Bahrain Desert Times (490) - March 2023

Navy Marine Corps Relief Society Active Duty Fund Drive 2023

The Active Duty Fund Drive (ADFD) to support Navy Marine Corps Relief Society (NMCRS) is running all this month! Your donations to the annual campaign support important NMCRS programs that include financial assistance, Budget for Baby workshops and Visiting Nurses. Make your gift today! Your support during the Active Duty Fund Drive helps Sea Service families in need and creates opportunities for them to advance their education through our Education Program. Every donation makes a difference. Here are some testimonials from people who have used the program:

• Murphy’s Law – the family car will always break down during a deployment! A Sailor’s spouse had to deal with a $3,600 repair to the family’s only vehicle, while the Sailor was deployed. NMCRS caseworkers overcame the challenges of communicating with the remotely located service member, and got approval for the spouse to obtain the Society’s assistance. The funds for the vehicle repair were provided same day. What a relief for that family!

• Following the unexpected passing of her retired spouse, NMCRS was able to provide an interest-free loan to a widow to cover the expenses to move from Singapore, where they had been working, back to the States. This timely assistance meant the family would not have to wait months for insurance and other funds, but could be close to their support system at this tragic time.

• A Sailor and family recently changed duty stations. After reporting to the new command, pay issues occurred that caused almost the entire paycheck to be garnished for over 2 months, despite constant engagement by command to resolve the errors. NMCRS, in close coordination with

the Sailor’s command, provided $6,000 in pay advances during this time to ensure the family had funds to find housing, feed themselves and cover their financial obligations until the pay issues were resolved.

• A service member’s spouse needed to have oral surgery to pass overseas screening before the family was able to PCS overseas. The service member did not have sufficient funds to cover this unexpected expense. The NMCRS interest-free loan allowed the family

to complete their overseas screening and PCS on time.

• A Marine bearing the financial burden of an unemployed parent, fell behind on vehicle payments. At a loss for how to manage personal expenses and the basic needs of the parent he

came to NMCRS for assistance. After completing a budget he was grateful and relieved to learn that NMCRS could assist with an interest-free loan to get vehicle payments current, and a budget to determine how much he could afford to give his mom. The relieved Marine left knowing he could honor his mom and make his vehicle payments.

• A Sailor’s electricity bill was set on autopay via debit card, but while on deployment the card had a fraudulent charge and a replacement was issued. Unfortunately, the Sailor forgot to update the local Power Authority with the new card information and thought the electric bill was being paid. When the deployment was over, the Sailor had an unexpected bill for three months electricity, and no funds set aside for this expense. NMCRS provided an interest-free loan so the lights could stay on, and the Sailor did not have to suffer an undue hardship.

From NAVCENT Public Affairs

A U.S. Navy ship served as a training platform for helicopter pilots from the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, Feb. 22-24.

Emirati pilots conducted deck landing qualifications aboard U.S. Navy expeditionary sea base USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3) as the ship operated in the Arabian Gulf, enhancing interoperability among regional maritime partners.

“The pilots and aircrew integrated seamlessly with the deck crew of Lewis B. Puller,” said Capt. Jon Bradford, commanding officer of Lewis B. Puller. “It was a great experience for my team and we look forward to working with our Emirati partners in the future.”

The deck landing qualifications helped 25 Emirati military pilots maintain proficiency in

U.S. Navy Ship Supports UAE Pilot Training in Arabian Gulf

landing on the flight deck of a ship at sea.

During the three-day training opportunity, UH-60M Black Hawk, CH-47F Chinook, MH-60M Direct Action Penetrator (DAP), Bell 407, AS332 Super Puma, AS565 Panther, and AH-64D Apache helicopters conducted 158 landings.

Emirati personnel also practiced fast-rope insertion training on Lewis B. Puller’s flight deck.

Lewis B. Puller is forwarddeployed to U.S. 5th Fleet and is capable of supporting a wide variety of missions including counter-piracy, maritime security, disaster relief and crisis response operations.

The U.S. 5th Fleet operating area includes 21 countries, the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean and three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, Bab al-Mandeb and Suez Canal.

