A group of Navy spouses listened intently and scribbled notes as instructors shared their experiences serving as ombudsmen in Yokosuka.

The instructors' experiences varied from handling media queries to setting up emergency family assistance centers following the USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) and USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) collisions last year.

Welcome to Ombudsman Basic Training in Yokosuka, which most recently took place March 20-22. Traditionally, the training is an intensive three-day course designed to take new ombudsman through a 232-page manual that explains what their volunteer job will entail. But in Yokosuka, the manual is paired with powerful anecdotes and lessons learned -- particularly from the past year.

"I think we're going to learn more from someone's personal experiences than we are from words on a page," Kathleen Hoar, a training instructor and ombudsman for the McCain, said. "Not that there isn't value to the handbook and I totally believe that it's there for reasons that are important, but those personal stories can help put things in perspective. The book is going to talk about what may happen. We are talking about things that did happen."

Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., Chief of Naval Operations from 1970 to 1974, created the ombudsman program in 1970. His goal was to acknowledge the vital role spouses play and provide them with a way to become "an official representative to express their views to commanding officers and base commanders," according to the training manual.

Since then, the role of ombudsmen -- who are Navy spouses appointed by a commanding officer -- has grown to help Sailors and their families worldwide.

Now, ombudsmen are specially trained to provide command-related information to Sailors and their families. Thanks to advances in technology, the communication doesn't just happen in person or on the phone. Ombudsmen have a variety of tools at their disposal to share information from the command, including email, social media, and electronic newsletters.

"Ombudsmen are liaisons -- that link between family members, command leadership, and command service members," said Sarah Whitman, an ombudsman coordinator at the Fleet and Family Support Center in Yokosuka, as well as an ombudsman for the USS Barry (DDG 52).

Ombudsmen are also trained to refer Sailors and their families to the resources that best match their needs or problems. Much like a living telephone book, Google search engine, or intelligent voice assistant like Siri or Alexa, ombudsmen can provide families with something as simple as a phone number to the base Child Development Center or -- in the case of more serious matters such as child abuse, sexual assault, and suicide -- get them to the right mental and health professionals.

In 2017, experience in the realms of communication, information, and referral came in handy for ombudsmen in the Yokosuka area -- home for the majority of ships forward-deployed to the U.S. Seventh Fleet. Ombudsmen representing various commands quickly volunteered to help Sailors and their families following the ship collisions, as well as a C-2A Greyhound crash en route to the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) in November.

For Whitman, that meant handing out clothes to Sailors returning home and helping set up an Emergency Family Assistance Center (EFAC) where family members could call or email to get official information about the status of their respective Sailors.

Hoar recalls how she helped make sure that families who came to the EFAC at Fleet and Family were as comfortable as they could be, had food and drink options, and made sure any children made it to childcare -- all while wondering, at least for the first eight hours -- whether her own husband was safe.

Clearly, the work of an ombudsman isn't always easy, says Whitman, but she's proud of the support the team provided during these crises.

"It was just a constant feeling of 'this is why we are here, to make sure these families get the information,'" she said -- all the while providing comfort and emotional support too.

The instructors' experiences to date -- plus the other potential hazards Japan's geography potentially presents such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions -- didn't scare off the ombudsmen in training.

"I think in a way I sort of welcome it," said Christi Millaway, a new ombudsman for Commander Submarine Force U.S. Pacific Fleet Navy Data Center, pointing out that ombudsmen have access to more advanced training in different areas and a wealth of resources at a large base such as U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka.

The ombudsman program also typically attracts caring volunteers who are professional, able to easily adapt, handle big responsibilities, and multitask, says Whitman.

Melissa Jones, a new ombudsman for the Reagan, says at the end of the day she is grateful for the lessons she learned from her instructors at basic training, describing them as "extremely valuable."

"I've learned to rely on them when I have a situation that I haven't encountered before," said Jones. "It's vital that I have that support team."

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka, visit www.navy.mil/.