journal 041615

Vol. 27 No. 15 www.cnic.navy.mil/bethesda/ April 16, 2015

By Andrew DamstedtNSAB Public Affairs

staff writer

Children at Naval SupportActivity Bethesda’s (NSAB)Child Development Centers(CDCs) are getting the royaltreatment this month, as thefacilities where they are caredfor are being transformed intofairy tale castles in celebra-tion of Month of the MilitaryChild.Each classroom has been

decorated into a fairy tale – onemight catch a glimpse of Ariel,Snow White or Cinderella – orperhaps Prince Eric, Kristoff orthe three little pigs when visit-ing the centers in April.Three-year-olds in one class-

room were eating a yogurtsnack and shouting out theirfavorite characters from themovie “Frozen,” while in an-other classroom, children werepracticing a skit about “TheThree Little Pigs.” Each childis learning both the part ofthe Big Bad Wolf and the littlepigs to perform for their par-ents April 30. After practicingthe part of the Big Bad Wolf,4-year-old Keegan Gosha-Westsaid it wasn’t nice for the wolfto blow down the pigs’ houses.“We decided to bring the

fairy tale alive and also bringthem to the children to live it,”said Jamila Aziz, Naval Sup-port Activity Bethesda Child& Youth Program Oversightdirector, explaining each yeara different theme is chosen tocelebrate Month of the MilitaryChild. “I remember when I wasa little girl growing up in Mo-rocco – every Saturday night,my grandfather used to tell astory … and all the kids wouldsit in front of him for hoursand listen to the stories of fairytales.”

In another classroom, pre-schoolers were learning about“The Little Mermaid.” 4-year-old Emma Silvestre said a lotof the girls want to be Ariel ina skit they plan to perform fortheir parents.“We’re trying to make the

classroom about mermaids,”Emma said, excited they weregoing to make mermaid skirts.Her classmate, 4-year-old

Deon Coleman Jr., said he likedfairy tales because they havesome of his favorite charactersand “because there are a lotof problems in fairy tales and

then someone defends her [theprincess].”One of his favorite charac-

ters from “The Little Mermaid”is Flounder.“He helps Ariel,” Deon said.In 1986, the Department

of Defense (DOD) designatedApril as Month of the MilitaryChild to recognize the personalsacrifices and contributions ofmilitary children.“The child and the family

sacrifice a lot when the par-ent is deployed or when they’reserving their mission,” Azizsaid. “So, I think, in acknowl-

edgement, we show our appre-ciation for the child who goesthrough all that.”There are approximately

1.88 million military childrenof active duty and reserveservice members, and it’s esti-mated that a military child willmove six to nine times during aschool career, according to DODinformation.On a wall at CDC 2, parents

have been invited to put up apicture of them with their childon a star underneath the words“Wish Upon A Star.” This week,parents have been invited to

read/tell a story of their favor-ite childhood fairy tale.Other activities for parents

and children include makingcrowns (April 20-24), partici-pating in a photo booth (April21-24), and attending a Princeand Princess Ball in Bldg. 26(April 27-29). The celebrationconcludes with “Fairy TalesCome Alive” skits, songs anddances (April 30).The CDCs are open from 6

a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, except fed-eral holidays, and provide carefor children 6 weeks to fiveyears old.

Fairy Tales Come to Life at CDCNaval Support Activity Bethesda Celebrates Month of the Military Child

Photo by Andrew Damstedt

Amed Ham, Child & Youth Program assistant for the Child Development Centers (CDCs) on Naval SupportActivity Bethesda, reads the story of “The Three Little Pigs” to preschool-age children, who are learningabout that story in April to celebrate Month of the Military Child. The CDCs have been transformed intocastles with each classroom being decorated to a certain fairy tale in an effort to make the stories come tolife. The children are learning skits, songs and dances to perform for their parents April 30.

