Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Samantha Jetzer | 240822-ML137-1001 ASAN, Guam (Aug. 22, 2024) Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Carolina...... read more read more
Keyboards clatter, papers shuffle, and phones ring throughout the multi-level building and cubicles of Joint Region Marianas headquarters. Sitting at your desk, the glow from your dual monitor screen reflects numerous open tabs, each vying for your attention.
The emails accumulate, burying messages received from just a few hours ago. Notes from a morning meeting sit on top of your cluttered desk, waiting to be compiled into a report for an afternoon briefing.
In the bottom corner of your screen, notifications silently bob up and down, reminding you of the mountain of messages waiting in the next tab over. Operational tempo remains high with an endless cycle of tasks and deadlines. Your eyes scan through your partly finished report when the calendar notification pops up on your display: it’s Thursday. You let go of the breath you hadn’t realized you were holding.
You stand from your desk and head toward the first floor of the building for a mental pause session with the Serenity Seekers club. As you reach the bottom of the stairs, the inviting aroma of freshly brewed coffee drifts through the hall drawing you toward the small conference room where the club meets each week. Inside, the low hum of conversation mingles with the low crashing of waves gently emitting from the speakers overhead, creating a soothing atmosphere that feels miles away from the work upstairs.
An array of familiar faces greet you, some of whom you typically don’t see outside of these sessions, and a sense of ease begins to settle in. You find a seat and reach for one of the stress-relief gadgets on the table to keep your hands busy as your mind begins to unwind. This week, it’s a stress ball shaped like a fighter jet, a small reminder of the mission you support.
Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Carolina Angulo, director of Warfighter and Family Readiness Galley Regional Program, formed Serenity Seekers in August of 2024 as part of JRM’s Expanded Operational Stress Control (EOSC) program.
EOSC is a peer-to-peer program that takes a practical approach to strengthening the psychological readiness of Navy personnel by blending Combat Operational Stress Control (COSC) practices with mindfulness and resilience training. The sessions provide a weekly pause, or training session, to prepare staff with the skills they need to stay mentally tough and mission-ready, no matter what comes their way.
Practicing small habits to improve one’s resiliency can help both service members and civilian personnel to not just face stress head-on, but to thrive in any environment. By focusing on evidence-based techniques, the program promotes adaptive coping strategies, a positive mindset, and cognitive and behavioral regulation. It also tackles real-life challenges with tools for better problem-solving, sleep, physical fitness, mind-body practices, and building strong social connections.
By developing the necessary techniques to face our mission’s challenges, Angulo explained how we are molding stronger individuals and team members, which ultimately fosters cohesive units and improves overall readiness.
“Sometimes we see stress as something external that is happening to us,” Angulo said. “Instead, it could be looked at as something happening for us. We get to choose how we move forward.”
The club is open to all JRM and Joint Task Force - Micronesia personnel. It was created to be a supportive environment where members can come together, chat, and learn some skills to help guide them through daily stressors. There is no label for anyone who walks into a session, just fellow colleagues looking to better themselves through peer-led mindful micro-sessions. The goal of the class is to help participants gain an awareness of themselves and teach them how to better manage stress. Sessions have included topics like gratitude, neuroplasticity, self-reflection, and mental fitness.
Navy Chief Yeoman Regina Corpus, JRM’s administration leading chief petty officer, is a frequent participant in Serenity Seekers and said she has found ways to incorporate meaningful lessons from the sessions in her daily life.
“I’m learning more tools to deal with my stress and now I’m not always in such a big rush in the morning,” Corpus said. “I feel less stressed whenever I am in the class, and of course the coffee is delicious.”
Some of these lessons are prioritizing and reorganizing tasks so that she’s prepared for anything her day may bring. She also began incorporating small mental breaks into her daily habits as a way to practice time management and help her come back to her tasks with a renewed sense of focus. Even when something comes along that blindsides her, by trusting the tools she’s learned, she’s able to avoid feeling overwhelmed when things don’t go according to plan.
“These sessions help me to remember that work will be there in the morning and I can take care of what I need to then,” Corpus said. “I’m making more time for my husband and babies and prioritizing not staying extra late in the office anymore.”
Angulo said her personal experiences inspired her to found Serenity Seekers. She recalled her mother’s positive influence, which engrained important strategies to cope with life’s stressors. Since she had her own kids, Angulo has been teaching them similar lessons to what her mom taught her. When training to become a master resilience trainer for the Air Force, Angulo recognized the techniques she had already learned from her mother, and began to appreciate the science behind them.
“I was like, oh, there’s a scientific term for that?,” she said. “Cool, I've already been doing those things but now I can put a name to that thing. I know that these skills work because I practice them, and that’s why I teach it.”
Angulo recalled a time when mental health in the military wasn’t considered very important and said perceptions have changed from the time when the topic felt “taboo.” She described her experience as a junior Airman, when she felt accessing mental health care was something to be ashamed of. Now, she said, being open to mental health care is prioritized as part of warfighter and family readiness.
Today, service members from junior enlisted to flag and general officers are encouraged to seek mental health support when needed and practice healthy daily habits to manage stress in and out of the workplace. Having honest and open conversations about the effects of stress on operational readiness continues to foster a culture where Department of Defense employees can confidently receive the help they need without professional backlash or worry about how they might be perceived.
“Before, we didn’t talk about feelings in the workplace,” Angulo said. “We couldn’t even say, ‘I’m not having a good day right now.’ You just had to push through, but that has changed drastically.”
Striving to create genuine interactions and person-to-person conversations is essential to building trust at all levels of leadership, Angulo said. It fosters resilient, professional relationships that can work through challenges..
“I think as a leader we need to be very genuine and create trust,” she said. “I am able to influence the energy of the people around me because of the way that I behave and the way that I speak to them,” Angulo said.
Angulo said she hopes to see more new faces during the sessions in the future. “When you need it is when you will find me,” she said.
As the session wraps up, the soothing sound of waves turns off as Angulo disconnects her laptop from the speaker as she packs up her bag. You return the stress ball—now softened by use—to the table alongside the other gadgets. There’s a shared sense of revival in the room, as if the collective pause has recharged everyone. The other Serenity Seekers shuffle out of their chairs, and head back to their respective offices, chatting with one another as they make their way out of the conference room.
You bid farewell and make your way back to your desk upstairs. You step into your cubicle and log back onto your computer. However, the once-overwhelming demands now feel more manageable. The inbox still blinks, the monitor still glows, but there’s clarity and focus—a reminder that even the busiest weeks have room for moments of reflection and rest. With a clearer head and renewed energy, you feel ready to tackle the tasks before you. And you’re sure to remember to keep a lookout for Angulo’s gentle weekly reminder for Serenity Seekers, each message ending with, “We hope to see you there, the coffee is brewing.”
If you're interested in learning more about the EOSC program, you can reach out to your command’s EOSC coordinator or visit www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Support-Services/Culture-Resilience/Warrior-Toughness/E-OSC_SOM/ for more information. You can also find additional resources about mental health services available to you at www.militaryonesource.mil, your local Family Advocacy Program with Fleet and Family Readiness, or through your command’s suicide prevention program.
| Date Taken: | 02.11.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.10.2025 17:47 |
| Story ID: | 490500 |
| Location: | ASAN, GU |
| Web Views: | 71 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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