Anna Stanfield, a Navy spouse for more than four years, was recently appointed as Naval Air Station Patuxent River Command Ombudsman.

"I'm honored to be named as Pax's Ombudsman," said Stanfield, who is married to Lt. Mark Stanfield, a NAS Patuxent River Search and Rescue pilot. "The importance of our military was taught to me from a very young age. Both my grandfathers, four of my uncles, and my father all served in various branches."

An ombudsman is an official representative of the unit commander or commanding officer; he or she plays a vital role in establishing and maintaining current and accurate communication between the command and its family members.

"For me, the most challenging part of the job is making sure people know I am out there as a resource for them," Stanfield said. "I think people often assume that ombudsmen are here just to help with the issues deployment brings, but the program extends far beyond that. At a shore-duty location, it can be more difficult to network and connect with the spouses and family members one serves, since there is not the commonality of deployment to bring people together."

Stanfield, who previously served as ombudsman for Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 23 in San Diego, said she is eager to assist family members at Pax.

"I think my current position poses different challenges because the command I serve has personnel scattered all over the base," she said. "Instead of just visiting a single hangar, I now need to maintain a presence at numerous locations. I enjoy that aspect of it though; it has been fun to learn more about the inner-workings of an entire base."

The Ombudsman Program was first set up in 1970 by Adm. Elmo Zumwalt Jr., then Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). He created the program to improve communication between commands and the families of Sailors who served in them. In 2006, then-CNO, Adm. Michael Mullen, re-emphasized the importance of the program and signed an updated instruction, highlighting the requirement that all Navy families have access to an ombudsman.

Sailors can find and contact their respective ombudsman by visiting the Ombudsman Registry at www.ombudsmanregistry.org.

For more news from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, visit www.navy.mil/.