Ombudsman Newsletter

CO’s Corner

Greetings JPJ Families,

The maintenance period is in full swing. We entered the dry dock at NASSCO through the night of 15-16 July after a very successful ammunition offload and an event filled Family Day Cruise. Your sailors did an outstanding job in safely conducting these very difficult and tiring evolutions. The crew is still working very hard, but we are mixing it with as much down time and fun time as possible. Hopefully you’ve heard about the Captain’s Cup competition that is going on now and the ship’s

picnic in September immediately following our fall Physical Fitness Assessment.

As important as the maintenance and fun is, we are aggressively sending many, many sailors to schools and to training that has not been available to them for the last 18 months due to the ship’s schedule. Those who have already attended and returned were very happy with their schools and feel they will be even better sailors with their new found knowledge.

Between now and early October, our major focus will be the maintenance. These nine to twelve week periods are extremely important to a ship’s life because it is the only time were the total focus in on fixing stuff. In addition to fixing some long standing issues, the ship is getting an inject of new systems that will make her and even better ship upon return to an operational environment. I’m sure your sailor can tell you some of the very important work they are involved in, but I will tell you every sailor is involved in some important aspect of making JPJ better. A total team effort! Our success is because of the little things that each sailor does each and every day. Be proud of them. I know I am!

Christopher K. Barnes

CDR USN

Commanding Officer

CMC’s Corner

Hello JOHN PAUL JONES Family and Friends,

The dry docking was a long night and day for the crew but all
went smoothly. Right now you wouldn't even recognize the ship; there
are so many hoses, cables and equipment throughout every space. There is a lot of work getting done by shipyard workers and the crew, looking forward to seeing how good we look once we are out of the yards.

Captain's Cup kick off 16 July 2008 (yes the first day in dry dock) with soccer and basketball being the first two events. You could tell from the start that the Engineering team was the one to beat in soccer and Combat Systems the one to beat in basketball. Khaki team
tied Engineering in soccer the second week for soccer but ended up lost to Engineering in the Championship game. In Basketball no one could come close to beating the powerful Combat System team. Next week is volleyball and golf, and I heard Combat System has a secret weapon for golf! Next month I'll post the results of all the sporting events and who is the overall leader of Captain's Cup.

I would like to extend a "Congratulations on a job well
done" to the following Sailors who were recently for sustained superior
performance:

COMDESRON 23 Sailor of the Quarter: DC1(SW/AW) Foster

COMDESRON 23 Junior Sailor of the Quarter: HM2(SW) Arnold

New Chief Petty Officer Selectees:

YNC(Sel) Terry Cerami
OSC(Sel) Jeffery Davis
DCC(Sel) Shannon Foster

Very Respectfully,
CMDCM(SW) Karol M. Kramer

OMBUDSMAN’S CORNER

Dear JPJ Families and Friends,

As the summer races by it is amazing to me how fast the months have gone since our

Sailors have been home. I hope you have all had a good few months.

Throughout the entire deployment we have looked forward to our Sailors coming home. There may have been great expectations of how things were going to be: positive changes made, a chance to renew a relationship and perhaps even a chance to just relax. Unfortunately great expectations can quickly fall flat. We are all adjusting to life with our loved one home and these changes are not made overnight. You have spent many months apart from one another and just as it took awhile to adjust to life without our Sailors it often takes awhile to readjust to having them home. If you are having a hard time with the adjustment there are resources out there for you, so don’t lose hope. If you are feeling that you want help and don’t know where to turn, please call or email me. I have access to several great resources and am always on the lookout for new resources.

As I watched the news over the past month I have noticed several alarming cases involving military personnel and domestic violence. Even though the National Domestic Violence Awareness Month is October I want to touch on this topic now. The “This Resource is for You!” section deals specifically with this topic. It is the policy of both the Navy and this Command to guarantee that “victims are safe and offenders are held appropriately accountable¹.” As the Command Ombudsman , I am a mandatory reporter. What does that mean? Well, in simple terms, there are certain things that I am required, by regulation and law, to report to the appropriate authorities and the Command. The items that I am required to report are alleged domestic violence, suspected child abuse, attempted suicides, homicide and the catch all, anything the Command requires. I am not telling you this to keep you from coming to me if you need help, I am letting you know so that you are aware that I will do everything in my power to help you. If you are an offender and want the help to change, please ask-help is available. If you are a victim, please use the resources listed and/or call me for more resources.