Published by offset every Thurs-day by Comprint Military Publi-cations, 9030 Comprint Court,Gaithersburg, Md. 20877, aprivate firm in no way con-nected with the U.S. Navy,under exclusive written con-tract with Naval Support ActivityBethesda, Md. This commercialenterprise newspaper is an autho-rized publication for members of themilitary services. Contents of The Journalare not necessarily the official views of, norendorsed by, the U.S. Government, the De-partment of Defense, or the Department ofthe Navy. The appearance of advertising inthis publication, including inserts or supple-ments, does not constitute endorsement bythe Department of Defense or Comprint,Inc., of the products or services advertised.Everything advertised in this publicationshall be made available for purchase, useor patronage without regard to race, color,

religion, sex, national origin,age, marital status, physicalhandicap, political affiliationor any other non-merit fac-tor of the purchaser, user,or patron. Editorial contentis edited, prepared and pro-vided by the Public AffairsOffice, Naval Support Activ-

ity Bethesda, Md. News copyshould be submitted to the Pub-

lic Affairs Office, Building 17, first floor,across from PSD, by noon one week pre-ceding the desired publication date. Newsitems are welcomed from all installationsources. Inquiries about news copy will beanswered by calling 301-295-1803. Com-mercial advertising should be placed withthe publisher by calling 301-921-2800.Publisher’s advertising offices are locatedat 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, Md.20877. Classified ads can be placed bycalling 301-670-1700.

Naval Support Activity (NSA) BethesdaCommanding Officer: Capt. David A. BitontiPublic Affairs Officer: Ronald D. InmanPublic Affairs Office: 301-295-1803

Journal StaffManaging Editor MC3 Hank GettysWRNMMC Editor Bernard Little

Staff Writers MC1 Christopher KruckeAndrew DamstedtSarah MarshallKatrina SkinnerSharon Renee Taylor

NSABethesdaFleet And Family Support Center 301-319-4087

Walter Reed National Military Medical CenterOffice of Media Relations 301-295-5727

NSAB Emergency Information Line 301-295-6246NSAB OmbudsmanMichelle Herrera 240-370-5421

NSAB Chaplain’s Office 301-319-4443/4706

Sexual Assault ResponseCoordinator Hotline 301-442-2053

Visit us on Facebook:Naval Support Activity Bethesda page:https://www.facebook.com/NSABethesda

Walter Reed National Medical Center page:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Walter-Reed-National-Military-Medical-Center/295857217111107

Uniformed Services University of the HealthSciences page:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Uniformed-Services-University-of-the-Health-Sciences/96338890888?fref=ts

2 Thursday, April 16, 2015 The Journal

Base Clean Up for Earth WeekThe 45th Earth Week is

April 20-24, and there willbe a base clean up on NavalSupport Activity Bethesdaon April 22 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.with participants meeting infront of Building 62. To signup, email Mark Liau at [email protected] or Brian Hillisat [email protected]. Formore information, call NSABEnvironmental ProgramsDivision at 301-295-2708 oremail [email protected].

Take Your Daughters, Sonsto Work DayThe 4th Annual Take Your

Daughters and Sons to WorkDay is April 23 at WalterReed National MilitaryMedical Center. Interestedparticipants can registertheir children with SusanKline, registration coordina-tor at [email protected]. Registration is limited to150 children and will be openuntil April 20. Children willbe exposed to the many facetsof WRNMMC during the day,and “open their eyes to the nu-merous opportunities withinthe nation’s most prestigiousmilitary medical center,” ac-cording to organizers. Formore information, email Col.Margret Merino, chief of pe-diatrics, at [email protected].

Bethesda Notebook

This week, I’d like to ask you to takejust a few moments to thoughtfully con-sider the security environment at Na-val Support Activity Bethesda (NSAB).Hopefully, this is not a thought that youhave often, as it is the Security Depart-ment’s primary duty to ensure that ev-eryone who lives on, works in, or visitsthe installation is able to do so withoutundue concern for their, or their fam-ily members’ physical security and per-sonal safety.

Members of the NSAB Security Staff,including our Auxiliary Security Forcepersonnel, work diligently and tirelessly to ensurea safe and secure environment, but they can’t do italone. Sentries, gates, the fence line, and barriers arethe obvious physical element of NSAB’s security, butthey comprise only one dimension of the effort. To betruly effective, a security program needs to be multi-dimensional. It is critical that tenant staff maintainawareness and compliance with installation regula-tions and policies, just as they do in their local com-munities. Cooperation with Security personnel atthe Entry Control Points (ECP) and Visitor ControlCenter (VCC) is critical to the success of those whoserole is to protect those they serve.

