Change of command in the air



PACIFIC OCEAN (Feb. 2, 2009) Cmdr. Brad Jensen, right, outgoing commanding officer of the "Lancers" of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 131, banks in an EA-6B Prowler above the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) as he leaves incoming commanding officer, Cmdr. Leif Steinbaugh, left, flying an EA-6B Prowler during an aerial change of command ceremony. Lincoln is on a scheduled work-up conducting training and carrier qualifications. U.S. Navy photo by MCSA Robert A. Robbins.

Navy mandates Electronic Service Record accounts fleetwide
MILLINGTON, Tenn. (NNS) -- The Chief of Navy Personnel released a NAVADMIN Feb. 5 announcing the requirement for all active-duty and Reserve personnel to establish and maintain a self-service Electronic Service Record (ESR) account within the next 60 days.
"Having a self-service account is necessary for updating emergency contact information. Self-service accounts contain other important features, such as enabling Sailors to directly submit PCS (permanent change of station) travel claims upon PCS transfer, update race, ethnicity, and religion information, and view all other ESR service record information," said Vice Adm. Mark Ferguson, chief of naval personnel in NAVADMIN 043/09.
The requirement date for Sailors serving at sea and without connectivity to establish and ESR is 60 days upon return to homeport.
The Navy first implemented ESRs in 2006. The ESR provides individual Sailors, Personnel Support Activity Detachments (PSD), personnel offices holding service records, Navy Operational Support Centers, and customer commands of PSDs, with secure worldwide Internet access to personnel, training, and awards data.
The ESR replaces the paper service record as the single field level data entry point for service record maintenance. Commands are required to use all available ESR functionality.
Self-service accounts can be created at https://nsips.nmci.navy.mil or on the Navy Standard Integrated Personnel System (NSIPS) ESR server on board ship.
Commanding officers, executive officers and command master chiefs can obtain command level view only access by completing the NSIPS/ESR system authorization request and contacting their local NSIPS area manager. This access provides the user view only capability for all ESR accounts within their UIC(s).
All commands responsible for service record entries are required to initiate updates in NSIPS ESR, however official military personnel file requirements remain unchanged.
NSIPS ESR is the data entry point for electronic service record maintenance. Sailors are responsible for the accuracy of their ESR and must contact the servicing personnel office if any information is incorrect.
For more information read NAVADMIN 043/09, http://www.npc.navy.mil/ NR/rdonlyres/E434A6D2-021E-4E08-89CB-8FEA2F5408BD/ 0/NAV09043.txt

Sand Dollar Gift Shop at NMS holds grand re-opening
Sand Dollar Gift Shop, a non-profit boutique operated by the Naval Officer Spouses Club (NOSC) in San Diego, will reopen, Feb. 11. The fundraising store is located at the Naval Medical Center San Diego in Building 1, next to the Quarterdeck and is open to the public.
The shop will feature a new and improved look and new merchandise from the recent buying trip to one of the largest gift and accessory shows in the country.
Sand Dollar Gift Shop offers a unique collection of jewelry, women’s handbags and accessories, gift items, new baby gifts and more. The boutique also showcases specialty items created by local military spouses. Throughout the year, Sand Dollar Gift Shop hosts trunk shows at numerous NOSC-sponsored and NMCSD sponsored events. Store profits go to military charities and scholarships, with over $36,000 donated this past year.
“We seek out unusual and hard-to-find merchandise to provide our customers high quality at a reasonable price. The concept has been really well-received. People have fun shopping at Sand Dollar Gift Shop and at the same time they’re helping support military families,” said Kay Merg, Manager of Sand Dollar.
Sand Dollar Gift Shop at NMCSD store hours are Monday – Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Please visit our second location on NASNI located across from the NEX. For more information please call (619) 702-7711 or go online at noscsandiego.com/.

