Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Jacob Sippel | JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Oct. 19, 2022) – Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Ashley Thomson, a...... read more read more
In little over a month, Master Chief of the Navy James Honea, has made good on his promise of getting out to the Fleet and speaking to Sailors and Chiefs about their concerns.
Honea visited the “Tri-base area” Oct 17-19, speaking with leadership and Sailors from Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Naval Station (NS) Mayport and Naval Submarine Base (NSB) Kings Bay.
“If there is one thing I want Sailors to take away from our time speaking with each other during my visits is they have an advocate in me,” said Honea. “I want to learn about any barriers they have while serving our Navy. I am passionate about serving as your MCPON and will do my best to ease those concerns and hardships they and their families face.”
Following his list of priorities, Honea spoke at length about Warfighting Competency, Professional Development and Quality of Life. For Sailors in the tri-base area, their questions focused primarily on Quality of Life topics, including Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), mental health support, and other basic services provided by the Navy.
“There are over 280,000 active duty members in our Navy. Without our people, there is no Navy,” said Honea. “The Navy recognizes the importance of taking care of its service members and their families. I do not want Sailors to think I am repeating the same line with no action. Just recently, the Department of Defense temporarily increased BAH, worked with the commissary to decrease prices 3-5% on most items, and instituted the new Basic Needs Allowance – beginning in 2023.”
While the Navy and the DoD continue to make positive changes to the basic needs of their service members, Navy Region Southeast has developed innovative ways to meet the needs of their Sailors closer to home.
“I want to praise NAS Jacksonville for embracing the Get Real Get Better mindset and broadening the reach and offerings of their Flight line galley by partnering with MWR and their Dewey’s restaurant. This type of innovation provides Sailors with more dining choices and available times, while simultaneously taking the money saved and putting it towards other MWR events and activities for Sailors and their families.”
In addition to NAS Jacksonville, leadership at NS Mayport just unveiled their new golf course, while Kings Bay kicked off their “Life is Better” campaign, focusing on events and opportunities for Sailors and their families. The Quality of Life programs in the tri-base area has been so successful that they have earned such recognition as the Ney Award for the NS Mayport Galley and the Gold Medal from the National Parks and Recreation Association awarded to the NSB Kings Bay MWR department.
“Warfighting is imperative to the Navy,” said Honea. “But we also recognize that to be a strong and lethal warfighter, you need services and facilities that provide a positive experience when off duty. Navy Region Southeast recognizes the importance of taking care of our Sailors and their families and continues to meet its mission of sustaining the fleet so our warfighters can be successful in defending our Nation.”
| Date Taken: | 10.19.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 10.21.2022 07:41 |
| Story ID: | 431778 |
| Location: | JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 126 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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