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| Saluting Chiefs
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1 April 2009 marks the 116th birthday of the Chief Petty Officer rank. Advancement to Chief is considered by many to be the most significant promotion within the enlisted ranks.
Did a Chief inspire you during your career? How did it feel when you made Chief? Share your thoughts and perspective on CPO leadership.
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By
Lauren Armstrong
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Thu, February 19, 2009 03:13 PM
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| RE: Saluting Chiefs
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When I entered the Navy in 1952 the Rate Chief Torpedoman TMC was closed TIGHT. A TM1(SS) could only look to retire as E6. I saw that it would be impossible to be a career man. I got as mutch schooling as I could Quailifed SS and made E5 in 2 and 1/2 Years and got ready to go back to College. Then a unquilified E6 caused an accident on the USS Angler SSK240 and I was blinded... Surgery and two years limited duty I had no choice but to stay on as I was to evently be blind in my right eye. I transferred to a fast attack Sub and even made E1, and Chief was the greatest moment in our life for Me and my wife who had been beside me since I was blinded. In those days Chief was the greatest You was not SUPER or MASTER just a top enlisted leader of the men..
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By
Reginald K Ward
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Fri, February 27, 2009 07:22 PM
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| RE: Saluting Chiefs
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RE: Saluting ChiefsApril 1, 2009, marked the 116th anniversary of the Chief Petty Officer rate in our Navy. It is my honor and privilege to salute the Chief Petty Officers past, present, and future. Happy Birthday Chiefs, 116 years of superb deckplate leadership! Remember there is no limit to what can be accomplished, as long as it does not matter who gets the credit. The below short talk is still true today and Chief Petty Officers the world over should never forget where they came from and to always take care of their people and they will always take care of you.
The following was excerpted verbatim from the 1918 edition Bluejacket?s Manual. May we never forget the sacrifices of the Chiefs before us and be always willing to be the CHIEF.
Cheers, Kirk Towner
CPO USN(Ret)
PART FOUR.
A SHORT TALK WITH CHIEF PETTY OFFICERS.
1. PART IV of ?The Bluejacket?s Manual? is written as a general guide for chief petty officers. It should be regarded more in the light of an index as to what chief petty officers of different branches are supposed to know, and what qualifications they are supposed to possess, than as a book of information. Inasmuch as every chief petty officer is supposed to be an expert in his own branch, an effort to embody in one book all of the information that each chief petty officer is supposed to know would result in a very large volume, as it would necessarily have to cover every detail of the naval profession. Consequently, this book is merely an index of the subjects that you are supposed to know; and it tells you where you may find the subject fully discussed.
2. Chief petty officers of each branch should therefore make a point of studying the subjects which relate to their particular specialty and should study them from the reference books mentioned. In doing this, chief petty officers should not overlook the subjects that are laid down for them as a class, irrespective of their specialty.
3. This ?Short Talk to Chief Petty Officers? will, of course, be more directly applicable to those who are just coming up for their rate than to those who have held the rate for a long time; for chief petty officers of any length of service should be familiar with the duties and responsibilities of their position. However, as the same honor, dignity, and demeanor are required of all chief petty officers, it is hoped that this ?talk? may be of some value even to those who are already rated chief petty officers, by giving them the point of view of their senior officers, by telling them how their seniors regard them, how they desire to treat them, and, on the other hand, what degree of proficiency and what general demeanor they expect of them.
4. Take your own particular case, for example, It is quite probable that you entered the service a few years ago an inexperienced and irresponsible boy, without any knowledge of the Navy, of discipline, and probably without any knowledge of the special branch, or specialty, in which you are now to become a chief petty officer. During the time you served through the lower ratings you were under instruction not only as to your individual duties, but also in the elements of discipline. While you were in the lower ratings, you were not supposed to be highly responsible; you were supposed to do what you were told, to acquire the knowledge requisite for the rating you held, to use that knowledge under the direction of your petty officers, and to behave yourself and comply with the rules of military discipline.
