Submarine Group 10, Local CSADD Chapter Sign Summer Safety Proclamation

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class (SW) James Kimber, Submarine Group 10 Public Affairs

KINGS BAY, Ga. (NNS) -- The commander of Submarine Group 10 and Kings Bay junior enlisted Sailors signed a 101 Critical Days of Summer Proclamation June 1.

The proclamation's signing took place during the annual Damage Control Olympics at Trident Training Facility.

Senior enlisted leaders here drafted the proclamation off of elements from already established safety and awareness programs, and incorporated them into one combined statement. Some of the strongest bullet points that most directly speak to the Kings Bay community were used from Navy programs the leadership team believed to have excellent messages.

"We wanted to put word out of our vision for summer safety in Kings Bay," said Master Chief Electronics Technician (SS) Mike McLauchlan, Trident Training Facility command master chief and the proclamation's writer. "[The senior leadership] cares about our Sailors and crew. We want everyone to have fun, but remain safe."

Commander, Submarine Group 10, Rear Adm. Joseph Tofalo, also took the time to recognize the local Coalition of Sailors Against Destructive Decisions (CSADD) chapter which stood up just a few months ago and reinforced all the Kings Bay commands' recent General Military Training sessions to increase DUI awareness and summer safety.

"CSADD is a grassroots effort from our junior Sailors," Tofalo said. "The initial focus was to eliminate DUIs, but the junior Sailors wanted to expand efforts to include raising awareness of destructive decisions. It's a program to provide positive mentorship to help shipmates, the Navy and the community."

CSADD originated at Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic as a peer influence social group. The popularity and message of the program spread and chapters were established at other commands. As a result, CSADD has been launched Navy-wide. This program provides an additional resource and communication tool that facilitates positive Sailor interaction and complements a commander's message directing proper conduct both on and off duty.

"The CSADD chapter at Trident Training Facility represents the future of our Submarine Force," said Command Master Chief (SS) Randy Huckaba, Submarine Group 10 command master chief. I can think of no better way to kick off the critical days of summer by having our highly motivated future leaders sit down with the Commander Submarine Group Ten and put their signatures on this year's Summer Safety Proclamation."

CSADD is designed to positively influence Sailors behavior through resources and tools that promote good decision-making processes, enabling leadership development and influence among peers at the junior level which, in turn, fosters both an attitude and atmosphere conducive to good order and discipline.

The goal of this program is to encourage positive social interaction and development of leadership and decision-making skills. Junior Sailors at each command will be provided the opportunity to create social networks, use a variety of communication tools and see visual messages to discourage destructive decisions within their peer group.

According to the Naval Safety Center website, seven Sailors and 15 Marines worldwide lost their lives in fiscal year 2010 while off duty, some of which could have been prevented. The goal of the proclamation is to prevent these incidents from ever happening so that no command, or more importantly no family, has to endure any loss of life, injury or incident that takes time away from either home or work.

Submarine Group 10 is commanded by Tofalo and is the Nation's preeminent provider of sea-based strategic deterrence, strike and unique Ohio-class guided missile submarine special operations capabilities.