In an effort to cross pollinate military service branches across Oahu, a monthly networking initiative has been spearheaded in order to help integrate, educate and engage senior leadership among participating Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Army commands.

Each month, a different branch of service will host the initiative, which aims to facilitate team building among senior enlisted leaders in an effort to increase service culture understanding and effective working relationships in joint base environments.

On March 4, the Navy command leadership kicked off the event by inviting senior enlisted members (E-9) on a tour aboard the USS Paul Hamilton (DDG-60) currently moored at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

More than 20 participating chief master sergeants and master chiefs from the Coast Guard, Air Force and Navy service branches were given a comprehensive ship tour, including the combat maintenance center, cyber security management center, central control center, pilot house, Navy Chief's berthing spaces and mess areas.

According to Navy Region Hawaii Command Master Chief (SW/AW/EXW/IDW/PJ) David Carter, the idea for bringing multiple service branch enlisted leadership chains together originated after a chance encounter with a senior Air Force leader at the Navy Exchange Autoport.

Carter, who at that time had only been on island for about a month, was getting his vehicle inspected when he ran into Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Bart Jingst, 15th Air Wing inspector general superintendent at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH).

"During our conversation we both mentioned the need to break down inter-service barriers and get the Senior Enlisted leaders engaged in some sort of joint environment," he explained. "That is where the seed for the cross pollination program was planted. Over the course of the next couple months we bounced ideas back and forth until we came up with the program as we have it [today]," Carter added.

The program was later opened up to also include senior enlisted leadership members from Army and Coast Guard commands as well.

Paul Hamilton's Command Master Chief (CMC) David Martinez said it was wonderful recognition for his ship to host the inaugural event.

"A lot of people forget about the [Navy's] mission and why we go out there and do what we do," he said. "So this was a great way for other branches to get to see a real working ship and begin to understand and know our purpose."

Coast Guard Command Master Chief Derek Foster said he wanted to participate in the ship tour not only to learn about the Navy's unique culture, but also as an opportunity to interact with his fellow Navy and Air Force counterparts.

"This [event] gave us to have a sense of what other services and enlisted personnel are doing," he said. "You can always learn from anyone and use their personal experience when it comes to managing personnel or interacting with your crew and commands. This gave us great insight into what the Navy is doing and how they are leading their Sailors," he added.

For Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Christopher Hurst, from the 647th Security Forces Squadron, the event marked an opportunity to appreciate a new culture and set of operational tactics for accomplishing a similar mission.

"We all come from different environments and services," he explained. "And we tend to think that our way is the best way of doing things but what we don't always seem to take into account is that each service has their own level of 'expertise' that they can bring to the table."

Hurst hopes this renewed sense of camaraderie between the military branches will not only continue to be encouraged, but also trickle down the chain of command.

"This is a great start but we can't just leave it here at the top," he encouraged. "We got to bring it down to the bottom-to the lowest Airman, the lowest Sailor, the lowest civilian. We have to keep this fusion going so when you get here to JBPHH it's not such a culture shock."

Every month, a different service branch will rotate turns in hosting the monthly venue and share their unique military culture with their senior counterparts. Currently, the Air Force is planning the next event to be held tentatively on an airfield in April.

For more news from Commander, Navy Region Hawaii, visit www.navy.mil/.