So how is this accomplished? The Security Staff,including the active duty Master at Arms, are pro-fessional law enforcement personnel, and should betreated with the same dignity and respect as anyother law enforcement officer outside the fence line.By following the directions of Security personnel atthe installation gates and during emergency situa-tions is an excellent first step. The ECP Sentry doesnot set the installation access policies and procedure,but they are there to enforce them. By not challeng-ing them or becoming upset; having proper ID or doc-umentation, as required when entering the installa-tion, and following proper installation policies andprocedures for guest or visitor access are vital andimportant. By driving responsibly on the installa-tion, observing posted speed limits, cross walks, andstop signs, wearing seat belts, and refraining fromtalking on cell phones while driving increases thesafety posture for everyone.

Please put yourself in the shoes of an NSAB Secu-rity member for just a moment. They are simultane-

ously charged with defending everyoneon the installation, while at the sametime the subject of intense scrutiny bythose they serve, as they should be.They shoulder an awesome and im-mense responsibility, and part of thatmeans that they must occasionally beinflexible with others. We hold them toan extremely high standard. We must.They interact with thousands of peopleevery day. The great majority of thetimes, those interactions are smoothand event-free. But if a convicted felonor someone with malevolent intentions

comes to the gate, we expect and depend upon ourSecurity team to be able to detect, detain, and/or re-pel them. Every time they have to deal with some-one who perhaps forgot their ID card at home anddecides to get irritable with a member of Security, itdistracts the Security team member from their realjob focus, of detecting and deterring ‘bad guys’ fromentering the installation and doing the rest of usharm. So please, help them do their job by uphold-ing your responsibility and following policy, havingyour ID out and ready to hand to the Sentry, andbeing polite and cooperative with the Sentry. Theywill be polite and cooperative with you. Those aremy instructions to and expectations of them

However peaceful and relatively uneventful dailylife on NSA Bethesda may seem, there are constantthreats that exist and the security posture must re-main vigilant. We all must remain aware and worktogether to counter. By “we,” I mean everyone – ac-tive duty, civilians, family members, contractors, andeven visitors. It is our perennial goal and dedicatedmission to ensure that everyone who transits to,from, or on NSA Bethesda enjoys a safe, peaceful,and threat-free environment. Working together forthe good of everyone may mean accepting minor in-conveniences, but they are worth this small cost if itmeans that we all, service members, patients, fam-ily members, employees, and guests, can do so safelywhile aboard NSA Bethesda.

All Ahead Flank,David A. Bitonti, Capt., DC, USNCommanding OfficerNaval Support Activity Bethesda

Commander’s ColumnKeeping NSA Bethesda Safe and Secure – An All Hands Responsibility

The Journal Thursday, April 16, 2015 3

By Sharon Renee TaylorWRNMMC Public Affairs

staff writer

Twenty-four nursing stu-dents from Auburn University(AU) and Auburn University atMontgomery (AUM) traveled toWalter Reed National MilitaryMedical Center (WRNMMC) forinstruction to support long-termcare of returning veterans in theProject SERVE program.A kick-off ceremony March 23 at themedical center, “Where Our Na-tion Heals Its Heroes,” markedthe second year for the project.“This has been an ex-

traordinary partnership be-tween Auburn University and[WRNMMC],” explained ArmyCol. Joy Napper, deputy direc-tor for nursing atWRNMMC. “Itexpands the field of the care ofthe wounded warrior from themilitary treatment facility tothe civilian sector, and links thattie-in to advance the continuumof care.”WRNMMC Director Brig.

Gen. (Dr.) Jeffrey Clark calledProject SERVE a ground-breaking collaboration betweenWRNMMC and the two univer-sities when the project launchedlast year. Clark said the schoolsand WRNMMC were the firsteducational institutions in 2014to support First Lady MichelleObama and Dr. Jill Biden’s Join-ing Forces campaign, whichcharged organizations to pre-

pare the nation’s nurses to meetthe unique needs of servicemembers and their families.“For us in particular, in Ala-

bama, we have many reservistsand guardsmen [who] serve, butwe have no military hospital inour state, so it’s very importantfor our nurses to understandhow to best care for [veterans]once they leave the militaryfacilities and come to us in thecommunities,” explained Ra-mona Lazenbee, Ed.D., a familynurse practitioner and interimdean of the School of Nursing,AUM.Retired Navy nurse Virginia

