the contributing factors creating these disparities. The Naval Medical Readiness and Training Unit (NMRTU) onboard Naval Air Facility (NAF) Atsugi provides primary health services, dental services and flight medicine to approximately 30 commands and activities stationed aboard the installation. Even though health care is provided to a significantly smaller demographic than a civilian-oriented entity, it still poses its own challenges. “NMRTU Atsugi is experiencing many of the same obstacles that health care facilities in the states and around the world is facing,” said Cmdr. William Bennet, NMRTU Atsugi Officer in Charge.

U.S. Navy photo by Gregory Mitchell Hospitalman Genessis Santiago, assigned to Naval Medicine Readiness and Training Unit (NMRTU) Atsugi, Japan, administers the Moderna COVID-19 vaccination booster to a local area employee aboard Naval Air Facility (NAF) Atsugi.

“In spite of all this, I am proud to say that we have still been able to sustain all of our services during the pandemic.” Health care at NMRTU is limited to primary medical and dental care which also includes routine obstetrics services, but deliveries are performed at U.S. Naval Hospital (USNH) Yokosuka. For those who seek specialty care, they are usually referred to USNH Yokosuka, but may end up going to local Japanese health providers. “The only service that was affected for two weeks was appointments for dependent routine dental

care,” said Bennett. “At the spike of this latest wave of COVID, we utilized a portion of our dental staff to conduct tracing. Active duty and emergent dental care was still available for all eligible beneficiaries and we were able to keep Primary Care open for routine appointments.” NMRTU has a beneficiary population of approximately 5,100 eligible beneficiaries. This number does not include the clinics must-see patients, which consist of veterans, contractors, and un-enrolled eligible. With these categories, it is estimated to be around 1,500 addition-

Photo Courtesey of NMRTU Atsugi Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Unit (NMRTU) Atsugi staff pose for a photo at the NMRTU Atsugi Ambulance bay onboard Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan.

al beneficiaries. Despite minimal manning availability, Bennett believes that staff members have still been able to perform their duties in a proficient and professional manner. Staff members, who consist of primarily hospital corpsmen have been cross trained in multiple areas which has allowed the clinic to continue offering all services while manning a daily COVID operation consisting of ROM testing, pre-travel testing, exit ROM, and so forth. “This has resulted in longer

work days and added stress on many of our staff members,” said Bennett. “We were essentially given a new mission without the resources to execute a plan as it pertains to COVID.” He continued on. “The pandemic has forced us to change our staffing models so we can continue to provide care to our population. We never closed our doors or stopped providing healthcare at any point during the pandemic. It was important to us that we continue to take care of everyone onboard NAF Atsugi while combating COVID.”

Staff members shared his sentiment. “My corpsman training has helped me tremendously while stationed here at the clinic during the pandemic,” said Hospital Corpsman Genessis Santiago. “I enjoy my job and I feel that if I enjoy my job, it means that I am happy at what I am doing. When I think about this from a teammate perspective, even though it has been challenging for us all while going through this pandemic, I just encourage everyone to just take it one day at a time.”

Saberhawks Earn Phoenix Award for Superior Maintenance Story by Lt.Cmdr. Joseph Keiley ATSUGI, Japan – The “Saberhawks” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 77 were awarded the Secretary of Defense's Phoenix Award at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, March 3. Top commands from the Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Air Force compete annually for the award that celebrates maintenance performance excellence. According to DoD Instruction 1348.30, the award recognizes maintenance operations and accomplishments at the unit and program levels. Award categories include small, medium and large commands with two commands in each category able to win the award. "It is incredibly humbling to have the good fortune to work alongside so many talented individuals,” said Cmdr. Nicholas Cunningham, HSM-77 commanding officer. “That their efforts through the pandemic and double-pump deployments are recognized through the awarding of the Phoenix award brings a tremendous sense of pride to the Saberhawks." HSM-77 was judged on several criteria including effective use of maintenance resources, innovative management accomplishment, personal quality-of-life programs and mission accomplishment. "Despite the challenges that

U.S. Navy Photo by Yeoman 2nd Class Kelsey Terry Capt. Michael Sweeney, commanding officer of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 presents the Phoenix Award to Cmdr. Nicholas Cunningham, commanding officer of the "Saberhawks" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 77 during a ceremony at the squadron's hangar at Naval Air Facility Atsugi

everyone across the Navy and Marine Corps faced during 2020, the Saberhawks were able to consistently complete all operational tasking while deployed for 270 days. The maintenance leadership managed personnel qualifications, aircraft maintenance schedules, and world-wide supply logistics hurdles while disaggregating across two ships to exceed CNAF operational and material readiness standards,” said Lt. Cmdr. Haylee Coffee, HSM-77 maintenance officer. “The diligence and the dedication of the sailors assigned to HSM77 continues to ensure that the Saberhawks are always ready to

overcome the challenges faced in the FDNF environment in order to complete tasking in a professional and expeditious manner." With effective use of maintenance, personnel and financial resources, combined with an all-hands approach, the squadron has developed into a highly efficient maintenance team, and their reception of the Phoenix Award is proof that their performance exceeds standards. HSM-77 is forward-deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability and a free and open Indo-Pacific.

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The Final Word WITH NAVAL AIR FACILITY ATSUGI COMMANDING OFFICER

CAPT. J. M. MONTAGNET Greetings, NAF Atsugi community. I was as elated as most of you when we learned that effective earlier this month, with the exception of military treatment facilities, on-base Japanese service providers, and JMSDF offices, all personnel may elect to remove their mask when on installation. This includes both outside and inside — again, while on the installation. Masks are still required at all times when off installation. Be sure to read the new PHE thoroughly and understand its details and requirements. I suspect there will be many questions. The PHE should be clear, but, if there are questions, approach your chain of command and don’t hesitate to ask those questions. We’re expecting the community to carefully and prudently adapt to the easing of mask-wearing guidance in a measured and responsible way. As a final note: mask-wearing is optional and an individual choice and all of us need to respect everyone’s personal decision regarding their mask-wearing choice. Meanwhile, I’m very happy to say that preparations for our spring-time community festival are well underway! Formerly called, Springfest, we haven’t been able to hold this event for two years, so this is a welcome return of a cherished event. …again, this will our first, but, we need to be clear…because we are still in a COVID environment — this year’s festival will be invitation only - so, as much as we would like - this will not be an open base event. As we finalize plans we’ll post the details and invitation guidelines for sponsors in the very near future. I expect this to be a treat for the whole community: with multiple aircraft displays, lots of entertainment and activities for families and children, and great food. So, save the date: Saturday, April 23rd and let me thank our JMSDF partners in advance for joining us in this event, as well as our operations team, MWR, security, public works, commissary, exchange, and all the departments and service providers coordinating and supporting the activities for our community festival. Lastly, let me quickly join all civilian and military communities and leadership in celebrating this month as “Women’s History Month.” There can be absolutely no doubt that the Navy’s strong, lengthy, and historic legacy would not be at all possible without the vital and meaningful leadership and vital contributions of all the women who served before us – and serve to this day in every key role. I am proud to serve with all women and gratified to share these sentiments for women’s history on behalf of the NAFA community! CAPT John M. Montagnet Commanding Officer U.S. Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan