14 JAX AIR NEWS, NAS JACKSONVILLE, Thursday, March 20, 2008 Feeding the birds A group of pre-toddlers and their teachers at the NAS Jax Child Development Center enjoy feeding the birds some bread crumbs Feb. 27. Photo by Kaylee LaRocque SAFETY: Significant incidents cut in half in last five years on base Photos by MC2 Monica Nelson HM1 Ashley Russell of Naval Hospital Jacksonville describes some of the ways he influences Sailors within the medical community to participate in community service programs. CONFERENCE: Volunteerism boost morale, increases command efficiency From Page 1 - "We've also been given some cre- ative ways to utilize the benefit of rec- ognition for the volunteers, to let them know how greatly appreciated they are." Melissa Lyke, project manager of the Teacher Supply Depot, worked with Parker in setting up the community service project for the conference attendees that took place on the second day of the conference. "I am so thrilled!" said Lyke. "We are get- ting six months of work done in one day. It is incredible. Most days, it's just John and I. He's 86-years-old and a full-time volun- teer." "Right now the volunteers are boxing up old books including 1920 grammar books - that the teachers have been through and through and they've just been sitting on the shelves," said Lyke. "The books are going to be recycled and that will help go towards the costs of the upcoming depot move. Command representatives split into five groups at the depot doing anything from arranging materials to toting unwanted items that have been sitting untouched on shelves to recycling bins. "We have a move coming up in the future where we are moving from here to anoth- er school," said Lyke. "We're going from 100,000 square feet to 12,000 square feet. It's going to take a lot of creative maneu- vering to get as much of the good stuff that's here into the new place." "A great part of serving our country is serving our community," said SKC Thomas Smith, community relations coordinator for USS Boone (FFG 28), as he packed books at the depot. "It's so important to show our support for them just as they show their support for us." Conference attendees also received infor- mation on submitting award packages from CNIC's MC1 Dave Hites. "The most important thing for the board to see when looking at award packages is how big a difference that command is making in the community. Yes, volunteering can bolster an evaluation. But is that just an individu- al's effort or is the command making a real difference in the community? That's our overall goal," said Hites. "When you get a group of volunteers together, officers, chiefs, enlisted, it really helps pull the command together as a crew and as a team," added Hites. "It boosts morale for the command and in turn can improve work load efficiency." MTCS Robert Nicholson of Trident Training Facility, Kings Bay, Ga., has sub- mitted award-winning packages before. "Pictures are worth a thousand words and they show the actual events the Sailors participated in," said Nicholson describing what sets his command packages apart. "If I didn't have pictures of some of the com- mand volunteer activities, I went to the base newspaper archives online and there were some pictures in there." There are five flagship award categories: Navy Region Southeast's Community Service Program Manager Dianne Parker explains the roles of command volunteer coordinators March 11. The Navy's Community Service Program promotes volunteerism and com- munity service to assist in the education and enrichment of the nation's youth and commu- nities in revitalizing citizenry. L ti : '7 I PC2 Sharee McClain of NAS Pensacola, Fla. packs up story starter booklets for transfer to the Jacksonville Teacher Supply Depot's new location March 12. McClain accompanied a group of Navy Community Service command coordinators and/or volunteers to the depot as part of a field training exercise. personal excellence partnerships; project good neighbor; campaign drug free; health, safety and fitness; and environmental stewardship. The instruction can be locat- ed under the name OPNAVINST 5350.6C. Lykes was excited to hear some of the community service program directors talk about bringing their commands out to help with the depot move. "Our official move starts May 12 and we'll be working all summer until Aug. 8, which is our back-to-school opening, where we'll also need volunteers," said Lykes. If any command is interested in helping, call 381-7480 or 881-2012 or email tomlin- spetal@yahoo.com. RESCUE: Young crew saves life of civilian diver From Page 1 By 6 p.m., he was safely aboard the helicopter en route to NAS Jacksonville. Medical personnel were waiting on the crew to attend to the rescued diver who had spent approximately three to four hours in the water. As a result he was cold, tired and hungry. The search effort was coordinated between the Navy and Coast Guard heli- copters with each helicopter splitting search area. HS-5's crew used the direct deployment method to recover the survi- vor, saving valuable time. This is a fairly new recovery method where the swimmer stays hooked to the hoist while the helicopter is positioned in a hover directly over the survivor. ooo As always, time is of the essence in these situations. In another 30 minutes, the sun would have set making the search and recovery much more difficult and danger- ous. "This relatively junior crew went out and performed superbly today and saved a life. I couldn't be more proud of them. By the time the crew landed in Jax it was dark and they had been flying for almost seven hours," remarked HS-5 Commanding Officer Cmdr. Roy Undersander. The success of the rescue effort is a tes- tament to the hard work, professional- ism and dedication of these young Sailors which was evident as they were recent- ly awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal by USS Theodore Roosevelt Commanding Officer Capt. Ladd Wheeler. From Page 1 delivered aboard the station and now func- tions throughout the station departments and tenant commands. Every new employee is given the VPP Action Guide to complete which includes 15 assigned areas for dem- onstrating and understanding the station's safety program. The station reported no formal written reports to the OSHA of unsafe/unhealthy working conditions during fiscal year 2007. Other initiatives that contributed to the overall success of the base safety program include a successful fire preven- tion program; disaster preparedness drills; an ergonomic program; ordnance/explo- sives safety program; recreational safety program; Navy Occupational Safety and Health program; motor vehicle safety pro- gram which includes continuous motorcycle training classes, Click It or Ticket cam- paigns, driver improvement classes and the annual Traffic Safety/Recreational and Off-Duty Safety Rodeo; and a medical sur- veillance program for civilian employees. The Safety Department also conducts bi-yearly all-hands safety stand downs cov- ering a variety of topics including traffic, recreational and seasonal safety. Together these programs worked to prevent inju- ries and further improve work efficiency throughout the station. "This is a great achievement for NAS Jax. The receiving of this award is a tes- tament to the fact that the personnel at NAS Jax continue to work safely and the safety culture at the station is very much alive and well and not just a short term action," said NAS Jax Safety Officer Ron Williamson. "By earning this award, we are now eli- gible to compete for the next two Secretary of the Navy Safety Awards." HS-5: Detachment aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt a success From Page 1 more than one event. For instance, Lt. Jack Reiner was a pilot in both of the suc- cessful rescues. Corrick participated in the MEDEVAC, because of his EMT training and was also a member of the crew who took part in the open ocean rescue of a civilian diver off the coast of Florida. Reiner's second rescue, the man overboard, occurred at the conclu- sion of his Helicopter Aircraft Commander check flight, which he successfully com- pleted. HS-5 Commanding Officer Cmdr. Roy Undersander, Lt. Brian Johnson, AW2 Christina Gruwell, AWC Travis Seek and AW2 Kyle Need were the other members of the two rescues. Congratulations also go to Lt. Kevin Joiner who passed his helicopter second pilot check flight and Need for passing his tactical sensor operator board. The Nightdippers detachment was short and successful, but rewarding. While these individuals were directly involved it would not have been possible without those behind the scenes like the maintainers and administration personnel supporting their shipmates. In the end, the success of these indi- viduals is a success for HS-5 and it speaks volumes to the dedication, professionalism and hard work that defines the squadron. "The Full Service Broker" No Hassle, No Aggravation, Just Excellent Service! "Have Laptop Will Travel" REAL ESTATE SERVICES! $5000 Purchase Rebates* Full Service Listings as low as 5 Percent! FREE Web Page for each listing! FREE Virtual Tour! MORTGAGE SERVICES! 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