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New "Coming Home" Program Helps Returning Sailors Process Deployments

NS Norfolk FFSP team members posing for a photo

September 8, 2026 | Story by Naomi Wilkins | Commander, Navy Installations Command | Fleet and Family Readiness 

WASHINGTON - Sailors returning from intense, high-tempo deployments have a new resource to help them readjust to life on land, thanks to an initiative launched by dedicated clinicians at Naval Station (NS) Norfolk’s Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC). Named "Coming Home: Explore, Express, Process," the locally developed initiative uses an in-person, group-based format within FFSC non-medical counseling services to help Sailors navigate the challenges of post-deployment reintegration. 

The idea was born out of necessity and a desire to provide support in a different way. Last fall, as the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group returned from deployment, the staff at NS Norfolk saw an influx of requests for individual non-medical counseling. 

“Already carrying the Navy's heaviest load with an average of 300 daily Family Advocacy Program (FAP) cases, the FFSC faced an exceptionally high demand for vital non-medical counseling (NMC) services,” said Adam Lefkowitz, Counseling, Advocacy and Prevention (CAP) Program Manager at NS Norfolk.  

Norfolk FFSC CAP clinicians Will Gartman, Sarah Wester and Michelle Chambers took the initiative to build the program from the ground up. The project was developed by staff members who saw Sailors returning from high-tempo environments needing additional support. 

"We have very heavy caseloads with both FAP and non-medical counseling," explained Gartman. "It was an idea out of necessity. We can have a counselor spend an hour with one Sailor, or we could try to create this new program where we can get 15 Sailors in a room for an hour and give them space to process with their peers.  

The "Coming Home" program runs for multiple weeks and features curriculum tailored to Sailors' post-deployment experiences. Sessions address critical topics, including managing increased anger and anxiety, improving communication skills, reintegrating with partners, children, and family members and addressing dysregulated sleep. While the clinicians provide structured guidance, much of the program’s value comes from peer-to-peer connection. 

"Often, they were isolating their own experiences, thinking, they are the only one experiencing this,” Gartman said. "Once they start hearing their peers talk about it, it creates this domino effect of being able to allow yourself to process,” he explained.  

Wester, a clinician who is also prior service and a military spouse, noted that the program aims to normalize and validate the complex feelings associated with returning from high-tempo operations. "They appreciate the space that they're being allowed to express everything they've been through," Wester said.  

Since its inception, the program has been utilized by groups from the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, as well as service members evacuated from Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain. According to feedback collected by the Norfolk FFSC team, participants have expressed interest in weekly sessions and greater command support for consistent attendance. 

To maximize the program's effectiveness while respecting Sailors' well-deserved downtime, the FFSC team is strategically timing the sessions. Rather than reaching Sailors the moment they step off the ship, the local program is designed to begin 30 to 45 days post-deployment. 

"We want to make sure they're respecting their leave time when they come back," Wester explained. This short buffer allows Sailors to decompress, while also providing enough time for the realities and stresses of reintegration to surface. 

“To account for the unique challenges Sailors experience, groups are often arranged by rank structure,” said Chambers. “The intent is to offer Sailors of all ranks, including the command teams, acknowledging that no one is exempt from the stresses of deployment and reintegration." 

Ultimately, the vision for the "Coming Home" program is simple: to ensure every Sailor coming home from deployment knows they have a safe, supportive space available. “Being able to get off the ship and know that it's a resource in their back pocket is definitely the vision," Gartman said.  

To register for the Coming Home: Explore, Express, Process program at NS Norfolk, and to find out more about other FFSC programs, please email NAVSTA_NORFOLK_FFSC_CAP@us.navy.mil or call 757-444-2102.

Story Photo, pictured from left to right: Will Gartman, Shaneque Hawkins, Rosa Torres-Blackwood, Sarah Dailey and Michelle Chambers.

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