SAPR run, safety fair today, April 26 ...
“The Amazing SAPR Race,” a themed run for Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month (SAAPM), is taking place this morning (April 26). The run, for military personnel, will begin at 7 a.m. at Bldg. 3460. Also happening today is the 2013 Health and Safety Fair, hosted by Naval Aviation Schools Command (NASC) at the Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC) Aviation Support Equipment Hangar, Bldg. 3460 (Mega Building) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Vol. 77, No. 17
VISIT GOSPORT ONLINE: www.gosportpensacola.com
April 26, 2013
Southeast Region decentralizes HR By MC1(SW) Greg Johnson Navy Region Southeast Public Affairs
Rear Adm. John C. Scorby Jr., commander, Navy Region Southeast (CNRSE), presented five Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Awards and 44 letters of appreciation to members of the CNRSE Human Resources (HR) Program during a ceremony onboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville April 17.
Rear Adm. John “Jack” Scorby, commander, Navy Region Southeast (CNRSE), speaks to human resources (HR) personnel before handing out awards March 27 at NAS Pensacola. Scorby thanked program members for their efforts related to preparing for the decentralization of HR services. Photo by Janet Thomas
The ceremony was held four days prior to the decentralization of the HR program, which will re-assign the majority of CNRSE HR specialists from region headquarters to major commands on board installations throughout the region. Additional information regarding the specific processes and procedures of regional delivery of HR services will be
published in the near future. “Our CNRSE team is proud of the outstanding services the HR program has provided over many years across the Southeast Region,” Scorby said. “Meeting our Navy mission would not be possible if it were not for the strong support we’ve received from each member, especially in the areas of labor employee relations, equal employment opportunity, worker’s compensation, and staffing and classification for more than 4,000 customers in theater.” Prior to decentralization, approximately 75 HR specialists throughout the region fell under CNRSE responsibility. As of April 21, 57 of them transitioned to other major commands, such as Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Fleet Forces Command and Naval Education and Training Command. The new Navywide model will position HR specialists at each major command, whereas CNRSE had previously been servicing about 75 percent of all civilian employees in the region. The decentralization plan was created last year by the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs with the goal of delivering more streamlined and customer-focused support. According to Sarah Overstreet, CNRSE Human Resources director, the transition comes with distinct benefits. “One of the major advantages to this change in HR servicing is that HR professionals will be able to focus only on the major command to which they are assigned and will not be required to focus on several different commands at the same time,” she said. “This focus provides the opportunity for better customer
See HR changes on page 2
(Left-right) Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) spokesman Jim Roberts extolls the energy-efficient virtues of his Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Ford Fusion to NASP Commanding Officer Capt. Keith Hoskins and Navy Exchange personnel during an April 19 Earth Day event. ECUA has an entire fleet of CNG vehicles.
Earth Day events at NEX Story, photo by Alex Sharp PAO Intern
Despite the rainy weather, crowds of people showed up to the Earth Day Fair on April 19 at the Navy exchange (NEX) Mall located off Highway 98.
Dozens of booths lined the breezeway to support Earth Day and promote environmental awareness. Local organizations such as Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA), Gulf Power and the Choctawhatchee Bay Alliance provided information and free “swag” to
explain how fair-goers can do their part and protect the environment. Artists and farmers also attended the fair, selling everything from peanuts and culinary herbs to woodcarvings and pottery.
See Earth Day on page 2
Classic film has connections to NASP Story, photo by Janet Thomas Gosport Staff Writer
Courtney Woodason and her husband, VT-10’s Ens. Nathan Woodason, recently had a baby at Naval Hospital Pensacola. The hospital was rated as one of the best military treatment facilities in the DoD for patient satisfaction in regards to childbirths.
Babies on board: NHP rated one of the best By Jason J. Bortz NHP PAO
A recent study by the DoD has shown that Naval Hospital Pensacola was rated the third highest amongst 46 DoD military treatment facilities (MTF), and first for the Navy, that participated in a patient satisfaction study in regards to childbirths.
See Babies@NHP on page 2
There’s a “new” movie on the watch list at the Naval Air Station (NASP). USO volunteer Elizabeth Beaver recently donated a DVD of the classic film “The Wings of Eagles” to the NASP USO center. Several scenes filmed aboard NASP are featured in the 1957 film, which stars John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara, and Beaver, 76, was a young Navy WAVE assigned to the photo lab at NASP at the time. The movie is based on the life of Frank “Sprig” Wead, a 1916 graduate of the United States Naval Academy who went through flight training and earned his wings at NASP in 1920. Beaver got the idea to give a copy of the film to the USO after she found several black-and-white photographs that she had packed away and forgotten. She did not take the photographs herself; they were given
to her by some of the official Navy photographers she worked with. She also compiled a notebook featuring copies of her photographs along with facts about the movie that the USO can keep on file. Beaver hopes Sailors and Marines who are stationed here now will enjoy watching the film that brings back memories of her early days at NASP.
Beaver graduated from boot camp in Baltimore, Md., in 1955 at age 19 and she knows what it was like to leave home to join the Navy. She remembers making the trip to Pensacola on the train by herself. “I was scared to death, and starving,” she said. “I was afraid to get off the train and get something to eat.”
See Wings of Eagles on page 2
Sailors and Marines gather in the background as USO volunteer Elizabeth Beaver presents a DVD of “The Wings of Eagles” to USO Northwest Florida Director Heidi Blair. See more photos on page 4A
Published by Ballinger Publishing, a private firm in no way connected with the Department of the Navy. Opinions contained herein are not official expressions of the Department of the Navy nor do the advertisements constitute Department of the Navy, NAS Pensacola or Ballinger Publishing’s endorsement of products or services advertised.