On a more positive note, your FSG was recognized by the Surface Forces Ombudsman Assembly for their willingness to go above and beyond with helping another ship’s family. I hope you are just as proud of them as I am. It is our Sailors and our families that make this a great ship and I am truly impressed by and proud of each of you.

Heather Cox

Command Ombudsman

USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53)

(619) 743-5416 OMB line

1-866-310-4650 Careline

jpjombudsman@yahoo.com

http://jpjfamilynews.tripod.com

Domestic Violence The United States Navy Leader’s Guide to Personnel in Distress. 1 September 2005

http://www-nehc.med.navy.mil/LGuide/Personnel/Domestic_Violence/Domesticproblems.htm. accessed 20 July 2008

Family Support Group News

Dear JPJ Families and Friends,

August is upon us and with it the last month of summer vacation for many children. Our next FSG meeting will be held Tuesday, August 5^th, at 6:00 pm for pizza with the meeting starting at 6:30. It will be at the Murphy Canyon Chapel on Santo Rd. in military housing. The FSG is looking for a new secretary, as Linda Torrez will be transferring with her family. If interested please contact me at the FSG email listed below. The FSG will be participating in a family fun day and BBQ hosted by the ship in September at Admiral Baker Park. Details will be sent out when the BBQ plans are finalized. Please enjoy the rest of the summer with your families while our sailors are in port.

Julie Gushlaw

USS John Paul Jones FSG President

Fsg_53@yahoo.com

Navy Trivia:

What is the nickname for the Chief’s Mess?

A. The Clubhouse

B. The Cave

C. The Goat Locker

D. The Old Folks Home

Important Dates in History!

August is National “What will be your Legacy” Month : This month is a chance to reflect on yourself and see if you are happy with the “footprint” that you are leaving on the lives and world around you. If you aren’t here’s a great chance to make changes, without it being New Year’s!

August is National Immunization Awareness Month: With children getting ready for school, now is a great time to make sure that all immunizations are up to date. While some immunizations are required by law there are some that aren’t. For more information on the importance of immunizing both children and adults against preventable disease please go to http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niam/default.htm#oview.

August 3, 1942 - Mildred McAffee (Horton) becomes the first woman officer commissioned into Naval Reserve

August 4, 1947 - Birthdate of the Medical Service Corps

August 6, 1945 - Atomic bomb detonated over Hiroshima, Japan. Navy weaponeer, Captain W.S. Parsons, USN, armed the atomic bomb on the B-29 bomber, Enola Gay

August 7, 1782 - Badge of Military Merit (Purple Heart) established

August 15

1845 - U.S. Naval Academy established at Annapolis, MD on former site of Fort Severn..

1908 - First Navy post offices established in Navy ships

1953 - First naval officer appointed Chairman, Joints Chiefs of Staff, Admiral William Radford. He served from 15 August 1953 until 15 August 1957

August 23, 1963 - The first satellite communications ship, USNS Kingsport (T-AG-164) in Lagos, Nigeria, connected President John F. Kennedy with Nigerian Prime Minister Balewa who was aboard for the first satellite (Syncom II) relayed telephone conversation between heads of state.

Source: http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/datesaug.htm

Ask the Ombudsman!

Question: With all of the deployments this past year I am finding it hard to reconnect and to want to stay with my Sailor. I still love my Sailor, but am feeling like we have grown so far apart and am thinking of getting a divorce. Is this normal? What do I do?

