Being in control of personal situations in everyday life is a goal that many service members strive to achieve. No matter how much effort is put into keeping endeavors on track it is inevitable that somewhere down the line unforeseen complications will arise. For Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) Sailors and their families, the Fleet and Family Support Program (FFSP) is there to lend a helping hand when personal or family oriented difficulties come about.

The mission of the Fleet and Family Support Program (FFSP) is to maximize the physical, emotional, and social development of Navy families.

"Fleet and Family Support program is the support for our military service members and their families," said Deanne Noel, an education services facilitator for FFSP. "We know that the military can sometimes put a strain on family life, so we provide resources that will help those families through those stressful situations."

FFSP offers various services to Sailors and their families such as Deployment and Mobilization Support, Personal Financial Management (PFM), Domestic Abuse Victim Advocacy (DAVA) and Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR).

"We provide any kind of resource that a military member or a family member may need really from cradle to grave," said Noel. "We have parenting classes, stress management, anger management, relationship classes; the list just goes on and on."

Noel recollected personal experiences she has had with Sailors.
"I remember having a service member that was enrolled in anger management," said Noel. "He was very frustrated and felt like he was being treated unfairly by his chain of command, and as a result he had gotten into some trouble. The first time we met he was very disengaged; he had an attitude of 'Let me just do my time in this program and get out of here.'"

By the end of the class he was very engaged and continued to contact me throughout his deployment. Now he's doing a lot better and that gives us a sense of pride and accomplishment. That's what we enjoy doing, it's our passion. When we can make service members lives a little bit easier, that's how we serve."

In the event that a Sailor or family member is seeking assistance that FFSP cannot provide, FFSP will still do their part in assisting that service member to the best of their ability.

"If there is something that we can't provide for a service member we will at the very least offer information and referrals to help guide them in the right direction," said Richard E. Tumblin, an advocacy clinical counselor with FFSP. "We work very closely with different organizations so it really is something of a team effort with the common goal of assisting our service members in whatever it is they may need."

Regardless of the situation, Sailors can be certain that there is a support system in place to assist them and their families through any hardship that they may be experiencing. For more information about the Fleet and Family Support Program, Sailors can visit any of the eight FFSP locations in the Norfolk region, or visit their website at www.cnic.navy.mil/navylifema.

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

For more news from USS George Washington (CVN 73), visit www.navy.mil/.