Sailors assigned to submarine tender USS Frank Cable (AS 40) visited SOS Children's Village Cebu during a scheduled port visit, June 23.

The Frank Cable team, consisting of more than 500 Sailors and civilian mariners, is currently deployed to provide vital flexibility to fleet commanders, extending the range and impact of U.S. naval forces.

SOS Children's Village is an international organization that provides a home for orphaned, abandoned, and neglected children, as well as children who live in poverty or extreme circumstances.

As soon as the Sailors arrived they were greeted by a crowd of more than 70 children who grabbed the Sailors' hands and placed them on their foreheads, which means "bless me" in their culture.

"I would describe the overall experience the Sailors had while participating on this COMREL as astounding," said Religious Program Specialist 2nd Class Marcus Bonner. "Right from the start, the children and our Sailors just meshed together and couldn't wait for the fun to start."

Sailors began their visit by learning more about what the organization does. From there, they were treated to a number of performances by the children and were also asked to do a dance themselves.

"I was shocked at the fact the children challenged us to a dance battle," Bonner said. "They were very determined to see our moves and have a friendly dance contest as we danced to two songs. Some of the children had better dance moves than our Sailors."

After the dance festivities were over, the children and their mothers gave the Sailors a tour of their houses and taught them a little more about what life is like at the village. It was a time for both the Sailors and Filipino citizens to share some cultural similarities and differences.

"I think most of the kids had a good time," said Hull Maintenance Technician 2nd Class Aniecia Lane, a native of Tifton, Georgia. "I think they looked up to us and respected us. We may have some future Sailors coming from there."

Frank Cable, one of two forward-deployed submarine tenders homeported in Guam, is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to conduct maintenance and support of deployed U.S. naval force submarines and surface vessels in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

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

For more news from USS Frank Cable (AS 40), visit http://www.navy.mil/ or http://www.csp.navy.mil/frankcable or find us on Facebook.