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Life in the military can be difficult, whether a service member is on a deployment or at home. Regardless of a service member’s status, the unique stressors associated with the work can pose a difficult situation for military leaders when trying to care for men and women in uniform. The amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) is taking steps to help maintain the readiness of the Sailors and Marines assigned to Bataan by giving its leadership a new tool to use, the Force Preservation Council (FPC).
The FPC is based on a program started by the naval aviation community in 2012 called the Human Factors Council. Numerous smaller ships have implemented the program, but according to Lt. Cmdr. Sean Simmons, the Bataan Senior Medical Officer and FPC coordinator, Bataan is the first large deck ship on the East Coast to make use of the program.
FPC is a program where every Sailor and Marine assigned to Bataan gets evaluated and then placed on a resiliency continuum based on their stressors. That assessment is then briefed up to the commanding officer, allowing the highest levels of the ship’s leadership to help the crew get the resources they need.
“We provided leadership some tools to assess people on a scale they should already be familiar with, which is the green, yellow, orange and red scale,” said Simmons. “A green Sailor has no challenges to their resiliency and a red Sailor has significant challenges to their resiliency.”
Simmons said the purpose isn’t to give a label to Sailors, but to see exactly what Sailors need and what additional resources can be given to them by the FPC. He also stressed that there is absolutely no connection between the FPC and the disciplinary system.
“These states we talk about: green, yellow, orange and red, are a snapshot of how Sailors are responding to outside stressors,” said Simmons. “The whole point of which is so that we can step in and adjust that Sailor’s course if we recognize challenges.”
The majority of the work will be done at the divisional level of leadership according to Simmons. Divisional officers and leading chief petty officers will evaluate their Sailors monthly and report to the council.
The FPC consists of the commanding officer, executive officer, command master chief, Sexual Assault Prevention and Response coordinator, Drug and Alcohol Program Advisor (DAPA), chaplain and legal representative. For Simmons having all those resources together in one room provides a huge benefit.
“When you have a Sailor that goes to NJP (Non-Judicial Punishment) for an alcohol-related offense, that Sailor has probably been impacted by the legal system, probably has been impacted by the DAPA and may well have an impact with the behavioral health system,” said Simmons. “Now, instead of having to send that Sailor to four or five different stops, we can bring all those people together and come up with a comprehensive plan to help that Sailor.”
When sitting down with leadership, it is important that Sailors and Marines be honest with their leadership. According to Simmons, if the service member is willing to trust in the process they will get a lot out of the program and help Bataan continue to be ready to fight.
| Date Taken: | 04.18.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.23.2020 04:50 |
| Story ID: | 368212 |
| Location: | ARABIAN GULF |
| Web Views: | 379 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Bataan Implements Force Preservation Council, by CPO Zachary Anderson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