U.S. Forces Assist UK Seizure of Missiles Shipped from Iran

From NAVCENT Public Affairs

U.S. forces provided airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support for an interdiction in the Gulf of Oman conducted by the United Kingdom Royal Navy, Feb. 23, that resulted in the discovery

of an illegal weapons shipment from Iran. Coordinated efforts among U.S. and UK maritime forces led to Royal Navy frigate HMS Lancaster (F229) confiscating antitank guided missiles and missile components from a small boat that originated from Iran. UK forces discovered

packages that included Iranian versions of Russian 9M133 Kornet anti-tank guided missiles, known in Iran as “Dehlavieh,” and medium-range ballistic missile components.

“This is the seventh illegal weapon or drug interdiction in the last three months

and yet another example of Iran’s increasing malign maritime activity across the region,” said Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces. “We will continue to work with our partners in pursuing any destabilizing activity that threatens regional maritime security and stability.”

The interdiction occurred along a route historically used to traffic weapons unlawfully to Yemen. The direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of weapons to the Houthis in Yemen violates U.N. Security Council Resolution 2216 and international law.

U.S. and UK naval forces regularly conduct combined maritime security operations to disrupt the flow of illicit cargo in Middle East waters. Last year, U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley (DDG 101), Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose (F236) and combined air assets led to Royal Navy forces seizing surface-to-air missiles and land-attack cruise-missile engines.

In the past three months, seven major interdictions have resulted in U.S. and partner maritime forces seizing more than 5,000 weapons, 1.6 million rounds of ammunition, 7,000 proximity fuses for rockets, 2,100 kilograms of propellant used to launch rocket propelled grenades, 30 anti-tank guided missiles, mediumrange ballistic missile components and $80 million worth of illegal drugs.

U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and United Kingdom Maritime Component Command are headquartered in Manama, Bahrain.

U.S. Navy, 50 Partners Start International Maritime Exercise 2023

From NAVCENT Public Affairs

U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) commenced the Middle East region’s largest maritime exercise, Feb. 26.

Known as International Maritime Exercise (IMX) 2023, the multinational event is combined with Cutlass Express, which is led by Naval Forces Europe-Africa. Both will involve more than 50 partnernations and international organizations operating in the Arabian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, Indian Ocean and East African coastal regions.

Additionally, the combined exercise will include 7,000 personnel, 35 ships and

more than 30 unmanned and artificial intelligence systems.

Participants will focus on five main areas: combined command and control, maritime security, mine countermeasures, unmanned systems and artificial intelligence integration, and global health.

IMX and Cutlass Express are scheduled to end March 16 and 17, respectively. This is the eighth iteration of IMX since the exercise was established in 2012.

The full list of participants is available here: https://www.dvidshub.net/ image/7651844/imx-ce-2023-scheduledparticipants-list

A Note on Religious Needs Assessments

From CDR Leroy Young, NAVCENT Chaplain

The Navy Times published a story on OPNAVINST 1730.7F in the past week. In the narrative, an outside group expressed concern that the necessity to supply a Religious Needs assessment to personnel constituted a "religious test" and was therefore unconstitutional.

It is obligatory of commanders to support the free exercise of religion for those under their supervision who are in the Armed Forces. In order to accomplish this goal, they design a Command Religious

Program that caters to the personnel of various religious requirements. The Religious Needs Assessment (RNA) has been the method that the Navy used for almost three decades to determine what those needs are and now much personnel and resources should be allocated to address them.

For instance, the leadership need to know how many Seder Kits to order to make the Passover celebration easier to organize on a ship that is currently out at sea. Nonetheless, no Sailor, Marine, or members of the Coast Guard are obligated

to disclose their religious beliefs or lack thereof when asked for information about themselves. Service members are notified, as a process of carrying out the RNA, they are not obligated to participate in the survey.

In addition, it is important that you are aware that policy grammarians who worked on the OPNAVINST 1730.1F would allow us to put a "and/or" in each line of the definition of spiritual readiness. Instead, they would only allow us to put "or" at the third line (see below), which was to be interpreted as a continuous

"and/or."

Hence, for the sake of clarity, the definition of spiritual preparedness that is stated in the instruction is any one of the spiritual practices below, or any combination of the following proactive:

-Connection to the Divine;

-Participation in a community of faith;

-Sacrifice for the Greater Good: or,

-The pursuit of meaning, purpose, value and service.

For further inquiry, please contact the NAVCENT Chaplain, CDR Leroy Young at leroy.c.young4.mil@us.navy.mil.

