There is no greater honor than to educate our youth and to serve as your nation's representative in another country. Service in Guam , Japan , South Korea , and Okinawa has long been considered an honor and a highly desirable assignment in DoDEA. Our team has much to be proud of in promoting good relations with our Japanese, South Korean, and Guam hosts. We have numerous success stories throughout the Pacific that document the excellence of our community relations, to include hosting Special Olympics on Kadena Air Base. Every day our team works to build goodwill with our local communities through efforts such as school visits and cultural exchanges, charitable endeavors, and educating the children of service members as they maintain peace and prosperity in this region. 

Recently, it has been dramatically reaffirmed that our good deeds, as well as our transgressions, are what our hosts and the rest of the world community use to judge us.  Occasionally the misconduct of a few individuals, a small percentage of our overall work force, could have a tremendous ripple effect for all who work for DoDDS-Pacific/DDESS-Guam. This is equally true for those who accompany you and support us in so many critical ways. Therefore, we must remain vigilant at all times to prevent this from happening. We should pause and reflect on our commitment to education and to our very sacred and personal commitment to our nation, and to our greater communities as we serve our nation so far from our home shores.

We must fully recognize the importance of our work to educate thousands of students every day, preparing them to become better citizens of the world. Our service is critical to friendly nations and peoples throughout the Pacific and we must uphold our individual responsibilities as professionals in our endeavors in our local communities. We must be mindful of our conduct and the conduct of our fellow teachers, administrators, family members, friends and neighbors.

We have a responsibility, to help one another maintain focus and to uphold our professional standards. When we go out with friends, we must monitor their behavior as well as our own. We must help each other exercise good judgment both in and outside the classroom and in the local community.

Living overseas is a wonderful experience and working within our schools helping to serve your country and support the relationships between Japan , South Korea and the United States is an honor and a privilege. Enjoy your work and have fun while you are living in the Pacific, but be smart. You cannot pick and choose when you will serve as a good ambassador for your country.

Nancy C. Bresell
Director, DoDDS-Pacific/DDESS-Guam