5. Then came a great change in your status; you were appointed a petty officer. When you receive this promotion, it showed that your officers considered that you had a sufficient knowledge of the details of the duties of your rating, and that you were sufficiently disciplined to warrant your stepping up from a status in which you merely did what you were told to a status in which with the knowledge of what was required to be done and how it should be done, you could be trusted with the duty of taking charge of a number of men and giving them orders, under the general direction of your seniors. Your duty was to follow up the work and assure yourself that it had been done properly. Instead of merely doing what your immediate petty officer told you to do, you, as a petty officer, had a larger field and performed your duty not by your own labor, but by directing a group of men under you; and such was your status whether you were engaged in cleaning ship, painting ship, coaling ship or drilling. In each case your excellence as a petty officer was measured by the amount and excellence of your work which was accomplished by the men under you, their practical knowledge, their proficiency, their thoroughness and their reliability. As time passed and as your experience increased, you were promoted from third class to second class, and, finally to first class; with each promotion you added to your experience and knowledge, your duties broadened and your responsibilities increased; nevertheless, at all times you were more or less under instruction and under trial.
6. You have now come to the point where, having served through all the lower ratings, you are supposed to be an expert in your own branch. You have training and experience, and had you not succeeded in making your officers believe that you had proper regard for others and for discipline, you would not now be coming up for chief petty officer. When you are promoted to chief petty officer, your status changes even to a greater extent than it changed when you were promoted from the ranks to petty officer. The change from petty officer, first class, to chief petty officer probably carries with it a greater change in status than any other promotion in your whole career. Your uniform changes, your quarters and your method of living change; the treatment accorded you by your senior officers changes. All chief petty officers welcome these changes as well as the corresponding increase in pay. But don?t forget that these are not the only features of your life that change. Along with all these changes comes a very great change in your responsibilities as well as the absolute necessity for a different point of view. If you forget the changes of this nature, you altogether fail in your duties to the Government.
7. The aim of this little talk is to dwell upon this new point of view, this increased feeling of responsibility, this sense of duty which impels you to do a thing not because you have to do it, but because it ought to be done, because it is your duty to do it.
8. The position of chief petty officer is one of special honor. It shows not only that you have served successfully, but that your service has met with the commendation of your seniors, that you are proficient, trustworthy and reliable. The uniform of a chief petty officer shows therefore not only that you are serving honorably now, but that you have served honorably for years, and by your own successful effort risen to the top of the petty officers of your own branch. See to it that your entire demeanor is such as to elevate the standing of the uniform which you now wear. Make your life and your actions both on board ship and on shore such as to increase rather than decrease the difference between the blue jacket?s uniform and that of the chief petty officer.
9. Your position is such that your senior officers wish to treat you as an officer. In order to be accorded this treatment you must adopt the point of view of an officer. This point of view can best be described by saying that you must cultivate a deep sense of responsibility, a high sense of duty, and live up to a high professional standard.
10. STANDARD.- The fact that you are a chief petty officer is evidence that you know how things should be done. Do not neglect to do your duty properly, do not fall to a lower standard simply because you think you will not be spoken to or reported for not doing this duty properly. Such an attitude is not surprising in a recruit; there are times when it may even be overlooked in the lower ratings of petty officers, but, as chief petty officer, you have passed that stage. You are constantly under the watchful eye of you juniors. Anything they see you do, they naturally think it is all right. If, for example, they see that you are careless about your uniform or about saluting, regardless of the amount of instruction they may have received, their standard is lowered. If you are punctilious, the men under you will copy the precedent you have established. If your manner is military toward your seniors, you will find the enlisted men under you more easily brought up to standard. If the chief petty officers are thorough, respectful, and have a high sense of duty, the tone of the whole ship will follow. If, on the other hand, enlisted men see that the chief petty officers are unmilitary, that they violate orders and regulations when officers are not around, they will feel even more than ordinarily justified in doing likewise. The tone of the ship, the tone of the service itself must come more directly from the chief petty officers than from any other group of people in the Navy. You have the standard; live up to it, whether you are on independent duty, or on duty under officers; whether you are unobserved, or directly under the eye of your seniors. Live up to the standard, and you will find that those under you will be more inclined to do likewise.
11. SENSE OF DUTY. - You know the standard; you know what to do; you know the rules of discipline; of military etiquette; you know the regulations and instructions pertaining to your own branch. The Government--not the officers over you--pays for your services. It pays you for doing as you know they should be done. The sense of duty is that feeling that impels you to do these things not because you have to do them, but because it is your duty to do them. And in deciding whether it is your duty, be very liberal in your interpretation.
12. SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY. - It frequently happens that both commissioned officers and chief petty officers see things that should be done, although it is clear that it is not their duty to do them; such cases, for example, that would result in confusion were the officer or the chief petty officer in question to do them. If you are confronted with such a condition, take the point of view that you have reached a position of responsibility in the service; that something which should be done may have escaped notice; if this omission is clearly of such a nature that it is not your duty to remedy it, it is nevertheless, your duty to call attention of the proper person to such an omission. Sometimes lives are lost because some manifest danger has not been pointed out. If you are in doubt as to whether it is your duty to look after something that you know should be done, the only safe rule is to do it. If you know that it is someone else?s duty,, call attention to it. Take the attitude that you are part of the Navy, not merely a part of your department on an individual ship; try to do a little more rather than a little less than a strict interpretation of your duty demands. Both your seniors and you, yourself, will be better pleased, and the service will benefit thereby.
13. PROFESSIONAL WORK. - As a chief petty officer, you are an expert in your own department. There are no petty officers senior to you. Those below you will look up to you for information and instruction. Be sure that the information you give out is absolutely accurate. If you are weak on any feature of your specialty, study it up. It is all down somewhere in black and white. Study the best methods; keep up with all improvements,. Do not feel that because you passed an examination you have finished studying. Keep yourself fully informed, and be ready to impart your knowledge and skill to your subordinates.
14. THOROUGHNESS AND RELIABILITY. - An absolute essential of your rating is reliability. This does not mean merely that you are certain to return on time for duty. It means that you may be relied upon to do thoroughly and in the manner that it should be done whatever you are going to do, however important the duty, and however general your orders may be. It means that when you report the duty finished your report may be accepted without an inspection and your senior feel that the duty has been done and everything finished as well and as thoroughly as it would have been done, had he been there personally. If, for any reason, you find that you cannot carry out your orders in every detail, report any part of the order you were unable to carry out and why you were unable to carry it out.
15. DUTIES. - Every chief petty officer understands in a general way that he is the senior petty officer on the ship in his particular branch, that his duties are of a general nature in his department and that he is required to see his department and everything connected with it kept in shipshape condition. All this, however, constitutes but a part of a chief petty officer?s duties. As a chief petty officer, you recognize these duties; but in paying due attention to the matériel, do not overlook your duties in connection with the personnel. Too many chief petty officers wholly neglect the fact that, in all probability, the most important part of their duty is the training and instruction of their subordinates. As a chief petty officer you are an expert in the details of your department. Unless you recognize that it is your duty to instruct your juniors and unless you do instruct them, and unless you endeavor to inculcate in them the knowledge of how things should be done, of how they should conduct themselves, you will have failed in your duties. Too often petty officers direct inexperienced men of lower ratings to carry out certain orders, and then think no more about it; later, when it is found that the work has not been done; or has not been thoroughly done, or has been done improperly, they lay the blame on the junior. In such a case it is clearly evident that the petty officer has neglected his duty. Remember always that you are an instructor, and that the instruction of your juniors is one of your most important duties; that it is your duty to instruct them not only in the details of the profession, but also in regard to their general conduct or demeanor on board ship. Not only is it your duty to instruct them; it is also your duty to enforce compliance with such instructions, and see that they are trained to do their duty properly, thoroughly, and to observe the rules and the regulations of the service.
16. TWOFOLD NATURE OF DUTIES. - Duties in the navy are twofold in nature. Not only must you be expert in your specialty and be able to instruct others in that specialty; but in addition to this, do not for a moment forget the military side of your life. As a chief petty officer it is more incumbent upon you to remember this than it would be were you in one of the lower ratings. For example, if you happen to be a chief machinist?s mate, there is no reason why you should not be able to march a squad of men in a military manner, halt them, and face them smartly. Because you are a chief yeoman, there is no reason why you should neglect boat etiquette, or neglect to salute you seniors. If you happen to be a chief pharmacist?s mate, that is no reason why you should not know and observe uniform regulations or orders concerning ship routine. Every chief petty officer should take pride in knowing, in observing, and in requiring others under him to observe all of these details of ship life. Simply because you may not happen to be in the seaman branch, do not allow yourself for a moment to think that your duties do not extend to the military side of your profession.
