Lt. Jennifer Howe, the chaplain assigned to guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey, is taking on a whole new role in the Navy - serving aboard an operational command.

Howe, who started her career in 2013, took on her first role as chaplain at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center, and now she finds herself adjusting to a much higher operational tempo.

"I knew that I would go to sea within two to three years and that the pace and intensity would greatly increase," Howe said. "Anyone coming from shore to sea duty has to make adjustments in their personal life, and as a chaplain, I must take into consideration the background and culture of each Sailor and the ship."

Trading in the shore life to get her sea legs, Howe said she finds her services are needed by a crew that's preparing for a lengthy deployment. During the nightly evening prayer, Howe tries to tie an event she has witnessed and connect it with a message of faith for the crew.

"Most of the time, I don't even write my prayers until the evening," Howe said. "My prayers are reflective of something I've heard, a struggle I've seen, or a moment that can relate to the entire crew."

The ongoing composite training unit exercise is Howe's first extended underway period. During this month-long, all-hands, Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group evolution, as Sailors find themselves facing a litany of challenges in a fast-paced operational environment, Howe has had to find ways reach them in their time of need.

Howe said she tries to always keep her ears open and listen to the troubles the Sailors experience so she is able to provide any support she can.

For 240 years, U.S. Navy chaplains have provided counseling and spiritual guidance to Sailors, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and their families.

The U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps was established Nov. 28, 1775, when the second article of Navy Regulations was adopted. It stated "the commanders of the ships of the thirteen United Colonies are to take care that divine services be performed twice a day on board and a sermon preached on Sundays, unless bad weather or other extraordinary accidents prevent."

Ike CSG is comprised of the Carrier Strike Group (GSG) 10 staff, Destroyer Squadron 26 staff, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3, the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), guided-missile cruisers USS San Jacinto (CG 56) and USS Monterey (CG 61) and the ships assigned to DESRON 26: guided-missile destroyers USS Stout (DDG 55), USS Roosevelt (DDG 80), USS Mason (DDG 87) and USS Nitze (DDG 94).

For more information from USS Monterey (CG 61), visit http://www.navy.mil/local/cg61.

For more news from USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), visit http://www.navy.mil/.