{"id":4728,"date":"2023-04-12T14:58:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T14:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=4728"},"modified":"2023-04-12T22:07:38","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T22:07:38","slug":"taking-care-of-people-building-team-74-starts-day-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=4728","title":{"rendered":"Taking Care of People: Building Team 74 Starts Day One"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<p>Before arriving for a multi-year overhaul in 2021, the leadership team aboard USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) recognized these additional hardships.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTypically, when new Sailors are assigned to an aircraft carrier, they can go straight to the ship, check-in immediately and start getting acclimated to their new command,\u201d said Capt. Cassidy Norman, Stennis\u2019 commanding officer. \u201cWe knew that would not be possible for our new Sailors arriving at a private shipyard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stennis\u2019 leaders took proactive steps to help new Sailors by creating Training University (Training U), a unique take on a robust command indoctrination program. Since Sailors have to wait weeks to receive their badge to enter the shipyard, the Stennis team utilizes that time to welcome and train new Sailors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore E-6 and below Sailors ever come into the shipyard, they attend Training U for upwards of four weeks at Huntington Hall, one of Stennis\u2019 off-site work locations,\u201d said Lt. Cmdr. Charlotte Roche, Stennis\u2019 Training Officer. \u201cOur goal is to ensure new Sailors feel like they are a part of the team and are ready to work aboard the ship when they enter the shipyard. We enable them to start with their best foot forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Roche manages a robust curriculum that new Sailors go through during Training U, including formal indoctrination called School of Ship, administrative check in items, basic qualification completion including Damage Control and Maintenance &amp; Material Management (3M), as well as facilitating the Navy\u2019s newest medical training, Tactical Casualty Combat Care. They also receive training on several topics grouped into a class called True North, a collection of practical lessons of serving in the Navy gathered through feedback from new Sailors and experienced leaders. The specialized training includes the importance of mentorship, nutrition education, digital literacy, saving and investing, mental and preventive health.<\/p>\n<p>New Sailors also learn about the many quality of life programs, resources and opportunities available to them during their tour in the shipyard. They learn about Team\u2019s 74\u2019s very active Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) program, command social outings, mental health resources, the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP), continual transportation to access a gym and Navy Exchange mini-mart, monthly visits from Mutts With A Mission, WiFi locations inside and outside the shipyard, and several educational programs including financial management and stress control.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want these Sailors to know they are a part of the Stennis team and that we genuinely care about them.\u201d said Norman.<\/p>\n<p>Sailors also meet with Stennis\u2019 chaplains, once to learn about the many ways in which the chaplains are available to help them at any time with any issue, and a second time for SafeTALK training, one of the Navy\u2019s Suicide prevention programs that teaches participants to recognize and engage persons who might be trending towards thoughts of suicide, and to connect them with community resources trained in suicide prevention.<br \/>\u201cThe team is much stronger when Sailors in the work centers and on the deckplates know how to look out for and help other Sailors,\u201d Roche said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring Training U, we issue their command ball cap and shipyard safety gear, establish their computer access, measure them for shipboard coveralls, ensure they receive shipyard badges, and we qualify Sailors through 3M skillset building and general shipboard firefighting classes,\u201d said Roche. \u201cWe check as many boxes as we can to ensure that when they walk into the shipyard, and walk aboard the ship, they have a good baseline for where they are going and what they are doing. We want them to feel like they can succeed and contribute immediately as a welcomed part of the team!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The overall Training U program is led by Stennis\u2019 best and brightest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEach year, we send the Senior Sailor of the Year to lead the standard indoctrination portion of Training U called School of Ship\u201d said Roche. \u201cAgain, we are taking as many proactive steps as possible to welcome new Sailors, and who better to welcome them than our recognized leaders aboard the ship?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>An aircraft carrier has a crew of approximately 2,650 Sailors during RCOH. This means upwards of 30-90 people attend each Training U iteration starting roughly every other week.<br \/>New check-ins also get to hear from the ship\u2019s highest leaders during Training U.<\/p>\n<p>Capt. Norman has traveled from the shipyard to Huntington Hall over 50 times and has personally engaged in individual conversations with 1,350 Sailors, over half of the entire ship\u2019s crew. \u201cI make a point to speak with every single Training U class in person,\u201d said Norman. \u201cWhile I speak to the group about how we operate as a team and how important our mission is to get our warship back in the fight, I also chat with each new Sailor at a personal level about where they are from, why they joined the Navy, and who inspires them. I want them to feel universally welcomed, and let them know directly from me as their commanding officer that they matter and are essential members of Team 74.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTraining U was pretty helpful to start working on Stennis,\u201d said Aviation Boatswain\u2019s Mate (Equipment) (ABE) Airman Apprentice Jose Belizaire, from Attleboro, Massachusetts, having recently gone through Training U. \u201cIt was tough to envision what working in a shipyard would be like, plus I knew I had to get some initial qualifications and learn how to be an ABE. Training U definitely helped set a baseline, so by the time I came to the ship and shipyard, I was ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSchool of Ship, and ultimately the whole Training U program is incredibly important,\u201d said Aviation Boatswain\u2019s Mate (Handling) 1st Class Sirita Weaver, Stennis\u2019 current Senior Sailor of the Year and Training U leader. \u201cOur new Sailors truly have no idea what to expect in the shipyard, and the feedback we receive is that all the courses and qualifications we put them through before sending them to the yard is extremely helpful for setting a baseline and ensuring they can start work right away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe always have classes going on,\u201d said Weaver. \u201cAnd we do surveys at the end of each course to make sure they have good sponsors, good indoctrination, and to garner feedback from participants and see how we can further improve our program.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the four-week Training U, Weaver and other members of the Training staff bring the new Sailors to the ship where there is a short ceremony to welcome them aboard. The new Sailors are then able to start work in their parent department feeling like they are part of the team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am very impressed with how the Training Department built an inclusive experience for our newest Team 74 members and genuinely make Sailors feel they are valued,\u201d reflected Norman. \u201cWorking here isn\u2019t easy, but we are taking every step possible to make our Sailors feel seen and heard, welcomed and prepared, as we work to get our floating city with an airport and air force back out to sea to protect our country again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before arriving for a multi-year overhaul in 2021, the leadership team aboard USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) recognized these additional hardships. \u201cTypically, when new Sailors are assigned to an aircraft carrier, they can go straight to the ship, check-in immediately and start getting acclimated to their new command,\u201d said Capt. Cassidy Norman, Stennis\u2019 commanding [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4728"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4731,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4728\/revisions\/4731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}