Eisenhower Offers Smoking Cessation Class

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nathan Parde, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Public Affairs

USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, At Sea – Seven Sailors aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (IKE) attended a smoking cessation class March 19.

The Health Promotions Committee that sponsored the class teaches life skills such as anger and stress management, drug and alcohol abuse and smoking cessation to promote a healthy lifestyle, said Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class (SW/AW) Daniel Alvia of Operations Department, OF Division.

“We want to help people keep a positive attitude as they cope with whatever their issue may be and provide them other options and ways to relieve their stress,” said
Alvia.

Command Master Chief (SW) Anthony Adams assigned to the “Jolly Rogers” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103, and Command Master Chief (SW/AW) John Louvat assigned to the “Nightdippers” of Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron (HS-5), signed up for the smoking cessation class together with the intent of helping each other break the habit.

“Command Master Chief Louvat and I had each set personal goals to accomplish while we were on deployment,” Adams said. “We had listed quitting smoking as one of our goals, so we signed up for the smoking cessation program and agreed to support each other in reaching our goals.” Both Adams and Louvat were motivated to stop smoking by their family members.

“I have three kids and I want to set a better example for them and I want to be around to assist them in growing up and be a part of their life,” said Adams. “I’ve buried a lot of friends, in and outside of the Navy, due to cancer, and I don’t want to follow suit anytime soon.”

The attendants of the smoking cessation program watched an informational DVD titled “Deadly Persuasion: the dvertising of Alcohol & Tobacco,” that stated that cigarettes kill roughly twice as many Americans each year compared to alcohol, cocaine, heroin, car crashes, homicides, suicides and AIDS combined.

Out of the seven Sailors who attended the first class, six of them said that it was not uncommon for them to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day. When the instructors asked how long they had been smoking, the Sailors’ answers ranged from 10 years to more than 27 years.

“I’ve been smoking for 19 years, on and off again,” said Storekeeper 2nd Class (AW) Thomas Allen assigned to the “Wildcats” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 131. “I never realized how much of an effect my smoking had on my children and how much they knew about the dangers of smoking.”

“Recently, my 11-year-old daughter wrote me an e-mail begging me to stop smoking and she asked me over a phone conversation to stop smoking because ‘it is killing me.’ That is when it hit home,” Allen added.

According to the Deadly Persuasion DVD used in the smoking cessation class, approximately 80 percent of active smokers want to quit and confirmed that symptoms of withdrawal are strongest the first week after a smoker quits.

“Most smokers quit five to ten times before realizing they have to have a clear mindset to do it,” Louvat said. “Some of the other classes I’ve been to jump right into the materials, and it seems meaningless. Some of the instructors in the past had never smoked. I don’t believe they really knew what I was going through, so I had doubt that they could help me.”

“However, the Sailors working with IKE’s smoking cessation program have been where I am and felt what I feel. They are very well-organized and confident, and they do a good job of presenting the material,” Louvat added.

Research states that the benefits of quitting smoking begin a week after quitting, and will continue for a lifetime.

One of the instructors of the class, Alvia, started smoking when he was nine years old and smoked for approximately ten years before he resolved to put it behind him.

“Because of my past, I understand what the Sailor is going through as they enter our program,” said Alvia. “I understand their pain, because I’ve been there.”

His turning point came as he was working out in the gym and he realized that the other Sailors around him were advancing in their training at a faster rate.

“One day, as I was working out in the gym, I was feeling extra tired, I took a moment to look around me and I noticed that others in the gym where progressing more than me,” said Alvia. “It was then that I decided to change.”

“Even then, it wasn’t easy,” said Alvia. “The first two weeks were tough, and I could barely leave my workplace without feeling like I had to throw-up. But, after a week of being sick, I started breathing better and smelling different things that I’d never smelled before, and even the taste of food was different after quitting.”

It is common to feel irritable, hungry or sick the first week. Withdrawal symptoms begin to ease up the second week though, and from there it will get easier to resist the urge to smoke, according to the Research by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Cancer Institute.

“The meeting last night was wonderful,” Allen said. “There was more encouragement towards taking steps to quitting than being bashed for being a smoker.”