[parade music playing]
“The Listener”
It is an adrenaline rush being on the flight deck.
You’re constantly making sure a bird gets shut down or we’re starting it up or launching it now.
I loved the job for what I was doing but I knew that this was not my forever job.
I felt like I needed just a new outlook on life.
I’ve always wanted people to come to me for help.
Whether it be mental health, behavioral health and things of that nature.
I didn’t really know in the Navy that you could do that, because I didn’t know this job existed.
When I got to Spain, I had to kind of question myself, “Why am I here? Am I up for the job?”
“Am I going to actually be an asset to this team?”
I’m a little bit scared, I won’t lie.
I’m actually a little bit scared.
I mean think about it, think if you went from Ordnance,
and then you went to go work with all these chapel people, right.
[laughs]
It’s going to be a very big difference.
Yeah. Definitely.
I never really grew up religious. But I always wanted to learn about religion.
Being able to do this job, I get to get out of my comfort zone, see that, embrace it, understand it and indulge in it.
A lot of people always ask me, “Don’t you feel like you shot yourself in the foot working in religious ministries?”
“Their views and your lifestyle don’t match up.”
I’m not going to change who I am because that doesn’t logically make any sense to me.
[Discussion: I was gonna say, can I be in that meeting because I would like to ask about the VBS supplies.]
But, as soon as they got to know my work ethic, they got to know who I was as a person,
they were like, “We don’t really care.”
You do you, it may not match up with our belief system, but we can’t judge you on that.
You are a part of this team and you’re a big asset to this team.
That’s what the Navy is all about.
It’s having this mass amount of diversity,
and sticking it in one area and just making an awesome product out of it.
As a Religious Program Specialist, I set up for all the services,
help any of the lay leaders whether they need any items, like ecclesiastical items.
But our primary job is to serve the Sailor.
It doesn’t matter if you’re Muslim, you’re Jewish, you’re Hindu, you’re Orthodox, you’re Protestant,
religious, not religious, we want to help you.
If you feel that you’re kind of stuck, this is always an option.
I get to be the listening ear for people.
If I see someone that looks down,
I always like to slowly ease into the conversation of,
“Hey are you alright? Is there something that you need help on?”
[Sailor]: “You’re trying to do well, but you can’t really have the impact you think you’d want to have.”
[Justin:] Sometimes people just want to be heard.
People come to me and call me at 2 o’clock in the morning because they have an issue
and they don’t know who they can turn to and they just need to talk to somebody.
That for me tells me I have a purpose here.
And that the Navy has given me a bigger purpose that maybe I don’t understand yet.
But I think we can solve so many conflicts if we open up and listen to what people have to say.
He called me at 2 o’clock in the morning and he was like, “Hey, can you come over to my house.”
And I said, “Yeah, just give me a minute, I’m getting ready.”
I get to his house and I was like, “We need to go to the hospital.”
And he starts breaking down and crying and I told him, “Look, the fact that you called me is a very big deal.”
“You should be very proud of yourself. And the fact that you allowed me to take you to the hospital.”
[Chaplain:] In that moment of panic somebody who was going to end his life thought,
“There is someone I know who cares.”
“There is someone I know who I can call, and that person will be able to listen to me and be there with me.”
So believe it or not, you saved a life, just because this person knew that you cared.
Bet you never thought that.
[Justin:] I was gonna say I didn’t really think about it that way.
[Chaplain:] But it’s true. I mean, just because you were so open and so friendly,
you saved a life. That’s what it took.
[Justin:] Being here in Spain, it has given me a new insight on life and how people view religion.
As soon as you get out of your own head and you get into the mindset that,
“I want to experience the world for what it has to offer.”
You start to understand that everybody has a place and everybody has a reason of why they’re here.
When you grab a bunch of different people, whether it be religion or sexuality or race or whatever it may be,
then you think to yourself, “Now I get to be able to see the world in a different way.”
And it’s a beautiful thing.
[Chaplain:] It’s almost like God gives us a crayon for us to decorate the place where He puts us.
How can I make this place better?
How can I bring more light and more joy?
Seriously, you have done it.
[Justin:] My name is Justin Alvarado. I’m a Religious Program Specialist in the United States Navy.