Month: June 2024

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Defense News: Corpsmen, The Cutting Edge of Navy Medicine, Celebrates 126 Years

Source: United States Navy

Rear Adm. Darin Via, Navy Surgeon General, who was a prior hospital corpsman, delivered remarks highlighting the dedication and sacrifice of hospital corpsmen throughout history.

“You are the reason Sailors and Marines are willing to go into harm’s way,” said Via. “It is the corpsmen at the front line that is going to be saving lives and determining who gets to come back to their loved ones. Truly a salute to every corpsman who has served, who is serving, and who will serve.”

The ceremony featured a solemn flag folding ceremony, symbolizing the honor and respect accorded to those who have served and continue to serve in the Hospital Corps. This was followed by a ceremonial cake-cutting, a time-honored tradition signifying unity and camaraderie among all members of the Navy community.

In anticipation of this milestone, on June 14, Rear Adm. Rick Freedman, Navy Deputy Surgeon General, and Force Master Chief PatrickPaul Mangaran led a commemorative command run. Sailors participated in the run, pausing at planned stops where they were educated on significant historical milestones of the Hospital Corps. This educational journey underscored the Corps’ pivotal role in shaping the Navy’s current landscape.

“126 years of the Hospital Corps legacy continues to live strong because of each and every one of you,” remarked Mangaran. “Thank you for continuing to build on the foundation that was set before us.”

The 126th Hospital Corpsman birthday ceremony served as a poignant reminder of the unwavering dedication and professionalism of hospital corpsmen worldwide. As they continue to keep the warfighter in the fight, their legacy remains an integral part of Navy tradition and service.

Navy Medicine – represented by more than 44,000 highly-trained military and civilian health care professionals – provides enduring expeditionary medical support to the warfighter on, below, and above the sea, and ashore.

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Defense News: Navy Announces Plans to Construct Parking Garage for Sailors & Shipyard Workers

Source: United States Navy

The announcement is in direct response to concerns voiced by Sailors regarding the lack of infrastructure and parking surrounding HII-NNS where the construction, overhaul and repair of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and submarines brings thousands of Sailors and shipyard workers to the area.

The new garage will create more than 2,000 additional parking spaces at NNS, significantly improving the working experience for both U.S. Navy Sailors and shipbuilders. The Naval Sea Systems Command awarded HII-NNS a contract modification valued at $120 million to support the planning, design, and construction of the multi-story garage. Construction is planned to commence later this year and will be completed by April 2026.

“Today’s announcement demonstrates that leadership is listening to its Sailors and we’re taking action,” said Rear Adm. Casey Moton, program executive officer, carriers. “While this is one action of many, it is important to recognize we’re not doing this alone. The partnership shown here today reflects the commitment of the wider community and that Sailors assigned here can expect to have the resources they need to be successful.”

Navy continues to work in close partnership with HII-NNS, the city of Newport News and Commonwealth of Virginia partners to advance initiatives to support service members assigned to the shipyard. Joining in the announcement was Jennifer Boykin, President of HII-NNS, Virginia Senator Mamie Locke, and Phillip Jones, Mayor of Newport News.

“For over a century, Newport News Shipbuilding and the City of Newport News have grown up together, alongside the U.S. Navy,” said Newport News Shipbuilding President Jennifer Boykin. “We are intertwined, always supporting each other, and always succeeding together. This new parking garage is exciting news that will contribute to the ongoing transformation of Newport News Shipbuilding and downtown Newport News and the experience our shipbuilders and the sailors assigned to our shipyard have when they come here every day.”

The parking garage is the latest action taken by Navy leaders to address care for its Sailors following a May 2023 investigation initiated by the Secretary of the Navy and Chief of Naval Operations into the Quality of Service and Quality of Life of its service members.

The investigation highlighted concerns pertaining to off-ship living conditions, infrastructure and access to healthy food options. Over the past year, the Navy has worked to rapidly address these problems by working with shipyard and city officials to expand options for after-hour eating, entertainment and recreation, and by implementing additional safety measures throughout the City of Newport News.

As an enduring effort, the Navy is committed to maintaining QoS standards and ensuring commitments are met through regular engagement established a QoS Council where Sailors meet with Navy and shipyard leaders on a regular basis to discuss all aspects of QoS.  

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Defense News: FRCE teammates receive Navy Financial Management Awards

Source: United States Navy

Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) recently received numerous accolades from the Department of the Navy for its financial management achievements during the 2023 Navy Financial Management Awards ceremony, held May 29 at the American Society of Military Comptrollers Professional Development Institute in Phoenix, Arizona.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy Financial Management Awards Program recognizes and encourages outstanding performance of individuals and teams within the financial management community who exemplify the Navy’s core values and whose performance, actions and contributions have had significant impact to the Navy and financial management field. 

“The exemplary service provided by our financial management team serves as a testament to FRC East’s hard work, dedication and commitment to excellence,” said FRCE Executive Officer Capt. Randy J. Berti. “Effective financial management practices are vital for identifying and mitigating risk, enabling the command to carry out its mission efficiently, safeguarding national security and remaining accountable to the warfighter.”

Of the individuals and teams recognized during the ceremony, five members of the FRCE Comptroller Department, Hunter Gillikin, Tory Littrell, Lori Mills, Adam Radel and Stacy Ferrari received recognition and were presented with plaques for their financial management efforts.  