Raderstorf, chief of global com-munications at WRNMMC who

helped ccoordinated the kick-offceremony, likened the positiveimpact ofWRNMMC partneringwith civilian nursing programsto a pebble in the water. She ex-plained there are real long-termbenefits to the extended warriorpopulation in exporting whatWRNMMC has learned to otherregions of the country.“Many of these regions have

large numbers of returning war-riors but their health care sys-temmay have limited VA [Veter-ans Affairs] facilities or trainedprofessionals available with thebackground and specializationnecessary to recognize a poten-tial TBI [traumatic brain injury]or PTSD [post traumatic stress

disorder] overlay in a patientwho presents to the ER [emer-gency room] or is coming in forsurgery, experiencing maritaldiscord or financial consequenc-es,” Raderstorf said. “By expos-ing these students and their fac-ulty, they are able to take thatknowledge back and export itto their colleagues in differentclinical settings.”The students spent four days

assisting military and civiliannurses who work with woundedpatients with TBI, PTSD, men-tal health concerns, as well asthose who need polytrauma/am-putee rehabilitation. They alsoattended panels that discussedthe special needs of these pa-tients’ families. The nursingstudents rotated in groups of sixthroughout several areas of themedical center, including surgi-cal units.The mix of third, fourth and

fifth semester students all vol-unteered to participate in Proj-ect SERVE during their springbreaks. The information ex-change at WRNMMC was thefirst learning opportunity of itskind outside of Auburn Univer-sity for nursing students juniorCaroline Quick, as well as se-niors Brooke Rocholl and Kait-lin Perry.Quick explained why the op-

portunity was so importantfor nursing students. “I thinkit’s going to cross over into ourprofessions,” the Auburn juniorsaid. “We’re going to see return-

ing vets and we’re going to seethem in [civilian] hospitals, andI think this is the only way forme to really grasp how to bringmy nursing career with it.”“I just think this is a really

great opportunity,” Rocholl add-ed. “We’re having people comingback from war with all of theseinjuries that we’ve never seenbefore—poly-amputations andtraumatic brain injury—peo-ple are surviving injuries theynever would have in the past, soits important that we can learnhow to best take care of thesetypes of traumas.”“The people are amazing

here,” Perry added.WRNMMC Director of Nurs-

ing Army Col. Ray C. Antoineencouraged the nursing stu-dents from AU and AUM to“learn all you can to best serveour patients.” He thanked themfor joining WRNMMC nurses.“We equally learn from you,”Antoine said.Joel McElroy, a third semes-

ter senior nursing student atAUM, applied to participate inProject SERVE to learn how tocare for wounded warriors, am-putees, and patients with PTSD.He explained this assignmenthad special significance for him.His grandfather served in theNavy, and his uncle was a colo-nel in the National Guard.“My uncle had some physical

Project SERVE Launches Second Year at WRNMMC

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Christopher Krucke

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center nurs-ing and education leaders join nursing professors andstudents from Auburn University and Auburn Uni-versity Montgomery to kick-off Project SERVE, a col-laborative program with WRNMMC to teach the stu-dents long-term care for returning veterans. This isthe second year WRNMMC has facilitated the nursingtraining program.

See SERVE page 5

By Mass CommunicationSpecialist 3rd Class

Hank GettysNSAB Public Affairs

staff writer

This week, Naval SupportActivity Bethesda (NSAB) isrecognizing the hard work anddedication of an often underap-preciated group of people by cel-ebrating National Public SafetyTelecommunications Week April12-19.Public safety telecommunica-

tors, more commonly known asdispatchers, often don’t get therecognition they deserve. Theywork tirelessly to help police of-ficers and fire departments asthey quickly respond to calls forassistance.“The importance of this week

is that it’s the people you neversee, and you never hear, but theyare always there taking care ofthings,” said Carl Savard, NSABEmergency Services DispatchSupervisor. “They’re the ones

that send you helpwhen youneed it.“They have a stressful job,

and because they are always intheir communication center andin front of their monitors and ra-dios, you barely see them.”Each year, the second full

week of April is dedicated tothe men and women who serveas public safety telecommuni-cators. In the early 1990s, thenational Association of PublicSafety Communications Officials(APCO) convinced Congress ofthe need for a formal procla-mationto create “National Pub-lic Safety TelecommunicatorsWeek.”NSABEmergency Servic-es Dispatchers handle bothemer-gency and non-emergency phonecalls, as well as radio dispatch forthe Police, Fire and EMS units.The dispatchers are trained inPolice and Fire Service Telecom-munication, Emergency MedicalDispatching, Active Shooter, In-cident Command training, andCPR,among others..

