Join YCAPS for the next iteration of our community conversation webinar series exploring interesting and contemporary topics relevant to our base communities and beyond.

To join please go to: https://meet.google.com/gkr-fved-tqp

No registration code is required.

In December 2010, President Obama signed legislation to end the 1993 policy commonly referred to as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" which technically lifted the U.S. military ban on LGBT servicemembers, but in practice continued to institutionalize discrimination. YCAPS is pleased to work with its partners to organize a panel discussion about the repeal, 10 years later. Leading LGBT Navy officers and civilians will describe their experiences both within the Navy and being forward-deployed, operating in an international community with widely varying policies and social norms.

Event Details

Webinar Cost: Free
Format: Off-the-Record. All participants are speaking in their personal capacity. None of the views expressed represent the positions of YCAPS, the US Navy or any other group.

Co-sponsors: Fruits in Suits Tokyo, Japan-US Military Program (JUMP),, Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies (ICAS).

Fruits in Suits Tokyo Community Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/finstokyo/
Fruits in Suits Tokyo Twitter: @finstokyo

Please register by RSVP to info@ycaps.org. RSVP not required, but helpful for organizers.

Sequence of Events (in Japan Time)
1925 - Virtual Room Opens
1930 - Event Start
--- YCAPS Welcome, Introduction and Announcements
--- Fruits in Suits Tokyo Welcome and Introduction
--- Moderator Introduces Panel
--- Panelists provide prepared remarks (5-10 min each)
--- Questions and Answer/Discussion
--- Finish (between 2030 and 2100)

Panelists

Captain Rich Jarrett is the Commander of Fleet Activities Yokosuka. He is a native of Charleston, West Virginia. He earned a commission from the United States Naval Academy in 1996. Upon completion of graduate education at West Virginia University, he commenced his first sea assignment in USS Vella Gulf (CG 72), where he served as Strike Officer and Navigator deploying to the Adriatic Sea in support of Operation Noble Anvil/Allied Force and later to the North Arabian Sea in support of Operation Enduring Freedom following the attacks of September 11, 2001. He earned recognition as the COMNAVSURFLANT Junior Officer Ship handler of the Year for both 1999 and 2000. Capt. Jarrett served as Operations Officer in USS Ross (DDG 71) from 2004 to 2005, again deploying in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He earned recognition as the COMNAVSURFLANT Junior Officer Tactician of the Year in 2004. In 2005, Capt. Jarrett began a second department head assignment as the commissioning Operations Officer in USS Freedom (LCS 1). He sailed in the inaugural transit of the Navy’s first LCS-class ship from the building yard in Marinette, Wisconsin to Norfolk, Virginia. Capt. Jarrett served as Commanding Officer of LCS Crew 102 from 2013 to 2015, deploying in both USS Freedom (LCS 1) and USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) to the Asia Indo-Pacific Theater of operations. Ashore, Capt. Jarrett was assigned at Surface Warfare Officers School in Newport, RI, where he taught the Fleet’s future department heads in the subject of tactics, administration, and leadership. He has also served in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and as the U.S. Fleet Forces Command Liaison Officer in Washington, DC.

Commander Allison Christy serves on the U.S. 7th Fleet Staff embarked on USS Blue Ridge. She is from Seattle, Washington. She graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science.
CDR Christy's at sea assignments include Combat Information Center Officer, Strike Officer and Navigator in USS PORTER (DDG 78), Operations Officer in USS PAUL HAMILTON (DDG 60), and Combat Systems Officer in USS PORT ROYAL (CG 73). From March 2016 through July 2017, she served as Executive Officer in USS McCAMPBELL (DDG 85). Shore duty assignments include Junior Officer Detailer and Junior Officer Shore Coordinator (PERS 412) in Navy Personnel Command, and Surface and Expeditionary Portfolio Manager in the Navy Office of Legislative Affairs. CDR Christy holds a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

Lieutneant Commander Nicole Lobecker serves on the Destroyer Squadron 15 staff in Yokosuka, Japan as the Theater Surface Warfare Zulu Operations Director. She graduated from Slippery Rock University in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania with a Bachelors of Science in Biology. She joined the Navy as an enlisted Machinists Mate and after three years of enlisted service, was selected for Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. LCDR Lobecker's first Division Officer tour was onboard the USS RUSSELL (DDG-59) in Pearl Harbor as the Gunnery Officer and Communications Officer. Her second Division Officer tour was onboard USS PORT ROYAL (CG-73) in Pearl Harbor as the Engineering Training Officer and Assistant Combat Systems Officer. Her two Department Head tours were onboard USS STETHEM (DDG-63) and the USS ANTIETAM (CG-54) as the Chief Engineer. Her first shore tour was at Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tennessee where she served as a Junior Officer Detailer and New Accessions Detailer. Next, she reported to OPNAV N96 and served as the DDG 51 FLT III and New Construction Requirements Officer. LCDR Lobecker completed her Masters’ program through the Naval War College Fleet Seminar Program to earn JPME Phase I and her Masters’ Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies focusing on the Asia-Pacific. She is married and has no children. Hobbies include running, hiking, camping, traveling, painting, and reading.

Ms. Lorelei McKelvey is a US civil service employee working for Naval Surface Warfare Center Corona and serves as the 7th Fleet Quantitative Fleet Feedback Project Lead. She supports 7th Fleet training as an analyst, maintaining the Operational Fleet Readiness Program and managing the status of training performance assessments to ensure requirements are met. She has worked as a Navy government service employee for 14 years and a government contractor for another 13 years. Prior to working at 7th Fleet, she worked in data science and data management for Undersea Warfighting Development Center for 15 years. She also worked as an Alteration Installation Team project lead and pipefitter, installing naval surface ship systems. She is a transgender woman and transitioned fulltime in October of 2018, just a few months before taking her new position with C7F in Japan. She is native to San Diego, California and lived there until moving to Yokosuka. Her current interests include singing and performance, musical theater, opera, comic conventions, skiing, martial arts, and travel.

Moderator: ENS William Yale serves as YCAPS Treasurer and as a Surface Warfare Officer stationed in Yokosuka, Japan.

Reference article: https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/12/22/us-obama-repeals-dont-ask-dont-tell