Camp Lemonnier Embraces Sailor 360 Program

By Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Joseph Rullo, Camp Lemonnier

CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti -- The Sailor 360 program is scheduled to be rolled out Navywide in October, and the initiative marks the first significant change since 2011 on how the service trains its enlisted leaders.

Navy Chief Petty Officer Irene Aguilar, the leading chief petty officer for the CPO 365 program here, said there are unique challenges, including scheduling, to incorporating the new training into deployments. Because of the high tempo of the operational mission and frequent personnel turnover, it could take longer here than elsewhere to fully implement the program.

“We are in a forward-deployed environment, so it’s not like we’re back home and can plan to have training on a set day,” Aguilar said. “We are here to complete a mission; everyone is very busy.”

Seven Elements

Sailor 360 applies seven leadership elements: alignment, habits, training, education, opportunity, feedback and self-awareness.

Aguilar said the aim of Sailor 360 is to introduce these leadership elements to sailors below the rank of petty officer first class -- something that was not part of the previous leadership model.

“We tend to focus leadership at a senior level,” she said. “The junior enlisted people are the foundation of the Navy and our future chiefs.”

Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer addressed the Sailor 360 program’s integrated leadership style in “Laying the Keel -- Developing the Backbone of Our Navy.”

“A professional, formal leadership development curriculum reinforced by innovative, meaningful command-developed training such as Sailor 360 [is] how command leaders will grow competence and improve character while instilling integrity, accountability, initiative and toughness in every sailor,” he wrote.

Because Sailor 360 is command developed, leaders have the flexibility to tailor existing source material to best fit their observed needs.

A majority of sailors deployed to Camp Lemonnier are members of the Navy Reserve. Before deploying, many reserve sailors are introduced to leadership training through CPO 365 at their Navy operational support centers.

Aguilar said if reserve centers emphasize the importance of this training, it will help lay the foundation for the continuation of training for those stationed here.

Comprehensive Training Approach

Camp Lemonnier’s Command Master Chief, Jon H. Morton, said that with the rollout of Sailor 360, he anticipates a more comprehensive approach to leadership training at the lower enlisted levels. The type of training Sailor 360 offers is the most effective way to develop long-lasting leadership skills, he added.

“Sailor 360’s experiential learning curriculum will be better for junior sailors,” Morton said. “The top-down approach of a lecture-based training just doesn’t have the same impact. I’m looking forward to this change.”

Camp Lemonnier’s mission includes enabling joint warfighters operating forward and reinforcing the U.S.-Djibouti relationship by providing exceptional services and facilities for tenant commands, transient U.S. assets and service members.

DHA Director Discusses ‘Forward Momentum’ for New Health Record System

By Lisa Ferdinando, DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON -- The Military Health System is looking how to best incorporate feedback as it advances with the deployment of the new electronic health record system called MHS GENESIS, the director of the Defense Health Agency said.

"We need to continue with our forward momentum," Navy Vice Adm. Raquel C. Bono told reporters in a conference call that followed a discussion about the new system at the 2018 Defense Health Information Technology Symposium held July 24-26 in Orlando, Florida.

Bono acknowledged there have been areas where adjustments were needed. She stressed the importance of having a system that is secure. Feedback will be used to improve the system, she noted.

"We are a large government organization undertaking a critical strategic project,” Bono explained. “It's important that we embrace our heritage as a learning organization.”

MHS GENESIS has been deployed at four sites in Washington state: Naval Hospital Bremerton, the Air Force’s 92nd Medical Group at Fairchild Air Force Base, Naval Health Clinic Oak Harbor and Madigan Army Medical Center.

New Sites Announced

Stacy Cummings, program executive officer for Defense Healthcare Management Systems, announced four new sites where MHS GENESIS will be deployed.

Three of the sites are in California. They are Naval Air Station Lemoore, Travis Air Force Base and Army Medical Health Clinic Presidio of Monterey. One site is in Idaho -- Mountain Home Air Force Base.

Eventually, MHS GENESIS will provide a single electronic health record for each of the 9.4 million MHS beneficiaries, and will be used by about 200,000 providers at 1,200 sites, according to the DHA.

“Feedback from our frontline users is most important, but input from [initial operational test and evaluation], Congress, consultants, the media and our patients are both to be expected and welcomed,” Bono said, adding, “It’s how we plan to get better.”

She explained, “We’re getting a lot of input and feedback right now; we need to process it calmly and in a measured way and keep moving forward with confidence and conviction in the path we’ve selected.”

Face of Defense: Airman, Friends Rescue Drowning Girl

By Air Force Airman 1st Class Anthony Nin Leclerec, 633rd Air Base Wing

JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. -- An airman and two of his friends helped to save a young girl from drowning at Fort Monroe Beach, Virginia, May 13.

When medical services arrived, they found a young girl that had been rescued from the water and was in her mother’s arms. The 9 year old had gone swimming. The current took her into deeper waters where she could no longer stand and was getting closer to the rocks.

“My friend got up and said, ‘That little girl is in the water,’” said Air Force Tech Sgt. Richard Penny, a toolset administrator with the 633rd Air Base Wing Inspector General’s office here.

It was at that moment that Penny, along with his friends Ashley Staley and Adam Bradshaw, sprang into action.

At first, Penny and his friends couldn’t locate the girl. He remembers getting to the top of the rocks and seeing her in the water.

Rescue

“Then we heard her mom come sprinting and shouting, ‘Help my daughter! She can’t swim and I can’t, either,’” Penny said.

Penny and Staley started climbing down the sharp-slippery rocks until they reached what they thought was shallow water.

“We weren't expecting the water to be so deep that close to the rocks, but it was over our heads,” Penny said.

Soon after, Bradshaw arrived after swimming around the rocks in search for the girl, and helped to bring her back to the edge of the rocks.

“At this point, the water was just beating us against the rocks,” Penny said. “The water was just crazy. It was really, really rough that day.”

After getting the little girl and Staley out of the water, Penny and Bradshaw were met by friends that helped to get them out of the water.

Penny, Staley and Bradshaw each earned a citizen lifesaving certificate, and they’ll receive a medal at a later date from the Hampton, Virginia, Division of Fire and Rescue.