Navy admiral to lead review of Guantanamo detention facility
by Gerry J. Gilmore
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has selected a Navy four-star admiral to lead an assessment of operations at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a senior Defense Department official said in Washington Feb. 3.
Adm. Patrick M. Walsh, the vice chief of Naval Operations, will head the review, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters.
The White House has tasked the Pentagon to assess the detention operations at Guantanamo Bay as part of President Barack Obama's decision to close the facility, Morrell said.
Obama issued an executive order Jan. 22 that directs the closure of the Guantanamo detention center within a year. Obama signed another executive order that day directing the stand-up of a special interagency task force that will study the future disposition of present Guantanamo detainees who cannot be transferred to other countries and who pose a serious danger to the United States.
Another presidential executive order issued Jan. 22 directs the U.S. military and other U.S. agencies to follow the Army Field Manual, which bans torture when interrogating detainees "to promote the safe, lawful and humane treatment of individuals in United States custody," Obama said at the signing ceremony. The directive, Obama added, highlights the importance for the United States to comply with the Geneva Conventions.
The Walsh-led appraisal of detainee operations at Guantanamo "is a subset of the executive orders that the president signed a couple of weeks ago," Morrell said.
The admiral's review of Guantanamo's detention operations is to be completed within 30 days, Morrell said.
Pentagon officials believe that detainee operations at Guantanamo "have been in compliance with Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions for some time and are still so," Morrell said.
"But, we take this tasking from the White House very seriously," Morrell said, "and that's why the secretary has asked a four-star flag officer to go down there, and put fresh eyes on the situation down there, and come back with the most up-to-date assessment of detention operations."
Obama directed Gates on Jan. 20 to pause legal proceedings involving alleged terrorists being held and tried there, pending further guidance from the White House. The president directed the secretary, who then directed the Office of Military Commissions, to cease referring any new cases through the military-commissions process at Guantanamo and to request 120-day continuances on all ongoing active cases there.

Association elected to lead new alliance on military and overseas voting rights
Rick Jones, Legislative Director of the National Association for Uniformed Services® (NAUS), was elected co-Chairman of the newly formed Alliance for Military and Overseas Voting Rights. The Alliance, composed of several military and veterans organizations like NAUS, formed to ensure that our military men and women, most of whom are stationed outside their home States including hundreds of thousands deployed overseas, are afforded their right to vote, and to ensure their votes are counted.
“Complaints and problems surrounding the absentee votes of our servicemembers during the 2008 elections raised new concerns about the rights of America’s Warriors to exercise the freedoms they are pledged to protect,” said Jones. “Military voters must have the information, time and assistance necessary to complete and return absentee ballots – and they must be counted,” he added.
Among Alliance goals is State adoption of standardized procedures for registering military and overseas voters and for counting their cast ballots. The Alliance is also asking Congress and the States to expand programs to find secure and convenient technological solutions that will aid military and overseas absentee voters. In addition, the Alliance is seeking congressional hearings concerning reform of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. The Pew Research Center, an Alliance member, will be analyzing the State and Federal legislative environments for such reform this spring.
For more information about the Alliance for Military and Overseas Voting Rights, please contact NAUS Legislative Director Rick Jones at rjones@naus.org or 703-750-1342.
NAUS is a nonprofit, non-partisan association dedicated to protecting the interests of - and benefits earned by - members of the uniformed services for themselves, their families and survivors. NAUS provides administrative support to the Society ofMilitaryWidows. For more information please contact Steve Hein, Director of Marketing, at 703-750-1342, x1009, or at shein@naus.org, or visit the Association’s web site at www.naus.org.

FRCSW fares well in world-class competition
by Steve Fiebing
NAVAL AIR STATION NORTH ISLAND, Calif. (NNS) -- Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRCSW) received an honorable mention trophy for its second place finish in the "Best Project Contributing to Innovation" category for the North American Process Excellence Awards competition sponsored by the International Quality and Productivity Center.
Within its category, FRCSW competed against industry giants Delphi Corporation, Sutherland Global Services Inc., and Dominion. Delphi took first place for its project optimizing transactional business processes.
The awards were formerly known as the Six Sigma Excellence Awards and covered nine categories of manufacturing, business and industry applications of Lean, Six Sigma, process improvement, and innovation.
FRCSW Commanding Officer Capt. Michael Kelly accepted the award, which recognized the command's application of AIRSpeed to its support equipment intermediate maintenance processes. AIRSpeed is the Naval Aviation Enterprise set of processes and procedures combining industry-proven tools to reduce work turnaround time, work in progress, and cost of operations to increase the Navy's buying power for current and future capabilities.
"By competing against these corporate world leaders and performing as we did, we have clearly established that FRCSW and the people who work here are truly the leaders and innovators in the field of aviation maintenance," said Kelly.
FRCSW is the Navy's premier west coast aviation maintenance facility specializing in the overhaul, maintenance, engineering, and logistical support of a wide range of high-performance aircraft; servicing more than 270 airframes and 50,000 components annually to optimize combat readiness and reduce costs.