The History of COMPASS
In April 1998, current COMPASS Program Director, Rosemary Ellis, and three other submarine spouses attended a Marine Corps L.I.N.K.S. session in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. They had planned to implement a similar program to benefit sub spouses and their families. At the time, the "SUBS" program was submarine specific, however, after a year, SUBS opened to all Navy community spouses. Mrs. Ellis took on the role of Chairman of Naval Services FamilyLine and actively promoted a Team Mentoring program similar to L.I.N.K.S. In 2000, an exploratory committee was formed with the support of the then CNO to develop a program for Navy Spouses of all communities. The COMPASS curriculum was developed and standardized. From 2000 to the present day, more than 20 COMPASS teams have been implemented around the world.
In 2020, COMPASS volunteers worked diligently to develop a Virtual program and in May, the first Virtual Setting Sail session (an introduction to COMPASS) was held. This then led to the first COMPASS Session in September 2020. As the program expanded, in 2021, a Global COMPASS team was implemented and is presenting virtually all over the world.
Over 10,000 spouses have successfully completed a COMPASS session and over 1,500 of those participants have volunteered to become COMPASS mentors.
COMPASS focuses on spouses new to the Navy; however, all spouses are welcome. COMPASS improves the quality of life through education, enabling spouses to understand, experience, and meet the Navy lifestyle’s challenges. With this knowledge and realistic expectations, their journeys can be successful and rewarding.
For more information or to sign up for a session, please visit: