FEBRUARY 6, 2014|VOL. 40| ISSUE 4
The Legacy of
CHESTER NIMITZ
Information the
Commanding Officer Capt. Jeff Ruth Executive Officer Capt. J.J. Cummings Command Master Chief CMDCM Teri M. McIntyre Public Affairs Officer Lt. Cmdr. Karin Burzynski Media DIVO Ensign John Mike Media LCPO MCC Mike Jones Media Production Chief MCC Gregory Roberts Media LPO MC1 Michael Cole Editor MC2 Phillip Ladouceur Lead Designer MC3 Kole E. Carpenter
Media Department
MC2 Jacquelyn Childs MC2 Devin Wray MC2 Ryan Mayes MC2 Jacob Milner MC2 Jess Lewis MC3 George J. Penney III MC3 Shayne Johnson MC3 Linda S. Swearingen MC3 Vanessa David MC3 W. J. Cousins MC3 Derek Volland MC3 Sam Souvannason MC3 Nathan McDonald MC3 Joshua Haiar MC3 Kaitlyn Haskett MC3 Eric Butler MC3 Siobhana McEwen MCSN Aiyana Paschal MCSN Andrew W. Price MCSN Kelly Agee MCSN Victoria Ochoa MCSN Eli Buguey MCSN Lauren Jennings Nimitz News accepts submissions in writing. All submissions must be in by Friday, COB. Submissions are subject to review and screening. “Nimitz News” is an authorized publication for the members of the military services and their families. Its content does not necessarily reflect the official views of the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Navy, or the Marine Corps and does not imply endorsement thereby.
Detailers will be on base Feb. 11. Talk to your chain of command for details.
Your Record is Available Online About 20,000 first classes took the exam this month and from then will be those who are selection-board eligible for chief. Selection board season runs January through October and affects nearly every Sailor in the Navy. Taking the time to prepare in advance can relieve a lot of stress when your record goes before a board, Navy officials said Jan. 30. Sailors can review their Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) online by selecting the “OMPF - My Record” link under the BUPERS Online (BOL) Application Menu Log available at https://www.bol.navy.mil.
From Navy Personnel Command Public Affairs MILLINGTON, Tenn.
“You should not wait until the last moment to prepare your record for review by a selection board. Assume, if you are a first class, that you are going to be selection-board eligible and look at your record now. Then when the list comes out, and you are on it, you’ll be ahead of the curve.
”
- Capt. Donald May, director, Officer and Enlisted Career Progression Division.
More information can be found in NAVADMIN 288/13 for active component/FTS/CANREC and NAVADMIN 306/13 for SELRES and under the “Boards” tab available at www.npc.navy.mil.
MR2 Justin Persek dials in a shaft. photo by
MCSN (SW) Kelly M. Agee
Celebrating The Legacy of
CHESTER NIMITZ 24 Feb. 1885 - 20 Feb. 1966
Although he is remembered for being the fleet admiral that steered the U.S. to harrowing and sometimes unlikely victories in World War II, Adm. Chester Nimitz spent the early part of his career in fields ostracized by the rest of the naval community. His is a story of determination, perseverance and creativity – traits that would serve him well throughout his long and storied career.
Story by MC3 (SW/AW) Nathan R. McDonald
Nimitz sworn in as Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet aboard the submarine USS Grayling.
The legacy of Adm. Chester Nimitz is probably best known today for the class of aircraft carriers that bear his name, and his legacy of total victory in the Pacific theatre of World
War II. However, despite his accomplishments, Nimitz’s career had much more humble origins than one might think. Throughout his career he was continuously assigned to billets deemed a dead end. Because of this, another legacy of his career is that rather than allow himself to be a victim of circumstance, Nimitz chose to use his positions as an opportunity to innovate and improve wherever he was. At the time, battleships were the U.S. Navy’s source of pride and power projection. Orders to one were viewed as a fast track for promotion
and were highly sought among naval officers. After spending a few years in what is now the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility, Nimitz was able to return to the United States and submit orders to a battleship. However, he instead assigned duty aboard submarines, which had been newly introduced to the fleet and were either derided or ignored by naval officers. At the time, submarines were new to the Navy and viewed more as a novelty than anything else. While these orders were certainly less than ideal for Nimitz, he immediately
USS Plunger and USS Shark at New Suffold, New York.
began identifying ways he could improve the submarine service, commanding three submarines. He became an early advocate of adopting diesel engines and commanded the Navy’s first diesel powered submarine, USS Skipjack (SS-24). Nimitz threw himself into his work and eventually became the Navy’s leading expert on integrating diesel engines for shipboard use. He next received orders as the executive officer and chief engineer aboard the first diesel powered surface ship – an oiler. Again, the coveted orders to a
battleship and the fast track to promotion eluded him. Despite his disappointment, he again dedicated himself to the task at hand, even turning down offers for much more lucrative work in the private sector. During his time on the oiler, Nimitz helped pioneer the first methods for transferring oil at sea, a development that would prove crucial to the Navy’s success in World War I. Finally, Nimitz received the orders he had waited for in 1919, and was sent to the battleship USS South Carolina (BB-26) as the
executive officer. In 1928 he was promoted to Captain despite his unorthodox career track. By staying dedicated, innovative and committed Nimitz was able to bring about effective and positive change no matter what role he was assigned. It is this early pattern of behavior that helped set him up for his future success as Fleet Admiral. His ability to thrive and find ways to improve the status quo no matter the situation and find creative solutions would serve him well in the following years and throughout World War II.
Nissan 200SX destroyed in a fatal crash caused by a drunk driver.
photo by MC3 (SW) Derek Volland
“At my last command a gentleman came in
and gave a speech, he had just been released from 20 years in prison for killing an entire family in a head on collision. He would go around and talk about how his experience with drunk driving and the guilt that he felt from killing an entire family had affected his life. The pain and the guilt that he felt was heart wrenching, and nobody wants to feel that.” - Master-at-Arms 1st Class Sara Horvath - About three in every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol related crash at some time in their lives. - One drink can be one too many, since alcohol absorption starts immediately. Several factors such as the strength of drink, rate of consumption, body size/weight, food, gender and drug use can affect the outcome of even one drink. - Your driving skills can be seriously compromised even when your behavior is not observably “drunk.” - All the age-old remedies-- black coffee, cold showers, fresh air and exercise-- are useless. Only time will sober you up. - During a crash, your chances of survival are reduced by slow reaction times, impaired judgment and poor motor skills. - If you survive a crash and live, depending on the extent of injuries, you will most likely be subjected to extensive and painful medical treatments. - The monetary cost of your hospitalization and rehabilitation will have a high price tag. But the highest price you could pay would be if you killed someone as a result of drinking and driving. Source: Naval Safety Center
Ret. Lt. Cmdr. Wesley A. Brown
First African American to graduate from the Naval Academy
AFRICAN AMERICAN
June 30th, 1945
HISTORY MONTH
Wesley A. Brown took the oath of induction at the U.S.
Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and became the sixth African-American admitted to the academy. His five predecessors had been forced out or resigned after relentless hazing, demerits and even physical violence. But Brown persevered, and four years later became the first African-American graduate of the academy. His story and the story of his predecessors has been documented by Robert J. Schneller Jr. in a book titled "Breaking the Color Barrier: The U.S. Naval Academy's First Black Midshipmen and the Struggle for Racial Equality."
He retired as a lieutenant commander after 20 years of service.