17. LET OFFICERS JUDGE YOUR PROFICIENCY. - It frequently happens that, when the time draws near for a chief petty officer to receive a permanent appointment, or when he desires a letter of commendation preparatory to taking an examination for warrant, he becomes very enthusiastic and eager to expound his points of excellence. Let your conduct as a chief petty officer be such that instead of being forced to explain your points of merit, your officers will already know them. Let your officers be the judges of your proficiency. An officer knows no greater pleasure than that of being able to give an unqualified recommendation to a man who has served under him. Your letter ought to be based on your excellent work as a chief petty officer rather than upon the excellent manner in which you plead your case when you come up for promotion.
18. SUMMARY. - (1) you have a position in which you must have expert knowledge of every detail that applies to your branch of the profession.
(2) Your duties in training and instructing men of lower ratings are even more important than your duties in connection with the matériel.
(3) your conduct must be entirely above reproach, and your daily life such as to set an example both from a personal as well as from a professional point of view.
(4) Whatever may be your special branch, always bear in mind the military side of the life. Comply strictly with the formalities of military life and require the same of your juniors.
(5) Yours is a position of honor and responsibility. Do your work from a sense of duty. Be thorough in all you do, and require of your subordinates thoroughness and military exactitude.
By Kirk R Towner on Sat, April 11, 2009 06:12 PM
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By
Anonymous
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Tue, April 21, 2009 11:17 AM
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| RE: Saluting Chiefs
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RE: Saluting Chiefs CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE CHIEFS SERVING NOW AND TO ALL THE CHIEFS WHO INSPIRED ME TO ATTAIN THE RANK OF CHIEF AND WHOM I SERVED WITH. WE MAY BE RETIRED BUT WE ARE STILL CHIEFS IN OUR HEARTS ALWAYS. GOD BLESS.
By Robert F Gagne on Fri, April 3, 2009 02:24 PM
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By
Anonymous
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Tue, April 21, 2009 11:15 AM
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| RE: Saluting Chiefs
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RE: Saluting Chiefs Submarine Chiefs
by Bob 'Dex' Armstrong
(Posted here with permission of the author. Shipmate Dex has lots more submarine essays available at http://www.olgoat.com/substuff/abr.htm)
One thing we weren't aware of at the time but became evident as life wore on, was that we learned true leadership from the finest examples any lad was ever given
Boat qualified CPOs.
They were crusty bastards who had done it all and had been forged into men who had been time tested over more years than a lot of us had time on the planet.
The ones I remember wore hydraulic oil stained hats with scratched and dinged-up insignia, faded shirts, some with a Bull Durham tag dangling out of their right-hand pocket or a pipe and tobacco reloads in a worn leather pouch in their hip pockets, and a Zippo that had been everywhere.
Some of them came with tattoos on their forearms that would force them to keep their cuffs buttoned at a Methodist picnic. Most of them were as tough as a boarding house steak
A quality required to survive the life they lived. They were and always will be, a breed apart from all other residents of Mother Earth.
They took eighteen year-old idiots and hammered the stupid bastards into submarine sailors. You knew instinctively it had to be hell on earth to have been born a Chief's kid
God should have given all sons born to Chiefs a return option.
A Chief didn't have to command respect
He got it because there was nothing else you could give them. They were God's designated hitters on earth.
We had Chiefs with fully loaded Submarine Combat Patrol Pins in my day... Hardcore bastards, who found nothing out of place with the use of the word 'Japs' to refer to the little sons of Nippon they had littered the floor of the Pacific with, as payback for a little December 7th tea party they gave us in 1941. In those days, 'insensitivity' was not a word in a boatsailor's lexicon. They remembered lost mates and still cursed the cause of their loss... And they were expert at choosing descriptive adjectives and nouns, none of which their mothers would have endorsed.
At the rare times you saw a Chief topside in dress canvas, you saw rows of hard-earned worn and faded ribbons over his pocket.
"Hey Chief, what's that one and that one?"
"Oh Hell kid, I can't remember. There was a war on. They gave them to us to keep track of the campaigns. We didn't get a lot of news out where we were. To be honest, we just took their word for it. Hell son, you couldn't pronounce most of the names of the places we went
They're all depth charge survival geedunk. Listen kid, ribbons don't make you a submariner
We knew who the heroes were and in the final analysis that's all that matters."
