Report from the Rising Sun

Staying Present: The Best Preparation for the Future

LCDR Rob “OG” Swain, USN

Otukaresamadesu, Naval Helicopter Association! I’m penning this article while embarked on the rolling USS Ronald Reagan. Five decks above CAG OPS, the carrier bridge team vigilantly attempts to find winds and seas for night flight ops while balancing on the edge of Super Typhoon, Nanmadol. My wheeled chair, struggling to detach my hands from the desk, reminds me of stormy first tour JO days aboard flat-bottomed amphibs. Despite the looming tempest, strike group planners scrutinize weather patterns, brainstorm courses of action for pending requirements, and forecast follow-on tasking in the dynamic and evolving Indo-Pacific strategic milieu. All levels of military planning spend energy and resources when focusing on the future. This may occur at the tactical level while preparing for your next ACTC gradesheet or at the operational level while weighing indications and warnings of adversary activities. However, this article is not about the future. This article is about focusing on the present.

The Forward Deployed Naval Force enjoys professional and personal opportunities to explore foreign culture and history in a uniquely intimate and interactive way. In my own few months in Japan, I came to appreciate how Japanese culture values reflection, expressed architecturally through the beautifully preserved temples of various schools, disciplines, religions, and sects. The temples do not just adorn the austere coasts, mountainsides, and bamboo forests, they function as social nexuses in each major city. They provide sanctuary for mindfulness and pause from the speed of modern life. In a word, Japan is very “Zen.”

The concept of Zen Buddhism first came to Japan in the seventh century, but took five hundred years to penetrate established social norms. Samurai culture gravitated toward the Zen concept and applied the ideals of awareness, balance, and the importance of embracing change. The introspection from Zen amplified their Samurai ethos of facing death without fear and acting with intuitive spontaneity. Whether steaming through the South China Sea, Arabian Gulf, Mediterranean, or Caribbean, anyone who has experienced a Navy deployment understands the uncertainty of shipboard operations and the inevitability of change. Weather, material readiness, the geopolitical climate, adversary maneuvers,, and countless other variables compel maritime forces to shift course when required. Understanding the flexibility and adaptability necessary in this operating environment reinforces the personal benefits of “putting first things first” and embracing the present.

Embracing the present is not a new concept for the Navy. Students of naval history will find storied examples of leaders who came to appreciate the importance of living in the now. Between 1967 and 1973, VADM James Stockdale endured over seven years in captivity, executing the duties of senior ranking prisoner-of-war at the “Hanoi Hilton” in Vietnam. In this crucible of physical torture, stoic leadership, and selfdiscovery, VADM Stockdale messaged to his fellow American POWs, “keep the faith while accepting the brutal facts of your current reality.” Deployed Navy aircrew today are indeed not prisoners of war (though polling any number of ready rooms or aircrewmen shops may refute this). That does not, however, absolve the modern-day Sailor from wrestling with personal anxieties, home-front obligations, or professional stressors. Unique to the sea service, a ship represents an ideal setting to exercise mindfulness in order to overcome these preoccupations.

Practicing being “present” is not a finite task, nor does it occur passively. Keeping your stride on deployment demands habitual moments of self-care. Dr. Sukhraj Dhillon captures this advice with humor: “you should sit in meditation for twenty minutes a day…unless you’re too busy…then you should sit for an hour.” Whether found through meditation, prayer, physical training, breathing exercises, Chaplain or trusted confidant counsel, journaling, or writing a quarterly column in Rotor Review, your personal health and professional satisfaction demands balance and sometimes, a shift in perspective. Changing your approach to the task at hand can, in fact, pay dividends in accomplishing the tasks to come.

Proactive focus and pride in even the most mundane or monotonous tasks will improve your performance. A rise in performance improves the positive perception and trust of the people around you. An improvement in trust expands given responsibilities. An expansion of responsibility offers new opportunities to explore, learn, and grow. In turn, focusing on the present while “trusting in the process” equips you with new mental, professional, and social tools to resiliently navigate each shift in course with fortified confidence. It took five hundred years for the benefits of Zen mindfulness to permeate Japanese culture. Don’t let it take that long for you to reap the personal and professional benefits of living in the now, putting first things first, and attending to the present energized and enthusiastic! Enjoy this moment reading NHA’s Rotor Review and standby for future Reports from the Rising Sun!