VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — A Virginia Beach Navy veteran said she is disappointed with the Department of Defense's decision to end the recognition of cultural awareness months.  

The guidance was first announced Jan. 31. Servicemembers must celebrate cultural awareness month celebrations and events while off-duty.  

Retired Navy Commander Caroline Tetschner was troubled by the recent news.  

"I was stunned to hear that, and I was disappointed,” Tetschner said.  

Tetschner served for 27 years and said that the Military’s strength lies in its diversity.  

"We are not all going to be the same, nor should we," Tetschner said. “So, celebrating that, whether it's, you know, a Latin cultural club or a Women's History Month, you know, that says you're important.” 

According to the DoD, it will not use official resources to host celebrations or events related to cultural awareness months going forward.  

That includes Black History Month, Women's History Month, Pride Month and more.  

Part of the guidance read, “efforts to divide the force — to put one group ahead of another — erode camaraderie and threaten mission execution." 

"That's where the problem lies, you know, not recognizing that, that our backgrounds will be different, and that's what we bring, you know, and celebrating that,” Tetschner said. 

The Department of Defense Education Activity also released a message to military families on Monday, stating they are planning to fully comply with the guidance as well.  

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PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Dignity for the deceased and caution for the wreckage.

That's what a retired Navy admiral said about the task underway in the Potomac River and how it ties to another air tragedy. On July 17, 1996, 230 people died when TWA flight 800 went down in the Atlantic Ocean, 12 minutes after takeoff from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Retired Rear Admiral Kelvin Dixon was in Washington, D.C. the day before Wednesday's American Airlines crash.

"I was in Washington yesterday for a meeting," Dixon said. "When I landed home in New Jersey, I found out later on about this tragic accident. It really made me look back at the recovery operations with the team with Flight 800."

Then a lieutenant commander, Dixon was in command of New Jersey-based Shore Boat Unit 23. Before Unit 23 reached the wreckage, Dixon advised the sailors on how to mentally prepare for the mission.

"They could see bodies that are intact," Dixon said. "They may find bodies that are not intact. Of course, then [they may find] body parts. To retrieve those, they have special bags and special techniques that they use to make sure they don't destroy any of [the remains,]."

In the Atlantic and now on the Potomac, it's all-hands-on-deck.

"We went through it with Flight 800 by looking for and working with divers," Dixon said. "We worked with Navy divers and the divers out of New York City, [the] FBI and so forth. So I'm quite sure all of those folks are possibly onsite there in Washington. It's going to be a daunting task for them, especially in those waters now. At least they're in the Potomac."

Regina Mobley: What are the factors they have to take into consideration when they have to handle those remains with dignity while preserving the aircraft?

USN Rear Admiral (ret.)Kelvin Dixon: It's pretty daunting. It's all based on what they see and how they have to go in. If they're inside the actual aircraft underwater, they will have to cut things open, pull things apart and keep the the aircraft intact as much as possible without destroying any of the evidence that could possibly help you determine what happened in this incident.

Dixon also said the Navy worked closely with the National Weather Service to determine how currents could affect the delicate recovery.

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) — Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine raised the red flag on increased air traffic around Reagan National Airport more than a year before Wednesday evening's crash of an American Airlines passenger jet and a Black Hawk helicopter.

Sen. Mark Warner, who lives in northern Virginia, witnessed the aftermath of the tragedy and spent much of Thursday morning at Reagan National Airport. He addressed the Senate before confirmation hearings proceeded.

"There will be a time to figure out how, what happened and how we rectify it," Warner said. "But today, our thoughts and prayers ought to be with the families, and again, thanking our first responders."

Warner spoke out last year when the FAA was considering adding five additional flights to an already busy airstrip.

“Adding these additional flights will both cause, I believe, a safety challenge and increased delays,” Warner said.

It was a sentiment echoed by Sen. Tim Kaine when he said Thursday that "you're also increasing safety risk, because when you have one plane taking off or landing every minute, while other planes are circling, especially in very constricted air space, … you run the risk of serious challenge."

Kaine offered his condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the crash.

"We offer our profound condolences to them and our sorrow for this tragedy," Kaine said. "There are going to be a lot of questions, obviously, a lot of questions and that's what the NTSB's job is — to be an independent investigator of incidents like this. And they are here, we were in dialogue with them earlier."

10 On Your Side was at an event earlier Thursday with Rep. Bobby Scott, who shared his thoughts on the crash.

"Well, this is a very difficult time for all of the families involved," Scott said. "We've gotten air safety to the point where we don't have air crashes. It's been at least a decade since there's been any deaths on a commercial airline. And so, we have to find out what happened in this situation. I mean, our condolences go out to the families. There are many families involved."

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin praised the swiftness of the responders, from the Coast Guard and local fire rescue teams, up to the federal level, including the FBI, saying they continue their difficult work.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — It's times like these when having a close-knit community is both a blessing and a curse.

A curse, because upon hearing the origin of American Eagle flight 5342, Jill Stewart, Tidewater Figure Skating Club's skating director, knew she'd likely know, or know of, victims.

A blessing, because she knows the figure skating community will "rise."

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"We have, all the coaches on my staff, have some sort of a connection to someone who was on that plane last night," Stewart said.

The Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championship, the final qualifier for the U.S. World and Junior Championship teams, concluded Sunday in Wichita and was immediately followed by the National Development Camp.

It was confirmed early Thursday that a dozen or more elite figure skaters were onboard.

"I had someone from U.S. figure skating 'cause I've done some work with them as well, and she just relocated to England. She sent me a text this morning to see if we were OK," Stewart said.

While none of the students Stewart coaches attended this year, she said one 12-year-old is in the pipeline to attend next year.

"His mom messaged me this morning saying his text messages were blowing up because a lot of the friends that he has skated with and has gone to events with were on that flight last night," Stewart said. "It's a very close-knit community."

This is not the first air tragedy in the U.S. figure skating community.

The 18-member U.S. team that was set to compete in the world championships in Prague died when Sabena Flight 548 crashed on Feb. 15, 1961, in Berg-Kampenhout, about 45 minutes outside of Brussels.

Six U.S. coaches and four skating officials, along with some family members, also died.

"It's kind of déjà vu, but our community will rally," Stewart said. "We're very supportive of each other and and we will rise. I just feel that, hopefully, when the impact happened, it happened very quickly and they didn't suffer."

The Tidewater Figure Skating Club meets at Chilled Ponds in both Chesapeake and Yorktown as well as Iceland of Hampton Roads in Virginia Beach.

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