Month: September 2024

Source: United States Navy

In a ceremony held July 11 at TDSI, U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Alex Anderson and two U.S. Marine Corps officers, Capt. Susan Figlioli and Capt. Jordan Figlioli, were recognized for earning their Master of Defence Technology and Systems (MDTS) degrees through the unique exchange program that enables qualified NPS students to earn degrees from both institutions.

“Singapore is a critical Indo-Pacific partner,” noted retired U.S. Army Col. Danial Pick, NPS Director of International Programs. “The decades-old educational relationship between NPS and TDSI is an important manifestation of our partnership. Hundreds of U.S. and Singaporean graduates of our unique dual degree program are serving in important national security positions in both countries.”

For example, U.S. Navy Capt. Andy Berner, Commander of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global, and Col. Ong Cher Howe of the Singaporean Ministry of Defence are both graduates of the NPS-TDSI program.

An island city-state of 6.2 million people, Singapore sits astride the meeting point of the Malacca Strait, one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, and the South China Sea, a locus of international contention with the People’s Republic of China.

With a well-developed infrastructure and high political stability, Singapore is one of Asia’s most important hubs for trade, finance and military operations. For more than 50 years, the U.S. and Singapore have endeavored to work closely together to cultivate a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific region.

Strengthening such strategic partnerships is a central pillar of Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro’s Strategic Guidance for the Navy and Marine Corps, issued in October 2021 and updated in October 2023.

Specifically, the Navy seeks to “strengthen military-to-military relationships with existing allies, leverage specialized allied experience in regional operations, and expand and deepen our partnerships with like-minded democracies around the world,” Del Toro wrote. “We will build opportunities for Sailors, Marines, and Civilians to train, learn, and operate side-by-side with their counterparts in partner and allied forces, and operationally integrate our allies and partners into strategic concepts and warfighting concepts to deter those that challenge us.”

Since 2001, TDSI has fostered the intellectual capital that makes this relationship thrive, according to Lui Pao Chuen, Temasek Defence Professor, a 1973 NPS operations research graduate and 2002 NPS Hall of Fame inductee in large part for his leadership in establishing the NPS-NUS partnership.

“NPS has been a strategic partner of NUS to help build the capabilities of the Singaporean Armed Forces (SAF) in the defense of Singapore,” he said. “The relationship has grown over time. I look forward to greater integration of education and research of the two institutes in the coming years.”

For the MDTS degree program, students spend six months at NUS taking courses in advanced topics including cyber security, artificial intelligence and data analytics. The NPS-TDSI program gives U.S. military students a firsthand view of current defense challenges in Singapore and the broader region, complementing their technical specialization in their NPS fields of study.

Anderson, for example, earned his NPS master’s degree in electrical engineering in addition to his MDTS degree. He is now on his milestone tour as a cyber planner at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) headquarters.

“Countless invaluable academic, cultural and social experiences were taken away from my studies abroad in Singapore,” he said. “Each of the two academic quarters involved multiple seminars and field trips around Singapore which helped apply the systems engineering approach we learned about in the classroom. The professors in the TDSI program were a mix of university professors and defense contractor adjunct professors which offered an additional level of perspective to the course materials.”

“With my valuable experience from the TDSI program, I hope to be a leading player in the relationships we have with Singapore and other partner nations in the Pacific,” Anderson added.

Three NPS students are currently enrolled in the TDSI exchange program and are studying in Singapore: U.S. Navy Lt. Alex Misenheimer, Lt. Alan Hatlestad and Marine Corps Capt. James Villaneuva, all of whom will return to Monterey in the fall to complete the NPS portion of the program.

For Hatlestad, a Meteorology and Oceanography (METOC) officer studying Physical Oceanography at NPS, the TDSI program has strengthened his technical knowledge of engineering systems relevant to METOC.

“My time in the TDSI program has been enriching,” he said. “The professors typically have many years of either military or industry experience in their respective fields. I appreciated the emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration, which I think emulates real-world military exercises.”

“Upon my return to NPS, I will carry on with my fourth quarter with a new cognitive toolkit and framework for thinking,” Hatlestad added. “Having worked together in the same classroom for several months, I have made friends with my colleagues and counterparts from Singapore and Israel, and look forward to the next year we will all spend in Monterey.”

Source: United States Navy

When Navy Medicine Readiness Training Command Bremerton hosted the Honorable Shawn G. Skelly, Performing the Duties of Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, for a familiarization visit, August 28, 2024, the first stop in touring the military treatment facility was with the staff who administers the Medical Board department.

Overseeing the extensive workload of the department is April Dinucci, Medical Board department supervisor, physical evaluation board liaison officer and one of approximately 40 civil service staff still aligned under Navy Medicine after the official transition of all administrative and management functions at NHB to the Defense Health Agency was completed in 2022.