Gillikin and Littrell received individual recognition, while the collaborative efforts of Mills, Radel and Ferrari were recognized with a group award. FRCE Comptroller Tammy Amos said the actions of these five individuals have allowed for significant improvement of processes and usability within the depot’s financial management systems.  

“I am grateful to have such remarkable individuals within the depot’s financial management community,” said Amos. “Each member has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to continuous improvement. It’s incredibly rewarding to see their efforts acknowledged by the Navy. Their efforts and influence go way beyond our team, setting a standard of excellence that will hopefully motivate others to reach for their highest potential.”

FRCE Budget Officer Andrew Frossard said he nominated Gillikin for the Contribution to Leverage Data Analytics Award as a result of Gillikin’s strategic use of data to improve the depot’s financial management operations.  

“During the initial conversion to the Navy Enterprise Resource Planning system, FRC East briefly lost all internal and external reporting capability. When the system came back online, even experienced users found it extremely difficult to retrieve and understand the data,” said Frossard, who supervises Gillikin in his role as a financial management analyst. “Hunter leveraged his own knowledge of financial reporting and began working with various raw data reports to gain an understanding of the information, layout and meaning of financial data within the new system. Within a few months, Hunter was able to regain the reporting abilities desperately needed by the command to make better informed decisions on indirect funding resources. 

“As a result of this effort, he was hand selected to serve on the Comptroller Department’s Budget Formulation and Reporting Team, where he developed and implemented standardized reporting process for use across all FRC East departments,” Frossard continued. “This achievement saved approximately 1,000 labor hours, with an estimated value of about $50,000 annually within the department’s indirect budget.” 

While committed to improving the depot’s reporting capabilities, Gillikin said he began researching the benefits of incorporating automation into operations. 

“Over time, I was able to incorporate data into a new software that focuses on automation, saving a significant amount of time,” said Gillikin. “With this system, we no longer have to go in and pull reports that would normally take hours; it’s all automated, which was the whole intent. It eliminates the repetitive tasks, takes out all the confusing language and puts the data into a more familiar and understandable format.” 

Littrell, who serves as a financial management analyst, was recognized by the Navy with the Outstanding Trainee Award. As Littrell’s supervisor at the time, Ryan Jones said he nominated Littrell for the award because of her commitment to professional development and workplace optimization. 

“Tory has attained a vast amount of training experience and financial management skills, and she provides us with invaluable insights she learned from the many training development programs, career rotations and information gathering sessions she has attended,” said Jones. “During an external rotation of the Naval Acquisition Development Program Internship, Tory sought out and found a document acceptance tool that would lead to labor cost savings, automation of tasks and, most importantly, increase mission readiness.  

“Despite her loaded work schedule, she made time to learn, speak with the developers of the tool and become exceptionally knowledgeable on the matter,” Jones continued. “Her willingness to learn and apply efficiency tools led to the entire Comptroller Department and Business Office to adopt and utilize the tool permanently.”  

The Navy recognized the hard work and dedication of Mills, Radel and Ferrari, a team of individuals within the depot’s Budget Formulation Branch, with the Optimizing Stewardship in the Budget Process Award. Frossard, who supervises the team and nominated them for the award, said the team is well-deserving of the honor.  

“This team took the initiative and sprang into action to review and validate an antiquated and somewhat burdensome budget process that, historically, requires a minimum of two to three weeks of continuous work and many overtime hours,” said Frossard. “In two short months, the team developed new processes that effectively reduced the turnaround time from three weeks to one week per budget submitted. Their efforts have maximized efficiencies and enabled FRC East the ability to provide fast and accurate narratives during budget submissions.” 

Mills was honored to be included in the award, but as the team lead, said her role was more supervisory and less-hands on than that of Stacy and Adam.  

“Over the years, we had developed a few new processes, but Stacy and Adam took it to the next step,” said Mills. “I was selected to receive this award as the team lead, and that is a great honor. But for the most part, the work that earned this recognition was done by Stacy and Adam. They were instrumental in this whole process.” 

Mills emphasized the importance of remaining diligent within the financial management community.    

“It is very important that we make every dollar count and that we are being fiscally responsible not only within the depot, but in the long term, because we’re fiscally responsible to the taxpayers,” said Mills. “Because when it comes down to it, tax dollars are what pay for all of this, so we need to make sure we remain responsible and mindful of that always.” 

Amos said in addition to the depot’s obligation to maintain fiscal accountability to taxpayers, responsible financial stewardship plays an important role in warfighter readiness.  

“Effective financial stewardship at FRC East plays a crucial role in the support we provide to our nation’s warfighter,” said Amos. “There are competing demands for every dollar within the federal budget, and our customers want predictability, not surprises. Offering stable rates to our customers makes it easier for them to anticipate expenses and allocate the resources necessary for proper maintenance schedules. This directly impacts mission readiness as the aircraft maintenance schedules are what keep the aircraft used by the fleet operational and safe.”

FRCE is North Carolina’s largest maintenance, repair, overhaul and technical services provider, with more than 4,000 civilian, military and contract workers. Its annual revenue exceeds $1 billion. The depot provides service to the fleet while functioning as an integral part of the greater U.S. Navy; Naval Air Systems Command; and Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers