Spiritual readiness and resilience: CIWT welcomes new chaplain

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Chaplain (Cmdr.) Jisup Choi has a simple question for every new Sailor he meets: “Are you spiritually ready?”
While many can identify the Navy’s lines of readiness and understanding through physical-fitness tests, ship materials and equipment, and preparing battle-ready Sailors for fleet operations, spirituality isn’t as clearly defined.
“When I ask them what being spiritually ready is, they tend to have a perplexed look on their face before they can come up with an answer,” Choi said.
During his time in Naval Chaplaincy School, he learned the Navy Chaplain Corps defines spiritual readiness as a strength of spirit that helps Sailors feel confident honorable in their decision-making. Like many other chaplains throughout the fleet, Choi works to inspire and encourage Sailors to be ready to fight by tending to something other leaders might overlook: the spirit and mindset. This is what Choi intends to bring to the team at Center for Information Warfare Training.
Choi arrived at Naval Air Station Pensacola’s Corry Station as CIWT’s new command chaplain July 31.
He’s originally a Native of South Korea, but grew up in Georgia, before joining the Navy. He was previously been stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina; aboard Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Antietam (CG-54); Chaplains Religious Enrichment Development Operation in Everett, Washington; Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois; and most recently aboard aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68).
September is National Suicide Prevention Month. From his time at Chaplains Religious Enrichment Development Operation and in the fleet, Choi has advice for service members about helping prevent suicide.
“It’s very important to talk about suicide before it takes place,” he said. “Usually, the conversation happens in the aftermath, but I think the best time to talk about suicide is when everything is going well. So have an open conversation about suicide where people can talk about it openly without fear of being judged or prejudice against them.
“It doesn’t have to be a big training all the time. It can simply be a conversation between two co-workers or an instructor standing in front of a class saying, ‘Hey, we’re here to support you and if you’re having a hard time or thinking about suicide, talk to somebody’ – because it’s important to mention that word and not be afraid of it and when you do that, it will create a safe space.”
When it comes to mental health, increasing resource awareness and taking action, Choi says team members should also remember three things: listen, empathize and bring help.
Listening is hearing what’s going on with a person, empathizing is trying to understand what they might be feeling, bringing help is elevating a problem to find that individual the correct care, he added.
“This is my first time at Corry Station and my first time in the Pensacola area,” Choi said.
He described his first impression of CIWT personnel by comparing them to the city.
“Warm! Everyone welcomed me and they were very warm,” he said. “I’m just very glad and I feel incredibly blessed to come here.”
The Corry Chapel staff consists of four servicemembers: Choi, Chaplain (Cmdr.) Mark Cox, Chaplain (Lt. Cmdr.) Anthony Swancoat and Petty Officer 2nd Class Nicholas Swinney. Choi is the only CIWT staffer, while the other three are attached to Information Warfare Training Command Corry Station.
“The team here at the chapel, they’re great”, he said. “Everybody is really motivated to help out, and everybody is ready to step in to make an impact in other people’s lives.”
Before Choi even arrived, the other Corry Chapel team members were eager to work alongside him.
“It was wonderful and exciting because I learned he was coming from the Nimitz and he has had exceptional experiences and time at sea, so I saw a lot of wisdom, a lot of knowledge and a lot of operational experience that he would bring to a shore duty here,” Swancoat said. “I was very excited to have him as a resource and senior chaplain to have at Corry Station.”
Even though Choi has only been at Corry Station for a couple months, he has already grasped what life as CIWT’s chaplain looks like.
“Most of my schedule looks like everything in between going to a meeting to sitting down with a Sailor to going to different places to meet people and a lot of admin work,” he said. “We also have come up with plans and initiatives with proposals for many things, but lot of the work comes from meeting and engaging with the people.”
Choi also explained how busy the chapel itself can get throughout the week.
“Corry Chapel has weekend services going on so that any student with any faith background can come here and participate in worship services,” he added.
These services are not necessarily led by base chaplains. Volunteer pastors from off-base routinely help accommodate the different services available for service members, Department of War civilians and contractors who work on base.
Students come to the Corry Chapel for Bible study as well.
Chaplains also provide counseling services for Sailors, who can talk about obstacles in their lives with complete confidentiality.
“I think people are a lot more than just what you see on the outside – there is this part of us that is not visible from the outside, but it’s very real,” Choi said. “Just like it is important to take care of ourselves physically – whether it is doing the proper exercise, eating the right kind of food or getting the right amount of sleep, and the things that are important for our physical body – it’s also important to take care of the part of us that’s not necessarily visible on the outside, and perhaps it’s more important for us to become resilient.”
During his time at CIWT, Choi said he’s committed to a clear objective: Building that spiritual readiness and resilience within the entire workforce.
Seeking help is a sign of strength and there are many support services available at Corry Chapel. To learn more, call 850-452-6376 or visit the [Chaplains' direct link](https://usg01.safelinks.protection.office365.us/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforms.osi.apps.mil%2Fpages%2Fresponsepage.aspx%3Fid%3DAD4z43fIh0u2rUXpQt4XULfGnwpacNZMoPM0LoiodLFUOERPTVE3ODVXWVE3NVMxRDREMEJTNkpKNS4u%26origin%3DQRCode%26qrcodeorigin%3Dpresentation%26route%3Dshorturl&data=05%7C02%7CJohnathan.m.Meighan.mil%40us.navy.mil%7C22fe8ad80b05400458d208df126cbb8a%7Ce3333e00c8774b87b6ad45e942de1750%7C0%7C0%7C639249930493613043%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=PK%2B6JtpYqRDHA%2BanAwVRILd%2BZ0lSnvnFUJP0%2F%2FyiSLY%3D&reserved=0) to book an appointment with a chaplain. If you or someone you know is in an emergency, please call the National Suicide Crisis Lifeline at 988.
With four schoolhouse commands, two detachments and training sites throughout the U.S. and Japan, CIWT provides instruction for over 26,000 students annually, delivering battle-ready information warfare professionals to the joint force. It offers more than 200 courses for cryptologic, information systems and electronics technicians; intelligence and cyber specialists, and officers in the information warfare community.

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.