Her role is crucial in assisting and guiding servicemembers dealing with serious injury, illness and needing lengthy medical care.

“Our Medical Evaluation Board staff aid all Wounded Warriors in the entirety of all medically related processes. We are the experts that handle the medical administrative nuances of physical and mental health cases from cradle to grave. My staff are here to assist from the onset of Limited Duty until the member transitions from service,” said Dinucci.

Along with collaborating with Navy Wounded Warrior, Dinucci and her Medical Board team also coordinate with the Disability Evaluation System Counsel Program, VA military service coordinators, command deployability coordinators, Navy and Marine fleet forces leadership, branch service headquarters and the Physical Evaluation Board in Washington, DC.

“We’re physical evaluation board liaison officers,” exclaimed Dinucci, who along with being a PEBLO is a disability counselor and subject matter expert in the Disability Evaluation System, Limited Duty and Temporary Disability Retirement program(s).

As the department name suggests, Dinucci and her team handles medical evaluation boards and serve as the main point of contact for questions or concerns regarding case status, findings, benefits, personal – and personnel – inquiries and demands.

“We’re the experts in disability evaluation,” Dinucci said, noting that Navy Wounded Warrior provides expanded coverage for service members on LIMDU or enrolled in DES as well as providing vital non-medical assistance for personal and social needs.

Compiled data helps explain NHB’s Medical Board department demanding workload. For Fiscal Year 2023, the Medical Evaluation Board staff managed 712 LIMDU cases, with an average of 307 open cases each day being actively processed by the Med Board team. Combined with the approximately 250 Disability Evaluation System open cases to determine a servicemembers fitness for duty, that’s nearly 560 open cases being tracked by the Med Board team.

Possibly the most challenging aspect for Dinucci and her team is when providing medical support for those going through the process, as well as coordinating with Navy Wounded Warrior, is dealing with time management and expectations by servicemembers and their families. There are never enough hours in the day.

“When someone is placed in an MEB the expectation may be that their case will conclude in 90 days. The reality is that timelines [can] exceed nine months. This is for the administrative process. Treatment times vary and are impacted by a multitude of factors that often increase the overall timelines even further,” explained Dinucci.

NHB’s Medical Board department routinely organizes assistance and training primarily across the five-state region of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. The department is divided into overlapping responsibilities:

Medical case managers: assist in the medical needs of the member, such as discharge planning, durable medical equipment and specialty services.

“They are the heart of our medical team.” added Dinucci.

Physical Evaluation Board Liaison Officers: advise personnel on their fitness for duty status, explains rights and entitlements and handles documentation in determining if a servicemember in entitled to disability benefits.

“We are the axle in the wheel of the Disability Evaluation System process,” Dinucci said.

Limited duty coordinators: responsible for placing members LIMDU, notifying commands, updating re-evaluations, conducting monthly case reviews.

Fleet Liaisons: manage personnel casualty reports, decedent affairs and command notifications of hospitalizations. They also handle such distinctive needs as helping coordinate a family requiring bedside assistance for a hospitalized Sailor or Marine.

Hon. Skelly was also provided the opportunity to meet-and-greet with Mental Health staff and Urgent Care Clinic personnel during the visit.

Story originally posted on DVIDS: NMRTC Bremerton Med Board Supervisor recognized during high ranking DoD visit 

Source: United States Navy

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Researchers with Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) INDO PACIFIC received the 2024 Outstanding Research Accomplishment Team Award at the opening ceremony of the Military Health System Research Symposium (MHSRS) on August 26.

The award recognized the accomplishments of the NAMRU’S Long-Term Immunity Against Novel and Known Strains of SARS-CoV-2 (LINKS-COVID) Study team.

MHSRS, a four-day annual event which took place at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Conference Center, provided personnel with multiple forums to demonstrate the impact of research done by stakeholders of the Military Health System.

The LINKS-COVID team’s research addresses whether the DoD should recommend a COVID-19 booster that is specifically formulated to target the latest variants at the time the study was conducted.

“The DoD can’t force individuals to get the booster,” explained Capt. Andrew Letizia, science director from NAMRU INDO PACIFIC, “but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends any American over 6 months old should get it.”

“Our study looked to specifically address if the primarily young, healthy adult population that make up our U.S. Navy population should obtain a COVID-19 booster,” Letizia added. “It focused on a medical readiness question that can then be generalized to the civilian population that represents a similar demographic niche.”

LINKS-COVID findings showed that active-duty individuals who have not had a SARS-CoV-2 exposure, either through vaccination or natural infection, within 12 months of enrollment into the study had significantly lower binding and neutralizing antibodies against circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants, compared to those with an exposure in the past 12 months.

Capt. Jonathan Stahl, former commanding officer for NAMRU INDO PACIFIC, accepted the award on behalf of the team. Stahl handed off leadership of the command earlier this summer, ahead of his retirement after 30 years with the U.S. Navy.

