Hi CFAO! The following is a message from Commander, U.S. Naval Forces/Navy Region Japan. You asked. We changed. During my 10 months now as Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Japan, I’ve received many suggestions. I’ve heard them the traditional way, such as at an all hands call, or through more casual opportunities while talking to Sailors at the gym or pool. In every way, I take them all seriously. Whether I am visiting a base or taking in a movie at Fleet Theater, I am always looking for ways to make life better in Japan and Diego Garcia for our Sailors and their families. One of my bosses, Vice Admiral Bill French, is the Commander of Navy Installations Command (CNIC) who oversees policies and funding for our bases. Many of the changes we make require some coordination with his headquarters in D.C. and, most often, CNIC has listened and agreed with our recommendations. Many of these have originated from you or our outstanding base commanding officers. So here is some good news. I am happy to report that we have expanded our MWR tours several months ago to include free tours for E-4 and below – offering the activities that they like to do, when they can do it. Other MWR highlights on the horizon are the re-opening of all our pools at Yokosuka for the entire summer. A choice of three, depending on what your goals are for the day. At Sasebo and Yokosuka we have expanded gym hours based on customer requests, particularly on weekends. At Diego Garcia, we are upgrading the movie projectors for full digital capability, buying more lightweight uniforms, and rebuilding the only softball field on the island. Midnight Friday movies (free for E-4 and below) have been a big hit at all our bases. We are working on other initiatives as well. On all our bases, we are taking a close look at how we deliver Wi-Fi and where. Our goal is to expand these things to all common areas while increasing bandwidth. It is a complex process but I have formed a team to tackle it as we move forward. Building off some initiatives at Misawa, and working with various companies like Netflix and Hulu, we have been able to take our bases off the “blocked” list. That means you can now stream those sites without a US VPN address. If you havent figured it out already, we crave feedback and ideas to make your life better here in Region Japan. I am proud of our accomplishments here and focused on our future. And to our Navy families, I cant control how much your loved ones are deployed, but I can continue to work to make life better while we wait for their return. Rear Admiral Terry B. Kraft Commander, U.S. Naval Forces/Navy Region Japan
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 04:29:59 +0000