The job of a dispatcher is oneof the most stressful jobs in thepublic safety industry as theyare truly the first line of help forour citizens in need, accordingto Savard. They work 12 hourshifts, nights, weekends, holi-

days, and even in bad weatherto help keep their communitiessafe.“As busy as it gets, I enjoy

when we have emergencies go-ing on and it’s active and we’redoing stuff and the police or the

fire [department] are talking tous, and we are talking back,”said Ife Smith, an NSAB emer-gency services dispatcher. “Whenwe are really engaged is when Ienjoy my job the most.”Before a Law Enforcement Of-

ficer, Fireman, or any emergencypersonnel ever start to respondto a scene, a dispatcher has al-ready spoken with the victimand evaluated the situation todetermine what resources areneeded to best handle the inci-dent.“Because a lot of people don’t

know that we actually exist, theyall think that we are a part of se-curity or a part of the fire depart-ment, and not our own entity,”said Sarah Leggate, an NSABemergency services dispatcher.“So it would be nice for people toknow that we are our own sepa-rate department.”Dispatchers have mastered

the art of multi-tasking, prob-

NSAB Recognizes Public Safety Telecommunicators

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Hank Gettys

Naval Support Activity Bethesda (NSAB) EmergencyServices Dispatchers Ife Smith (left) and Sarah Le-gatte (right) work in their communications centerApril 14.

See SAFETY page 5


By Sharon ReneeTaylor

WRNMMC PublicAffairs writer

Two Internet tools areproviding patients the op-portunities to participatein their own care, help-ing Walter Reed NationalMilitary Medical Center(WRNMMC) meet its onepriority of providing anextraordinary patient ex-perience for every patient,every time.

Tricare Online (TOL)and Secure Messag-ing (SM), also known asRelayHealth, provideWRNMMC patients aportal to personal healthcare information. The twoaid in communication be-tween patients and theirhealth-care providers, aswell as deliver secure in-formation in a safe andconvenient way.

Additionally, TOL al-lows patients to managecertain aspects of theirhealth care without hav-ing to coordinate or relyon anyone else. TOL users

can access the system’s“Blue Button” feature toschedule appointments,request prescription refillsand access personal healthdata such as lab and radi-ology results, immuniza-tions, medication profile,allergies, as well as vitalsigns data.

SM is a web-basedservice directly linkingpatients to their Medi-cal Home Teams. The se-cure, efficient electronic

communication service isa Health Insurance Por-tability and Accountabil-ity Act (HIPAA)-compliantcommunication systemthat can be accessed any-where, anytime. Patientscan request appoint-ments, referrals, medica-tion renewals, lab andtest results, consult withtheir health care team,or schedule a virtual web“visit,” saving a trip for anappointment.

Retired Army Col. (Dr.)Thomas Fitzpatrick, chiefof quality at WRNMMC,said the best way for pa-tients to stay informedabout their health care isto use both TOL and SM.

Aaron Heinrichs, chiefof Managed Care, ex-plained once beneficiariesare enrolled in TOL, “Theyall seem to use it.”

Maria O’Dowd, aWRNMMC registerednurse, agreed. She hasworked with patients whohave used Secure Messag-ing for the last three years.“It’s amazing because [pa-tients] call or send a mes-sage, eager to learn thesystem and communicatewith their provider using[SM].”

O’Dowd said she haspatients in their 90s usingSM. “It’s just incrediblethe way they use SecureMessaging — they’re morecomputer savvy than me!”

She said SM helps todecrease clinic walk-ins,since it often eliminatestheir need to come intothe clinic, and having to

wait in line. Lewis Cooper,an administrative assis-tant for Team Delta Pri-mary Care Medical Homeat WRNMMC has workedwith Secure Messaging forthe last four years.