“We were really excited to have Capt. Stahl accept the award, as he led the team,” said Capt. Nicholas Martin, commanding officer of NAMRU INDO PACIFIC. “We’re starting the next iteration of the study this month, and looking for more good things to come out of it.”

“This award demonstrates how the Military Health System recognizes the power of Navy medical research to address a contemporary research question,” Letizia said, “and obtain that answer for our forces when academia and industry aren’t incentivized to research this topic. With our focus on the active-duty forces, we are concerned about metrics such as lost duty days. This project helped fulfill our unique mandate for DOD research of improving force health protection.”

Lt. Huy Nguyen, principal investigator for the study, expressed gratitude to NAMRU INDO PACIFIC leadership, administration, scientists and other facilitators for their efforts on the study.

“Everyone contributed significant effort and time to the project,” Nguyen explained. “Everyone went above and beyond to ensure mission success, so it’s really humbling and satisfying to see all our hard work paid off and recognized by this prestigious award.”

Letizia moderated a breakout session on August 29, the final day of MHSRS. The session featured speakers presenting on recent findings in the field of emerging diseases of military importance, covering issues such as blood tests for infections, wastewater surveillance and drug-resistant bacteria.

MHSRS is the Department of Defense’s premier scientific meeting that focuses specifically on the unique medical needs of service members. This annual educational symposium brings together healthcare professionals, researchers, and DoD leaders for four days of critical learning, intensive idea sharing and relationship building.

Navy Medicine Research and Development attended MHSRS and participated in breakout sessions, poster presentations, lectures and manned booths in the exhibit hall. The eight Navy Medicine Research and Development commands, led by Naval Medical Research Command (NMRC), and consisting of Naval Health Research Center, Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory (NSMRL) and NAMRUs Dayton, San Antonio, EURAFCENT, INDO PACIFIC and SOUTH, are engaged in a broad spectrum of activity from basic science in the laboratory to field studies in austere and remote areas of the world to investigations in operational environments. In support of the Navy, Marine Corps and joint U.S. warfighters, researchers study infectious diseases, biological warfare detection and defense, combat casualty care, environmental health concerns, aerospace and undersea medicine, medical modeling, simulation, operational mission support, epidemiology and behavioral sciences.

Story originally posted on DVIDS: NAMRU INDO PACIFIC Receives Award, Presents Science at MHSRS 2024 

Source: United States Navy

NAVAL AIR STATION PENSACOLA, Fla. (Aug. 2, 2024) – Aviation Structural Mechanic 1st Class Nick Kaminski’s journey from Maryland to a supervisor position with the prestigious Blue Angels team is a testament to the power of world-class naval education and training. Joining the Navy in 2017, Kaminski’s career in naval aviation took flight after attending the Airframes “A” School at Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC) in Pensacola, Florida, in March 2018.

Reflecting on his initial experiences with Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) and its training centers, Kaminski recalls the critical role that NATTC played in setting the foundation for his Navy career. NATTC is where Kaminski first encountered the rigorous curriculum and dedicated instructors that would shape his future in naval aviation.

“NATTC set the tone for the beginning of my career in naval aviation,” Kaminski explains. “The instructors and curriculum provided me with the essential theories and concepts of aviation, which I still rely on today.”

After completing his training at NATTC, Kaminski’s first assignment took him to the “Vikings” of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 129 in Whidbey Island, Washington. He later served with the “Diamondbacks” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 102 in Iwakuni, Japan, where he completed two deployments aboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76). These experiences further honed the skills he acquired at NATTC, particularly his ability to understand and read hydraulic schematics, a skill that has proven invaluable in troubleshooting complex maintenance issues throughout his career.

Kaminski’s journey eventually led him to apply for the Blue Angels team in 2022, where he now serves as a supervisor within the airframes work center. When asked about the aspects of NATTC training that he believes are critical in preparing Sailors for the high standards required by elite teams like the Blue Angels, Kaminski emphasized the importance of camaraderie and teamwork.

“The camaraderie and teamwork taught and displayed at NATTC are very similar to that at the Blue Angels and are necessities anywhere in the fleet,” Kaminski explains. “These values are instilled in Sailors from the very beginning and are vital to ensuring mission success, especially in high-pressure environments.”

As the Navy continues to evolve, the importance of foundational training through NETC remains clear. By leveraging cutting-edge learning science and technology, NETC is committed to recruiting the best future Sailors and delivering a world-class education that equips them with the skills and knowledge needed for success in the fleet.

Kaminski’s career is a yet another example of how the Navy’s commitment to training and development prepares Sailors for the demands of the fleet and the elite standards of teams like the Blue Angels. His journey from the classroom at NATTC to the Blue Angels demonstrates the Navy’s dedication to building a lethal and survivable fleet through top-tier vocational training.

For more information on the Navy and how it can set you up for success, visit https://www.navy.com/.