What’s Inside...
Public Affairs Officer Howard Sam Samuelson Deputy Public Affairs Officer Teal Yost Leading Chief Petty Officer MCC(SW) Ben Farone
Explore Ebisu Page 4
Editor MC2(SW) Michael Doan Skywriter Staff MC2(SW) Michael Doan MC2 Matthew Duncker Host Nation Relations Masako Takakura Sumie Maruyama Ikumi Tanaka
Post Office Renovates Page 6
Webmaster Noriko Yamazaki Facebook.com/naf.atsugi Youtube.com/NAFAtsugi
Seabee Haunted House Page 10
CHECK OUT OUR NEW CAPTAIN’S CALL VIDEO
@NAFAtsugiJP www.issuu.com/nafatsugi
ONLINE
ON THE COVER
A VOLUNTEER AT THE S E A B E E HAUNTED HOUSE WAITS FOR THEIR NEXT UNSUSPECTING VISITOR(U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY MC2 MICHAEL DOAN)
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LEADERSHIP CORNER
WITH the NAF Atsugi JSA/CSADD PRESIDENT As president of NAFA’s Junior Sailor Association (JSA) and Coalition of Sailors Against Destructive Decisions (CSADD), I am responsible for maintaining and more importantly, enhancing our program, mission, and outreach. My cabinet and I coordinate with other NAFA associations, departments, as well as MWR and Host Nation Relations Office to create opportunities for enlisted personnel, the local community, and everyone aboard NAF Atsugi. As you can see with our somewhat long name, we are two associations with separate yet important missions. As the Junior Sailor Association, it’s our aim to create a culture of helping each other maintain a course of success by developing leadership skills and giving back to our community. We work with other highly motived peers and encourage camaraderie while still undertaking tasks set out to provide community service and support for our command. Some examples include mentoring, community involvement, raising money to help those in need, and instilling the necessary leadership skills our Junior Sailors need to become future naval leaders. On the other end of the spectrum, we are CSADD. As the CSADD mission statement reads, “We are Sailors helping Sailors. We are dedicated to making good decisions on and off duty. We are responsible for own actions and the well-being of our fellow shipmates. We establish the standard representing a good Sailor. We will respect ourselves and others at all times.” It’s important that Sailors in all ranks know that we are a team and that our actions don’t only affect ourselves. We have put programs in place to help offset destructive decision making like our designated driver program. You can contact us by sending a message to our Facebook page: “NAF Atsugi JSA/CSADD”. The junior enlisted population makes up the largest
MA2 Geoffrey Hall
NAF Atsugi JSA/CSADD President portion of NAFA’s enlisted community. We are future first classes, chiefs, and officers who are taking the necessary steps to become the best leaders we can be for upcoming generations. I’d like to extend an invitation to all NAFA junior enlisted as well as to tenant commands, E-5 and below to join the ranks of one of NAFA’s most elite and ambitious associations. We meet the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month at 5:00 p.m. in building 1290’s conference room. If you have any questions about what we do and/or what we can do for you, please contact me directly at Geoffrey. hall@fe.navy.mil or DSN 264-3219.
November 3, 1865
November 16, 1963
November 6, 1942
November 24, 1991
Following the Civil War, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles orders President John F. Kennedy, on board USS Observation all naval vessels to resume rendering honors when entering British Island (EAG 154), witnesses the launch of Polaris A-2 missile by USS Andrew Jackson (SSBN 619). ports and exchange official courtesies with English men of war. The United States returns Subic Bay Naval Base to the control of the Philippines. Subic Bay had been an important point for the resupply of Naval vessels.
The first officer and enlisted WAVES from training schools report for shore duty at installations around the United States.