“I love [SM]. It’s easierto book patients. It’s morehands on. We can cater totheir needs and they don’thave to sit around wait-ing,” Cooper explained.He said the system lendsitself to a one-on-one rela-tionship with the patient— that is “really patient-centered.”

During Patient SafetyWeek in March, the hospi-tal campaigned to increasethe number of patientsregistered. Fitzpatrick ex-plained how TOL and SMfit in with patient safetyand quality.

“The big tie with bothof these is that they in-volve the patient in theircare,” Fitzpatrick said. “Ifpatients have problemsobtaining information andaccessing doctors, securemessaging gives the pa-tient the ability to actu-

ally contact the doctor andget information. It can beas simple as getting refillsfor prescriptions, makingappointments, or askingquestions — that’s the bigthing with secure messag-ing.”

Fitzpatrick explainedwith TOL, patients havethe ability to see their re-sults. “They can access labresults [and] access theirimaging results so thatthey’re not left out in thecold, not knowing what’sgoing on. These are twobig aspects from a qualitystandpoint,” he said.

According to Fitzpat-rick, SM and TOL also fitin with the medical cen-ter’s new strategic planrolled out by WRNMMCDirector Army Brig. Gen.(Dr.) Jeffrey B. Clark, ear-lier this month. “The pa-tient experience is at thecenter of everything we do,so we need to unite aroundthat and make sure thateverybody is offered thehighest levels of [qual-

Tricare Online, Secure Messaging Enhance Patient Experience

Photo by Sharon Renee Taylor

Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class AlejandraMcKeever maneuvers around the TricareOnline (TOL) page. Patients can use theweb-based TOL to request appointmentsand medication renewals, as well as performother helpful tasks.

By Sharon ReneeTaylor

WRNMMC PublicAffairs staff writer

Thirty enlisted Sail-ors and Soldiers gradu-ated from the ArmyPractical Nurse Courseas 68C Class 14-004 atWalter Reed NationalMilitary Medical Center(WRNMMC), March 27.

The 26 Soldiers andfour Sailors comprisedthe first joint service classfor the course, and theyare now able to functionas competent practicalnurses, during peacetimeand mobilization.

The group completedthe requirements of ayear-long course that be-gan March 3, 2014, at theAcademy of Health Sci-ences, U.S. Army Medi-cal Department Centerand School at Fort SamHouston, Texas. Theycontinued with rigorousclinical training at bothFort Belvoir CommunityHospital and WRNMMC,where they had to pass anational licensure exami-nation before graduating.

Students in the newly-revised class, considereda pilot program, includedSoldiers straight frombasic training as well asSailors — a first for theLPN course. WRNMMCboasts a 97 percent first-time pass rate for the Na-tional Council LicensureExamination PracticalNurse (NCLEX-PN), 12percent better than thenational average.

“This is a good placeto learn and grow,”

WRNMMC Director Brig.Gen. (Dr.) Jeffrey B. Clarktold students during awelcoming ceremonyat WRNMMC on June5, 2014. At the group’sgraduation ceremonyin March, he told them,“This is the first any-where, at any time.”

The general calledthe graduation a his-torical moment for Navymedicine, Army medicine

Sailors, Soldiers Graduate LPN Course

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Christopher Krucke

For the first time, Sailors and Soldiersstraight from Basic Training graduatedfrom the Army Practical Nurse Course, lastmonth at Walter Reed National MilitaryMedical Center.

See LPN page 6

See TRICARE page 5

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trauma from an [improvised explosivedevice] in Afghanistan two years ago,so it kind of hit home,” McElroy, who at-tends AUM, explained.

“One of the ‘charges’ of the programis to establish ‘core competencies’ for allnurses — military and civilian,” said re-tired Air Force Col. Marilyn K. Rhodes,

Ed.D., a registered nurse and associateprofessor at AUM, one of three AuburnUniversity educators who developed theidea of Project SERVE after they identi-fied the need for educating new nurseson how to manage care for returningservice members.

In the second year of the program,the students took this theoreticalknowledge and put it into practice dur-ing their time at WRNMMC, accord-ing to retired Navy Nurse Corps Cmdr.David Crumbley, associate professor atAUM School of Nursing.

