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Chief of Naval Personnel Visits 6th Fleet

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS100630-02
6/30/2010

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (AW) William Pittman/Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Africa/Commander, U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs

NAPLES, Italy (NNS) -- Vice Adm. Mark Ferguson, chief of naval personnel, visited civilian and military personnel at Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/Commander, U.S. 6th Fleet (CNE-CNA/C6F) headquarters at Naval Support Activity, Capodichino, June 29.

During his visit, Ferguson held an all-hands call for CNE-CNA/C6F personnel, where he fielded questions about manpower and personnel issues, gave an interview with American Forces Network, Naples to discuss various questions, and talked with several leaders in the officer and enlisted communities.

"It's a great pleasure for me to be here," said Ferguson. "It's one of the most important things I do, traveling through the fleet to understand the issues that [all service members] are dealing with in terms of housing, child care and the various issues that are related to Europe."

During the all-hands call, one of the main issues Ferguson discussed was the available resources for Sailors' families, in cases such as a service member's deployment or permanent change of duty station.

"It's a focus of senior leadership that we realize … Sailors are more ready to deploy and are more able to fulfill their mission when they know their families are being taken care of," said Ferguson.

Military One-Source online is one of several resources available to service members and their families, explained Ferguson. Service members can either go online or call a toll-free number to speak to a specialist. Specialists are available for every service and, if the situation requires, a multilingual staff for non-English speakers, to assist service members and their families.

Another issue Ferguson discussed was suicide prevention in the Navy and what Sailors can do if they spot signs of depression in shipmates.

"What we ask Sailors to do is to be alert for [signs of possible suicide] in their shipmates," said Ferguson. "[For example], if the individual just ended a relationship, if they're under stress at work or at home, if they appear isolated or withdrawn from their shipmates, they could be at risk. [The method] we use is the acronym ACT: Ask, care, treat."

Ferguson added that additional suicide prevention resources are available including chaplains, medical providers, social workers and counselors, and the Sailor's leadership.

"[CNP's] visit to Naples is vital to the personnel here because his visit shows that the Navy is being proactive with everybody's concerns," said Master Chief Hospital Corpsman Phillip Nafus, force medical independent corpsman with CNE-CNA/C6F. "The service members here now know that their questions are making it to the top and the leadership is taking a vested interest with their concerns."

As the 55th chief of naval personnel, Ferguson is responsible for the planning and programming of all manpower, personnel, training and education resources for the U.S. Navy.