Skywriter — December 2021

NAVAL AIR FACILITY ATSUGI DECEMBER 2021

2021 LOOKING BACK AT

What’s Inside...

Public Affairs Officer Howard Sam Samuelson Deputy Public Affairs Officer Greg Mitchell

A look back at 2021 through out the months Page 4

Editor Greg Mitchell Skywriter Staff MC1 Richard Gourley MC2 Olivier Clement MC2 Rafael Avelar Public Affairs Staff Ikumi Tanaka Maika Fujisaki Facebook.com/naf.atsugi

FFSC's January 2022 Calendar

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Youtube.com/NAFAtsugi @NAFAtsugiJP www.issuu.com/nafatsugi

Alcohol Abuse Prevention Page 14

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On The

Cover

FRONT: Cover graphic looking back at previous cover pages of Skywriter magazine in the year 2021.

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BACK: Fireworks celebration of the 246th Navy Birthday Celebration onboard NAF Atsugi. (U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Rafael Avelar)

CMDCM CORNER W i t h C o m m a n d M a s t e r C h i e f We b a R o b e r t s

Season's greetings to all and happy holidays! This past holiday season was a welcomed and well-deserved time off after some challenging days in the year of 2021. I would like to use this opportunity to personally commend each and every one of our personnel here at NAF Atsugi that make up our community! As we close out 2021 and enter into 2022, each of us must continue to keep our guard up, while recognizing the current health atmosphere.

As the commanding officer has stated, we have seen a shift in threat vectors from the two dominant strains.

The original vector originated from people coming into Japan from the States.

However, that has been overtaken by local spread.

I ask that everyone continue to reiterate to your family, friends and co-workers the need to wash hands, wear a mask when in proximity of others, and (in general) to do whatever is needed to halt this rise in cases. NAFA continues to do comparably well, and again, this is due to you and your people. Thank you again for maintaining this current strain, and I hope this is short-lived.

December 1, 1945

December 12, 1941

1945 - Capt. Sue S. Dauser, Navy Nurse Corps, receives the first Distinguished Service Medal awarded to a nurse for her leadership of Navy nurses during World War II.

The Naval Air Transport Service (NATS) is established.

December 14, 1944

December 21, 1861 Congress authorizes the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, for Naval enlisted personnel.

The rank of Fleet Admiral (five-star admiral) of the U.S. Navy is established during World War II due to the rapid build-up of U.S. military forces.

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JANUARY

2020's Naval Air Facility Atsugi First Class Petty Officers Selected to be promoted to the rank of Chief Petty Officer recieve their anchors during a pinning ceremony January 29th. (U.S. Navy photos by MC2 Rafael Avelar)

FEBRUARY

Naval Air Facility Atsugi's Heritage Committee commemorates Black History Month in a ceremony held at the Chapel of the Good Shepherd on February 26th. (U.S. Navy photos by MC2 Ange Olivier Clement)

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MARCH

Naval Air Facility Atsugi emergency response teams participated with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) emergency response teams in a joint-airfield training exercise conducted onboard the installation March 25th. The exercise was an emergency aircraft mishap scenario performed to demonstrate the collaborative capabilities by both forces in the event of a real-life potential catastrophe. (U.S. Navy photos by MC2 Rafael Avelar)

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APRIL

Naval Air Facility Atsugi's Chief Petty Officer Mess Celebrate the 128th Chief Petty Officer Birthday April 1st onboard the installation.

(U.S. Navy photos by MC2 Rafael Avelar)

MAY

Naval Air Facility Atsugi's Heritage Committee holds a Memorial Day ceremony May 27th, in the base theater in honor of honor all our brave Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

(U.S. Navy photos by MC2 Rafael Avelar)

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JUNE Adm. Samuel J. Paparo Jr, Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet arrived onboard Naval Air Facility Atsugi for a brief visit to the installation June 8th. During his first visit to Japan as the new PACFLT commander, Paparo met with senior Government of Japan officials and U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces (JMSDF) leadership. (U.S. Navy photos by MC2 Rafael Avelar)

Local Naval Air Facility Atsugi employees received their first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Branch Health Clinic Atsugi June 18th. The vaccines come from USFJ’s supply of approved vaccines, offered to those who choose to receive them, in an effort to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 and ensure USFJ’s continued ability to support the security of Japan. (U.S. Navy photos by MC2 Ange Olivier Clement)

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JULY

Naval Air Facility Atsugi's Independence Day Celebration was held indoors at Club Trilogy on July 2nd due to inclement weather and poor field conditions. Participants celebrated with live entertainment, bouncy houses, static displays, craft stations and other activities available throughout the event. (Photos by Greg Mitchell) Naval Air Facility Atsugi Security Force Sailors participate in exercise Citadel Pacific 2021, an annual CNIC exercise that includes live scenarios designed to enhance training, Navy readiness and capability of Security Forces to respond to internal or external threats onboard installations on July 20th. During the exercise, Installation Training Team and Anti-Terrorism Training Team inspectors graded the security members on their performance while they engaged in simulated crisis response.

