GEORGE H.W. BUSH, CVW-8 TEAM EARN FLATLEY AWARD PAGE 4 VOLUME 52 NO. 18
MAY 3, 2012
SERVING NAVAL AIR STATION OCEANA
INSIDEJET
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DAM NECK ANNEX
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CHAMBERS FIELD
Sesame Street/USO Experience for Military Families to visit Oceana
Precautionary landing
AC’S CAREER TAKES FLIGHT
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NMCRS APPRECIATES VOLUNTEERS
PAGE 10 The Navy Wives Club of America, Princess Anne Chapter 143 is sponsoring a flea market, May 5, at the Oceana Main Gate Park. The event is open to all. To reserve a vendor space, call the thrift shop at 4332193 or 5672020, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. only.
Photo by MC3 Antonio P. Turretto Ramos
A U.S. Navy Sea Dragon helicopter from Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 14 takes flight from a field of hay, April 27, after it made a precautionary landing the evening before in an open field on Harpers Road, near NAS Oceana. There were no injuries among the crewman aboard and the helicopter suffered no damage as a result of the precautionary landing and was able to return to Naval Station Norfolk.
The Sesame Street/USO Experience for Military Families — the USO’s longest running, free traveling tour based on Sesame Street’s military families initiative — is rolling onto NAS Oceana in Elmo and friends’ new tricked out bus. The Sesame Street/USO Experience for Military Families will visit NAS Oceana, JEB Little Creek-Fort Story and Naval Station Norfolk. The tour will be at the Oceana Aerotheater,May 5 at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. and May 6 at 2 p.m.; JEB Little Creek-Fort Story Gator Theater, May 3 and 4 at 6 p.m. at the and at Naval Station Norfolk, May 9 and 10 at 6 p.m. at the base theater in building C-9. The tour’s stateside return is complete with a fresh new look and a brand new character named Katie,a military child who, with the help of her Sesame pals, learns to — See Elmo and friends Page 5
WASHINGTON (NNS) — The Department of Defense assignment policy changes affecting the assignment of Navy women to formerly closed positions will be implemented May 14. The changes will open an additional 14,325 positions to women across the Department of Defense. Of those positions, the Navy will open 60 medical officer, chaplain,chief hospital corpsman and hospital corpsman first class positions for the assignment of women in Marine Corps ground combat element battalions. The 60 new Navy positions include 18 medical officer positions, 19 chaplain officer positions, and 23 chief and petty officer first class hospital corpsman positions. From Chief of Naval Personnel The changes to the 1994 Direct Ground Combat Definition and Assignment Rule, announced Feb. 9 in a rePublic Affairs
DoD policy changes open new billets for Navy women
port to Congress, could not be implemented without a Congressionally-mandated notification period, which has now expired. A second change adopted in the exception addresses former co-location restrictions.When implemented, occupations will no longer be closed to women solely because the positions are required to be co-located with direct ground combat units. However, elimination of the co-location exclusion has no impact to the Navy, as current policy does not restrict the assignment of women based on co-location. Currently,95 percent of Navy billets are open to women. The 5 percent of closed billets include submarines for enlisted women, and SEALs, Riverine squadrons and — See New billets, Page 2