SERVEContinued from pg. 3

ity and] safety with their medical care,”Fitzpatrick said.

Seaman James P. McCraken signed upfor TRICARE Online four months ago tofind the closest military treatment facil-ity where he could register for a primarycare manager (PCM). Soon after, theSailor signed up for SM to communicatewith his doctors.

“[I like] not having to schedule an ap-pointment to see my PCM over small

issues,” McCraken said. “I think it’s agreat system that helps patients bettercommunicate with their doctors regard-ing their plan of care, [as well as] majoror minor health concerns.”

Patients interested in using SMshould contact their primary care or spe-cialty care clinic, or sign up at www.re-layhealth.com. TRICARE patients needone of three credentials to access TOL:a Premium DOD Self-Service Logon(DS Logon), a DOD Common AccessCard (CAC), or identification for the De-fense Finance and Accounting Service’s(DFAS) myPay website. For TRICAREsign up, go to www.tricareonline.com orcall 1-800-600-9332.

TRICAREContinued from pg. 4

lem-solving and listening to frantic callsin different languages, all while attempt-ing to remain calm and composed. A dis-patcher must show compassion, under-standing and professionalism throughouteach and every shift, according to Savard.

“I want people to understand how busyit gets in here and how hard we work tomeet your needs when we have 15 other

things going on at the same time, wheth-er it’s phone calls from people around thebase or fire or police,” said Leggate.

There is always one voice working tomake sense of the chaos, a voice that pa-tiently works through almost any situ-ation to bring about the best availableoutcome. These men and women serve asthe foundation in a complicated telecom-munications system that 24 hours a dayresponds when the call is given.

“Having this week to recognize us isgreat and I hope the recognition givespeople a different perspective on who weare and how we operate,” said Smith.

SAFETYContinued from pg. 3

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and the Military Health System. “We arebeyond ‘joint-ness’ but oneness,” he said,quoting WRNMMC Command MasterChief Tyrone Willis, who was joined bynursing and enlisted leaders from theDefense Health Agency, Fort Sam Hous-ton and WRNMMC at the ceremony.Navy Bureau of Medicine Force MasterChief Sherman Boss served as keynotespeaker.“You don’t get this [every day] — how

they really came together,” said ArmyLt. Col. Christine Ludwig, director of thePractical Nurse Course.Ludwig attributed the Soldiers’ and

Sailors’ cohesiveness to the the unique-ness of having corpsmen and Soldierslearning together with different servicecultures and different personalities, “aswell as really unique Soldiers, straightfrom basic training; this is their firsttime.”“They didn’t know it all,” Ludwig said.

“They didn’t come in with a way of doingthings. They learned from others; theylet others show them how to do it.”More than 150 well-wishers, most

family members of the graduates, gath-ered in the Memorial Auditorium forthe graduation. Army Reserve Staff Sgt.Paola Baldizon, one of the graduates,said family played an important role in

their success. Successfully completing20 grueling exams, 11 weeks of studyand hundreds of hours in training dur-ing the comprehensive, fast-paced course— all while balancing family-life — wasa challenge, Baldizon explained.“Every student rose to the occasion

due to the support of their families andstaff,” the Soldier said.Army Spc. Jason Mortham, one of six

course graduates to make the dean’s list,agreed with his classmate. “I have a wife,a son, and a baby on the way,” he said.“They were very supportive. It took a lotof sacrifice on both ends but we made itwork.”The new LPN serving at WRNMMC

was a medic at Fort Bragg, N.C. beforehe began the course. Staying here as anLPN and with four years in the Army,Mortham hopes to earn a commissionand join the Army Nurse Corps.Navy Hospitalman (HN) Nicole Par-

ent, Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class (HM3)Jason Castillo and HM3 Michael Tal-madge were three of the four Sailors whoalso graduated March 27. They each in-dicated one of the best parts of the coursewas working with Soldiers, learning andteaching Army and Navy culture.“So what usually takes two years to

complete on the civilian side, we did in 13months. Yes, it was a challenge — a chal-lenge we overcame, together,” Baldizonsaid. “I think we were all particularlylucky to be in this class. We came in as30 different strangers, and we’ve be-come a wonderful family.”

LPNContinued from pg. 4

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Rockville

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