(U.S. Navy photos by MC2 Rafael Avelar)

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AUGUST

Naval Air Facility (NAF) Atsugi Sailors and their families participate in a "Women's Equality Fun Run" around the installation hosted by the NAF Atsugi Heritage Committee August 26th in honor of Women's Equality Month. (U.S. Navy photos by MC2 Ange Olivier Clement)

SEPTEMBER The Naval Air Facility Atsugi Heritage Committee hosted a ceremony September 10th in honor of the 20th anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks, paying tribute to the loss of nearly 3,000 lives.

(U.S. Navy photos by MC2 Ange Olivier Clement)

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OCTOBER

Naval Air Facility Atsugi held a Navy Birthday Celebration event onboard the installation October 14th at Taylor Field for service members, base employees, family and friends to celebrate the United States Navy's 246th birthday. (U.S. Navy photos by MC2 Rafael Avelar)

NOVEMBER

2021's Naval Air Facility Atsugi First Class Petty Officers Selected to be promoted to the rank of Chief Petty Officer recieve their anchors during a pinning ceremony November 17th onboard the installation. (U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Ange Olivier Clement)

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Capt. Manning Montagnet carves the turkey at the Far East Cafe during the Thanksgiving Meal November 24th for Naval Air Facility Atsugi Sailors, employees and families around base.

(U.S. Navy photo by MC1 Richard Gourley)

DECEMBER

Naval Air Facility Atsugi held its annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony for the community December 2nd.

(U.S. Navy photos by MC2 Ange Olivier Clement) Naval Air Facility Atsugi Chiefs Mess and JMSDF Chiefs Mess exchanged a holiday wreath and Kadomatsu December 9th, in celebration of U.S. and Japanese holiday season traditions. The Kadomatsu is a decoration made up of cut pine and bamboo that adorns the entrance of Japanese buildings during the New Year's season.

(U.S. Navy photo by MC1 Richard Gourley)

CH-53E Super Stallions land onboard Naval Air facility Atsugi December 15th, as part of the bilateral exercise Resolute Dragon 2021.

(U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Ange Olivier Clement)

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The Final Word WITH NAVAL AIR FACILITY ATSUGI COMMANDING OFFICER

CAPT. J. M. MONTAGNET By now, everyone should be aware of the rapidly increasing number of COVID-19 cases across Japan. The country's dramatic rise in cases includes a nation-wide doubling in just the last week (from January 4th to this past weekend) at a rate now exceeding 8,000 new cases a day and with 46% of cases being attributed to the Omicron variant. In short, Wave 6 has started.

On base, NAF Atsugi is seeing cases exceeding 4 times our historic high of 32 cases one year ago.

This rapid increase of cases both inside and outside our gate warrants increased measures to ensure the continued health and safety of our base and local communities, mitigate of any further spread , and sustain operations in support of our mission here in Japan and the Region.

To that end, U.S. Forces Japan and the Government of Japan established a joint agreement which recognizes our obligations to fight further spread. As we reflect on the increase in COVID cases among U.S. military bases in Japan, please be mindful and respectful of the added scrutiny being placed by the Japanese on our individual and collective efforts to fight the virus. Let me again reiterate how exceedingly proud I am of our community and the devotion you have all demonstrated throughout this pandemic to our health protective measures. I have no doubt we will rise to the task of adopting today's new measures, confident that all of you understand the immediate task before us: continuing our pledge to respect the greater responsibility to our community and host nation.

The revised health and safety guidlines over the course of 14 days - which began January 10, 2022 and ending Monday, January 24 -- reflect the current, medically recommended measures to address the increased transmissibility of the new variant and limit its spread. The details are below, but restriction to essential activities outside our fence line, mandatory on-and off-base masking, strict pre-departure and post-arrival testing, and firm ROM requirements are not new. We'll begin providing further guidance on impacts to base services, but -- overall -- we will commit to a healthy low profile for two weeks to demonstrate good faith to our Japanese hosts before working back towards normalcy again.

CAPT John M. Montagnet Commanding Officer U.S. Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan

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