The Coalition of Sailors Against Destructive Decisions (CSADD) aboard the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) held a liberty standdown April 28-29, to talk with Sailors and Marines about appropriate behavior while on liberty in foreign ports.

CSADD hosted the peer-to-peer standdown to emphasize to each Sailor and Marine the importance of the role that service members fill as U.S. ambassadors while deployed around the globe. The group reminded their peers about doing the right thing all the time, no matter their geographic location.

"Leadership can come from anyone across the board, from seaman to admiral," said CSADD president, Yeoman 2nd Class TaNeisha Mckinney. "Junior Sailors hearing guidance from junior Sailors could be heard as more of a conversation rather than a direct order, and with that type of conversation there may be more acceptance from our peers."

The standdown was a round-robin style conversation. Sailors and Marines rotated from group to group where they discussed topics, such as bystander intervention and fraternization. The format of the standdown was structured to encourage participation.

"We held this event with the hopes that things would sink in for a successful liberty port where there are no incidents," said McKinney. "We knew if we talked the way everyone could relate to, without all the military jargon, we'd be heard."

According to McKinney, allowing the members of CSADD to take charge of the standdown reemphasized the trust that the leadership has in the crew and shows that mentorship is an important aspect to helping everyone in the service.

The tactic seems to have worked because during the ship's most recent port visit to Souda Bay, Greece, for the ship's change of command ceremony, Capt. Randall Peck, the former commanding officer, was pleased to announce there were "no incidents of any sort."

Standdowns like this are designed to present guidance and advice on how to get the most out of each port visit safely and within the Navy and command's policy and regulations.

Mesa Verde is deployed with the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group to support maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations.

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For more news from Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/.