Many nights we sat in the after battery messdeck wrapping ourselves around cups of coffee and listening to their stories. They were lighthearted stories about warm beer shared with their running mates in corrugated metal sheds at resupply depots, where the only furniture was a few packing crates and a couple of Coleman lamps
Standing in line at a Honolulu cathouse or spending three hours soaking in a tub in Freemantle, smoking cigars and getting loaded. It was our history
And we dreamed of being just like them because they were our heroes.
When they accepted you as their shipmate, it was the highest honor you would ever receive in your life
At least it was clearly that for me.
They were not men given to the perogatives of their position. You would find them with their sleeves rolled up, shoulder-to-shoulder with you in a stores loading party.
"Hey Chief, no need for you to be out here tossin' crates in the rain, we can get all this crap aboard."
"Son,the term 'All hands' means all hands."
"Yeah Chief, but you're no damn kid anymore, you old coot."
"Horsefly, when I'm eighty-five parked in the stove up old bastards' home, I'll still be able to kick your worthless butt from here to fifty feet past the screwguards along with six of your closest friends."
And he probably wasn't bullshitting.
They trained us. Not only us, but hundreds more just like us. If it wasn't for Chief Petty Officers, there wouldn't be any Submarine Force.
There wasn't any fairy godmother who lived in a hollow tree in the enchanted forest who could wave her magic wand and create a Chief Petty Officer. They were born as hotsacking seamen and matured like good whiskey in steel hulls over many years. Nothing a nineteen year-old jaybird could cook up was original to these old saltwater owls. They had seen E-3 jerks come and go for so many years, they could read you like a book.
"Son, I know what you are thinking. Just one word of advice
DON'T. It won't be worth it."
"Aye, Chief."
Chiefs aren't the kind of guys you thank. Monkeys at the zoo don't spend a lot of time thanking the guy who makes them do tricks for peanuts. Appreciation of what they did and who they were, comes with long distance retrospect
No young lad takes time to recognize the worth of his leadership. That comes later when you have experienced poor leadership or lets say, when you have the maturity to recognize what leaders should be, you find that submarine Chiefs are the standard by which you measure all others.
They had no Academy rings to get scratched up. They butchered the King's English. They had become educated at the other end of an anchor chain from Copenhagen to Singapore
They had given their entire lives to the United States Navy. In the progression of the nobility of employment, submarine CPO heads the list.
So, when we ultimately get our final duty station assignments and we get to wherever the big CNO in the sky assigns us
If we are lucky, Marines will be guarding the streets. I don't know about that Marine propaganda bullshit, but there will be an old Chief in a oil-stained hat and a cigar stub clenched in his teeth, standing at the brow to assign us our bunks and tell us where to stow our gear... And we will all be young again and the gahdam coffee will float a rock.
Life fixes it so that by the time a stupid kid grows old enough and smart enough to recognize who he should have thanked along the way, he no longer can. If I could, I would thank my old Chiefs
If you only knew what you succeeded in pounding in this thick skull, you would be amazed.
So thanks you old casehardened unsalvageable sonuvabitches
Save me a rack in the Alley.
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By
Anonymous
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Tue, April 21, 2009 11:30 AM
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| RE: Saluting Chiefs
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RE: Saluting Chiefs Your April 2009 issue of FRA Today has two excellent stories that connect with my Navy career.
First is the 116th birthday for chiefs. I entered the Navy on 13 November 1940 on my 18th birthday. I made chief in the regular Navy on 1 December 1943. I was 21 years and 18 days old. At the end of WWII, I saw many letters to Navy Times about making chief at a young age, but I never saw anyone beat my age. I retired from active duty on 25 May 1960.
During the war I was assigned to motor torpedo boat squadrons as a pharmacist mate. I assisted giving treatment to the PT-109 crew after being rescued from the small island they had gone to for shelter. PT-109 was commanded by Lt. John Kennedy.
The other story was on submarines. In July of 1960 I started by second career in the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, N.H. They were building and overhauling submarines. In 1964 I got a position with Radiological Control Division in the repairing and refurbishing of nuclear submarines. I have been involved inn several refurbishings. I retired the second time on 3 June 1983.
Thank you for your work with Congress.
Submitted by mail from
HMC James Gonyo, USN (Ret.)
Traverse City, Michigan
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By
Anonymous
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Thu, April 23, 2009 08:36 AM
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