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STORY AND PHOTOS BY MC2 MATTHEW DUNCKER
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was called Ebisu. The name was derived from the brewery’s signature beer “Yebisu Beer”. Both the neighborhood and the beer are named after the Shinto deity, Ebisu, who is one of the seven gods of luck, fishing and rice, the latter of which is what the beer was originally brewed with. In 1988 the brewery moved to Chiba in East Tokyo. The area went through a major urban redevelopment turning the brewery area into the sprawling Yebisu Garden Place plaza and expanding the neighborhood around Ebisu Station. Visitors can reach Ebisu Station by taking the JR Yamanote line to the neighborhood from either Shibuya or Shinjuku Station. In front of the train station is a statue of the area’s
ocated in West Tokyo and one train stop past the bright lights and sounds of Shibuya, is a neighborhood that on the surface seems very calming. Underneath a very beautiful exterior that was once home to one of the megalopolis’ original breweries, is a place dedicated to everything from art to history to food; it is the ward of Ebisu. In the late 19th century Ebisu was originally farmland on the outskirts of Tokyo. It became the home brewery and bottling plant of the Japan Beer Brewery Company, known today as the Sapporo Beer Company, in 1906. In 1926, Tokyo’s city limits were expanded to include the brewery area which 4
namesake, Ebisu. West of the station lies the majority of restaurants and bars that make the area so appealing. There is a good mix of different nations’ delicacies ranging from Thai to Vietnamese. Ebisu Shrine is also a short walk from the train station as you wander the side streets. Ebisu Yokocho, an indoor alley of restaurants popular with both tourists and locals, is also a short walk from the station. To the south of Ebisu Station lies Yebisu Garden Place. The expansive plaza sits on the former site of the Japan Beer Brewery Company but has been turned into a multi-level complex containing various shops, museums and restaurants. The entranceway has a sloped promenade with a glass arc encompassing the area. To either side of the plaza sit the Yebisu Museum of Beer and Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, the latter being quite unique as it features books from native born Japanese photographers that can only be purchased at the museum. At the other end of the promenade lies Château
Restaurant Joël Robuchon, after the famed chef who was named “chef of the century” by the prestigious Gault et Millau restaurant guide in 1990 and was awarded 32 Michelin stars across his restaurant empire in total. The building is unique as it is a true-to-scale recreation of a French chateau housing five of Robuchon’s restaurants and a cocktail bar. Towering above the plaza is the Yebisu Garden Place Tower, a skyscraper with “sky dining” restaurants on the 38th and 39th floors providing panoramic views over Tokyo. Ebisu is a neighborhood that was created from the industrial spirt of the post-Meiji Revolution Japan, when European influence and culture turned a small farming town into large urban community. While it is close to the youth oriented areas of Shibuya and Harajuku, Ebisu holds its own with its devotion to art, history and food.
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ATSUGI’S POST OFFICE RENOVATES
F O R A B E T T E R C U S TO M E R E X P E R I E N C E
STORY AND PHOTOS BY MC2 MICHAEL DOAN People who have visited Naval Air Facility helped us go from our old set-up to a more Atsugi’s Post Office since May of 2017 have efficient and permanent design.” likely noticed a lot of construction, but not been aware of the changes coming their way. Working in an environment originally intended to be temporary can create inconveniences, On October 21, 2018 renovation of the post especially for a post office processing an office came to an end, bringing changes to average of 8,000 pounds of incoming mail and improve their customers’ experience. 2,000 pounds of outgoing mail each week. “People may not know that when the post office was originally moved over to the current building, it was set to be temporary,” said Miami, Fla., native Chief Logistics Specialist Gonzalo Ramirez, acting leading chief petty officer for the post office. “The previous lay out was not customer friendly and this is what the renovation was to fix. The renovations have
“For the customer service desk and the lobby area, we have made that larger so we are able to help more customers,” said Ramirez. “We were working with limited space before; but now we have more room to fit the needs of our customers. It feels more open now and not so cramped.” 8
“They added more mailboxes and expanded areas so we can accommodate more personnel,” said Ortua. “We have more than 1,100 mailboxes now.” Not everyone is able to have their own personal mailbox and there are certain criteria that must be met for those seeking their own mailbox. However, even more mailboxes are planned for the near future. “It is also going to be 24-hour access now for those with mailboxes to get their mail as opposed to how it was previously with people having to come in during our normal working hours to have someone hand them their mail,” said Ortua. Ramirez also noted that customers have been waiting six months to see what the renovations would bring. The renovations were geared toward improving the customer’s experience and making it feel more like a stateside post office.
The improvements and additional space come just in time for customers seeking to send gifts back home during the busy holiday mailing period. “I think it is a great environment here, operation wise,” said Dededo, Guam native Logistics Specialist 1st Class Darryl Ortua, leading petty officer for the post office. “We have a great set up now especially after the renovation was completed. Everything is brand new and feels fresh.” Ortua also said that he notices the positive impact the change has had on customers coming into the post office now that the layout is less confusing.
