Rear Adm. Margaret Grun Kibben, chief of chaplains of the Navy, visited service members stationed at Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain, Nov. 8.

Kibben focused her visit on meeting with chaplaincy members from the base, tenant commands, and operational commands. She started the day meeting with the 5th Fleet chaplain team to discuss current issues, and then moved across the base to new construction which will soon house the NSA Bahrain chaplain team, as well as the Chaplain's Religious Enhancement Development Operation (CREDO) -- resources critical to the well-being of Sailors forward deployed at NSA Bahrain. The mission of CREDO is to serve the Navy and Marine Corps by promoting personal, relational, and spiritual development.

Regarding the importance of visiting Bahrain, Kibben said, "I have this privilege to come out and visit our religious ministry teams where they are, and see the impact they're having on their commands. It's encouraging me to realize that our efforts [at headquarters] are supporting folks so that they can do this really valuable ministry."

The new buildings are being constructed to centralize base operational functions, and will be large enough to support other tenants such as CREDO, as well. The building will contribute to Navy goals of energy conservation, reduce the base footprint, and increase NSA's ability to contribute to the operational mission.

After touring the new construction, Kibben also visited the base chapel and the current CREDO office. While there, she inspected facilities and met with Sailors from the chaplain community.

She then hosted a lunch in the NSA Bahrain Freedom Souq for the entire chaplaincy community in Bahrain. In addition to the numerous Navy chaplains in the room, there were also religious programs specialists and even partner nation chaplains. Kibben focused her discussion on ways the chaplaincy can support positive change in the Navy.

As the persistent shore presence in the Arabian Gulf, NSA Bahrain provides an operational platform for U.S., allied, and partner nations to have a forward-deployed naval force ready to be where they are needed, when they are needed to ensure security and stability in the region.

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