Answer: First of all, I am not a counselor and I highly encourage you to find a counselor that you trust in order to help you both work through any problems that you have. That being said, deployments are hard, trust me, I understand. Having gone through three deployments in three years with my husband, Adam, two year long deployments with my brother and a long distance marriage with my ex (he was stationed in Georgia, I in Germany), I completely understand how difficult it is to reconnect with your loved one. You probably have grown apart and yes, that is normal. You have done things separately and learned how to deal with things on your own but this doesn’t mean that you have to get divorced. What you do need to look at is your actual relationship. First, is there domestic violence, emotional or physical abuse or any other true “deal breaker” you may have? If so, then you may not be able to fix the marriage. If you have any of the above please know that there are resources out there for you to utilize (see the This resource is for You! section or you can contact me for more information). If not, have you tried couple’s counseling? And I mean really tried-not the going to a couple of meetings and half heartedly trying scenario. Have you tried CREDO’s program for reconnecting? What about Fleet and Family Support Center? Have you taken time to date again? More than likely you didn’t meet each other on Monday and on Wednesday you got married, so expecting them to come home on May 28^th and expecting to have everything back to normal on June 1 is a bit unrealistic. Some people may have been apart for a year or more and even though you have had access to email and phone there is nothing like being able to physically touch your loved one. Reconnecting is not an easy, instantaneous occurrence like turning on the stove or the lights, it is more like building a fire back up from low burning embers-it takes time, patience and lots of love. You have kids you say? How can you leave the kids after all it’s so expensive to get a babysitter? Perhaps you and a friend can trade babysitting nights. There are parent night’s available at Miramar Youth Center that costs $10 per child as well. So babysitting is taken care of, now what about the date. Dates don’t need to be expensive. Try checking out some inexpensive ways to date online by doing a web search, or try checking out the local newspaper for information on things you can do at a low or no cost. One of my favorite inexpensive Date Night’s with Adam is curling up on the couch watching a movie after having cooked dinner together. However you decide to proceed with your relationship is up to you and your spouse and whatever the outcome I wish you the best. Navy life is hard on families and relationships, but the good news is that your Sailor will be home for a while and hopefully you can work together on whatever you need to.

Question: What does the ship’s schedule look like for the next few months?

Answer: The actual schedule in terms of what is specifically being done while the ship is in dry docks, I am not sure, however the ship is scheduled to be in dry docks for about 3 months followed by workups and tests. There will underways that may be for several weeks, however nothing like we have experienced in the past year. It currently looks like the longest underway between now and December is about 2 weeks. The next long deployment is currently scheduled for next summer, however, like we learned last deployment, this could change at any time.

Would you like a question answered that others may need an answer to? Please email me at jpjombudsman@yahoo.com, call the Careline (1-866-310-4650)and leave a message or call me directly on the OMB cell phone!

This Resource is for You!

Domestic Violence

Approximately 33 million adult Americans, according to a 2006 Harris Poll, have been the victims of abuse while the CDC has found that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men have been the victim of domestic violence at some point in their life. If you are abused or if you are the abuser and want help here are some resources for you to use. While I am a mandatory reporter (which means I have to report any cases of alleged domestic violence, suspected child abuse, suicide, homicide, and sexual assault to the appropriate authorities and to the Command), confidentiality rules still apply.

If you need help please contact either myself or one of the following organizations. Remember that computers can keep track of where you have been online. If you are a victim, need help and want to use a computer, public computers are available at many local libraries.

If you are in immediate danger call 9-1-1!

Nationally:

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
1-800-787-3224 (TTY)

National Coalition against Domestic Violence: http://www.ncadv.org/protectyourself/GettingHelp_128.html

DomesticViolence.org http://www.domesticviolence.org/

San Diego:

Family Resource Center: There are 11 locations around San Diego, check out their website: http://www2.sdcounty.ca.gov/hhsa/ServiceDetails.asp?ServiceID=943

San Diego County Domestic Violence Hotline 1-888-DVLINKS OR 1-888-385-4657

Family Advocacy Program: Through Fleet and Family Support

NB San Diego 619-556-8809

Navy Trivia Answer: C

GOAT LOCKER - Entertainment on liberty took many forms, mostly depending on the coast and opportunity. One incident which became tradition was at a Navy-Army football game. In early sailing years, livestock would travel on ships, providing the crew fresh milk, meats, and eggs, as well as serving as ships' mascots. One pet, a goat named El Cid (meaning Chief) was the mascot aboard the USS New York. When its crew attended the fourth Navy-Army football game in 1893, they took El Cid to the game, which resulted in the West Pointers losing. El Cid (The Chief) was offered shore duty at Annapolis and became the Navy's mascot. This is believed to be the source of the old Navy term, "Goat Locker."

CONTACT YOUR SAILOR:

Sailors love snail mail! Although we have the convenience of email, don’t forget to send letters and packages to your loved one at sea! Send mail to:

Service Member’s Name

USS JOHN PAUL JONES (DDG-53)

FPO AP 96669-1271

Remember…sailors love snail mail!

August 2008

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

1

2

3

4

5

FSG

Meeting

Pizza at 6pm,

Meeting at 6:30pm

6

7

8

9

10

11

Deadline to buy tickets to Surface Forces Ball

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

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Surface Forces

Ball

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31

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