Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Capt. Daniel McHugh sets Kokobe Negussie for a spike Wednesday morning.

Pharmacy officials from both facilities scheduled the match to coincide with American Pharmacists’ Month. The two pharmacies will square-off again tomorrow in bowling, but this time on Bethesda’s turf.

“We’ve had plenty of integration meetings over the past year, but this was a morale, team-building effort,” said Bethesda’s Pharmacy Department Head CDR Eugene de Lara. “Our meetings typically involve plans-for-design, but we have limited [out-of-the-office] interaction. This is an opportunity to get together and have some fun. This is some real esprit de corps.”

Army Capt. Daniel McHugh said the volleyball match may have been one of the more important meetings between the two medical centers’ pharmacies.

“Integration will be difficult, it will be difficult to integrate two separate subcultures and put them together,” he said. “We’re developing a fellowship by working side by side, and hopefully that will ease the most difficult aspect of integration — blending the people and personalities.”

Even though there was plenty of good-natured “smack-talking” and interservice ribbing, Sailors and Soldiers had no problem mixing teams and working together for a common goal. Players congratulated and encouraged their teammates — it didn’t matter whether they wore an “Army” or “Navy” gray physical training T-shirt.

LT Shannon Murphy said she’s only been stationed at Bethesda for a short time, but she’s slowly learning how the integration process will work.

“The volleyball game gave us an opportunity to work together as a team and break the ice,” Murphy said. “It was fun. It was a little competitive — we were wearing our Navy shirts and they were wearing their Army shirts — but we switched up teams so we could work with people we had never met before.”

Walter Reed pharmacy staff member Army Sgt. Kenneth Knutson said it was nice to finally put faces with names. He said many pharmacy leaders know each other from integration meetings, but the junior enlisted Sailors and Soldiers are just meeting for the first time.

“It doesn’t matter what service you are in, everyone has a military professionalism that bonds us together,” Knutson said. “There are a few things different but, for the most part, most of our duties are similar.”

McHugh said most of the pharmacy staff members probably won’t be at their respective facilities when integration is complete, but they are leading the process. And the volleyball game is just a glimpse into what to expect.

“Everyone has a different point of view,” he said. “Most of the people here are [non-commissioned officers], but their jobs are unique. That’s why I think these friendly get-togethers will be necessary for the next four or five years.”