439-4520

www.cnic.navy.mil/bahrain

Commanding Officer

Naval Support Activity Bahrain

Capt. William Lane

NSA Bahrain Executive Officer

Cmdr. Ernesto Rivera

Public Affairs Officer

Chief Editor

Lt. Nicolas Mahone

Deputy Public Affairs Officer

Mark C. Mosher

Mass Communication Specialist

1st Class Sean Gallagher

Host Nation Public Affairs Director

Ameera Al-Kooheji

The Bahrain Desert Times is an authorized publication primarily for members of the Navy and Marine Corps military services in Bahrain. Its contents do not necessarily reflect the official views of the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps and do not imply endorsement thereof.

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LENT, A SEASON FOR EVERYONE, A JOURNEY INTO FREEDOM

Every year around this time, Christians throughout the world prepare their hearts for Easter by entering the season of Lent, which began on Ash Wednesday. Lent is a season of over 40 days where we are invited to refocus on that which is most important in our lives. What is most important for me right now, at this time and season of my life? That’s a wonderful question and you cannot properly begin Lent without finding an answer. What do I want to focus on now? For the religious, an even more important question is, “What does God want me to focus on now?”

Once you have your answer you’re ready to enter into the desert of Lent. It’s a desert because this is a season where we simplify our lives and commit to the hard work of spiritual growth. One doesn’t have to be religious to enter into an intentional time of disciplined training. The next question before training commences is, “What can I do to grow in this particular area? In other words, what will help me to remove unhealthy habits or to build healthy ones? What sacrifice is needed, what will nourish me on this journey, and what support will I require? In Christian language this is, what fasting, prayer, and almsgiving will I commit to during this season?

So let’s just say your goal is to be more present and attentive to your family. What can you sacrifice to support this goal? You can’t give up work or school, but what about that cell phone in your pocket? How much time do you spend watching YouTube shorts or scrolling through Instagram? Can you even make it through a family dinner without looking at your phone? If this is a problem for you, consider putting your phone in a box close to the door when you’re home or giving up YouTube for a season. This type of sacrifice/fasting brings freedom where we find ourselves overly attached.

But now that I’m no longer on my phone all day, what do I do with all my free time? If we are not intentional about replacing this with a new heathy habit we will simply replace it with other junk food. It does no good to replace YouTube with more Xbox. What will really feed my heart and soul? Prayer as a family? Exercising with your family? Bored games with the kids? It can be anything as long as it connects back to your goal in a healthy way.

The last category is almsgiving/acts of generosity. Be the change you want to see. You want to be more present to your kids, then help your wife do the dishes so you both have time to be together. Your wife and kids will see these efforts and hopefully begin to reciprocate, or at least be grateful. No guarantees here. Lent is a season where you get what you give to it. God will never be outdone in generosity.

Lent is over 40 days for a reason. It is a solid time of sustained effort to build healthy habits and to destroy unhealthy ones. It’s a time to build up momentum to carry you into the next season of your life. So build habits you want to maintain. Don’t give up some food/addiction only to gorge yourself once Easter arrives or your time of training ends. Don’t waste all that effort. You can dial back the intensity, but don’t lose your good habits.

Lent is a season for everyone, a journey into freedom. May your journey be filled with joy and peace.

New MOVIES at the MWR Cinema

Creed III (PG-13) – 116 mins

Still dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed is thriving in his career and family life. When Damian, a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy resurfaces after serving time in prison, he's eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face-off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian -- a fighter who has nothing to lose. | Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Jonathan Majors, Tessa Thompson, Florian Munteanu

80 for Brady (PG-13) – 98 mins

Four best friends live life to the fullest when they embark on a wild trip to see their hero, Tom Brady, play in the 2017 Super Bowl. | Cast: Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Rita Moreno, Tom Brady

Knock at the Cabin (R) – 100 mins

While vacationing at a remote cabin in the woods, a young girl and her parents are taken hostage by four armed strangers who demand they make an unthinkable choice to avert the apocalypse. Confused, scared and with limited access to the outside world, the family must decide what they believe before all is lost. | Cast: M. Night Shyamalan, Dave Bautista, Rupert Grint, Ben Aldridge

Magic Mike's Last Dance (R) –

112 mins

Mike Lane takes to the stage once again when a business deal that went bust leaves him broke and bartending in Florida. Hoping for one last hurrah, Mike heads to London with a wealthy socialite who lures him with an offer he can't refuse -- and an agenda all her own. With everything on the line, he soon finds himself trying to whip a hot new roster of talented dancers into shape. | Cast: Salma Hayek, Channing Tatum, Juliette Motamed, Caitlin Gerard