November 19, 2021
5
Chief Petty Officer Selectees Participate in COMRELs By NAS Sigonella Public Affairs
C
hief petty officer selectees took part in multiple community relations events (COMRELs) here in Sicily as part of the traditional chief season. Every year, Sailors selected for advancement to the coveted rank of “Chief” participate in six weeks of intense training and special events before their official promotion. Dott. Alberto Lunetta, the director of Sigonella’s COMREL program, put together the volunteer events for the selectees. In late October, chief-selectees joined forces with students at Battisti Middle School located in the Catania working-class neighborhood of San Cristoforo to clear the school grounds from
invasive plants. On Friday, Nov. 12, twenty-five chiefs and selectees loaded approximately 15,000 books and magazines from the old library of the Sicilian Institute of Bioethics into a truck to bring them to their new home, the Acireale Bishop Seminary. These materials will now be available to both the public and researchers. “Having learned of the volunteer activities of the American military that have long been carried out in the Diocese of Acireale, I presented the need to move the library to Dr. Lunetta who promptly and cordially assured the feasibility of the operation,” explained Don Marco Catalano, Rector of the Episcopal Seminary of Acireale.