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State of the Base
recapping important community issues from 10
town halls
TO P I C S D I S C U S S E D * Taxi service coming to NAF Atsugi. * NEX Store consolidation – expect to see project begin in early 2019. * Narita Shuttle – moving from PW/ Transportation to FFSC, details to follow. * Bombers closing December 1st, being replaced by a BBQ restaurant (name TBD) in mid-late January. * SAC and Teen Center Changes impacting 4th & 5th graders, 10 and 11 yEArs old. *For specific questions regarding these issues, please contact the cognizant service provider.
NEXT TOWN HALL TENTATIVELY SCHEDULED FOR JANUARY.
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BUILT TO SCARE
SEABEES' MESS HOSTS HAUNTED HOUSE
STORY AND PHOTOS BY MC2 MICHAEL DOAN Being scared is not normally something a person U.S. I think that doing events like these helps with looks forward to. Unless it is near Halloween. providing that ‘home away from home’ feeling. You may not be stateside but you get to feel like Sailors and their families at Naval Air Facility you are.” (NAF) Atsugi got to tour a haunted house hosted by Public Works Department’s Seabees’ Mess. Being overseas can often make it difficult to take part in certain traditions such as Halloween with “We have a bunch of American service members’ the local community. But, plenty of thrill seekers kids out here in Japan,” said Manassas, Va., native got their chance to experience Halloween in a Equipment Operator 2nd Class Birendra Adhikari, more traditional way via the haunted house. a member of the Seabees’ Mess. “They have been away from the states for a while and they don’t “We have been preparing for this haunted house get to go out and experience Halloween like they for a few weeks,” said Oakland, Calif., native would have been if they were still living in the Utilitiesman 1st Class Lester Morris Gaspar, a 12
the Seabees’ Mess had a scare of their own. “It feels good to volunteer and give back to the community,” said Gaspar. “There was some worries that this year’s haunted house might have needed to be canceled because of the number of volunteers we needed to run the haunted house.” Thankfully their scare was only momentary and the haunted house was able to commit to entertaining those living and working on NAF Atsugi as well as their guests. “The local community loved it,” said Adhikari. “We have people come from off base and get excited to go through our haunted house. I am glad we were able to have our haunted house again this year.” Just as Halloween comes every year, the Seabees will continue their own tradition of entertaining the community each fall. member of the Seabees’ Mess. “This was my first duty station back in 2005 and we had haunted houses we did back then. I am not sure if it has been done every year but it is something that has almost become a tradition.” Not only has Gaspar been involved in haunted houses at NAF Atsugi, but also some of his previous commands. “I know this is not the only duty station where the Seabees have put on a haunted house,” said Gaspar. “I was in Rota, Spain and we did one there as well. I think it has to do with our jobs and how our skillsets really come into play when building a haunted environment from scratch.” The haunted house provided plenty of some frightful scares to those brave enough to visit, but 13
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PHOTO BY MC2 MICHAEL DOAN
DEPARTMENT SPOTLIGHT
Naval Air Facility Atsugi
ADMIN DEPARTMENT
How do the services you provide support the command’s mission? We p r o v i d e a n e f f e c t i v e t r a c k i n g , tasking and managing system to a major overseas installation. We p r o v i d e services to the Commanding Officer in support of the commands mission.
How would you describe your Department’s primary mission? Providing support to the Commanding Officer and Executive staff to ensure that administrative requirements are maintained, executed and in compliance with current applicable directives and higher authorities. Assist tenant commands, when able, with short term administrative support to accomplish their mission.
What can you tell us about your department that others may not know? Our office is the point of contact for anyone wishing to travel on leave to any f o r e i g n c o u n t r y o u t s i d e t h e U. S . a n d Japan.
What primary services do you provide and who are your primary customers? We p r o v i d e g e n e r a l c o r r e s p o n d e n c e processing, directives issuance and r e v i e w, r o u t i n g a n d s t a f f i n g o f c o m m a n d correspondence request chits, personnel a c t i o n s , s p e c i a l p a y, o f f i c e r p r o g r a m s , special programs, performance reports, military and civilian awards and personnel orders issuance using DTS.
Something Special? F i n a l l y , Y N 2 D a i s h a Va z q u e z g a v e b i r t h to a beautiful, healthy baby boy!
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How can your customers reach you? Our command point of contacts are Chief Joyce Lopez (Admin LCPO) at e - m a i l : j o y c e . l o p e z @ f e . n a v y. m i l a n d Y N 1 Stevens (Admin LPO) at e-mail: john. s t e v e n s @ f e . n a v y. m i l . Phone numbers are 264-3761 or 264-3105.