April 5, 2019
Happy 126th Birthday Chiefs – Chief On!
in collegial fashion to stitch the disparate Shortly before the USS Cole was attacked, parts of our Navy together, to leverage she got underway for deployment with an the power of our Mess to make the Navy entirely enlisted Bridge Watch Team — In the beginning there was no birthday, greater than the sum of our parts. proving that crew’s mettle and ultimately no Mess, no initiation process. There were We should take the opportunity to enabling those who survived the initial only Sailors, salty with experience and a attack to save their ship and their shipmates. reflect on where this latest year of growth deep conviction to bridge the gap between and development has taken us, and as a We have enlisted performing in a myriad the vision their officers had and the Sailors Mess decide how to best calibrate and of ways that those “old salts” sitting who executed the mission. Recognizing a align ourselves to the true north of our around and sharing information in those seam, Chief Petty Officers were created to famous photos from the late 1800s could forebearers — making those who sailed provide the kind of pragmatic leadership before us proud of the legacy of selfless, never have imagined. And yet, as a Mess, and guidance that enlisted Sailors could uncelebrating service they entrusted to our mission remains the same — bound understand and relate to, enabling our us. Every day we walk aboard our ship, genetically to our core responsibility Navy to move forward as the operating squadron, station or unit we should feel within the Navy to primarily represent the environment began to evolve beyond the an unabated sense of urgency to prove our equity of experience. Technical experts, simple age of sail and traditional Sailor skills. knowledgeable and learned in the nuances value and serve our Sailors, to realize our Over the years our Mess has grown and strengths, and then humbly yet confidently of our trade, operators who guide both the adapted to both the operating environment young Sailors we are charged with preparing wield that influence and knowledge to of our vessels and the Sailors who choose prepare our Sailors for combat — and for combat, as well as those young Officers our way of life. Over successive generations, whose lead we will follow in combat. lead them to victory once it begins. our Sailors have become smarter, more fit At the end of today, and at the end A special faith and trust has been and a better demographic representation of every day, I would ask each of you reposed in us as we occupy this unique of the Nation we serve. We began as the — as I ask of myself — to spend a few and unparalleled strata of leadership — sole purveyors of experience, the ones moments in quiet contemplation on those other services and other nations have you needed to hear from before tackling expectations levied upon us. To ask, as senior enlisted leaders, but the United any complex deckplate evolution — the in that penultimate moment of “Saving States Navy Chief Petty Officers are cut lessons of sweat and blood were “our” from a different cloth, raised to perform Private Ryan” — did I “earn this?” currency, our relevance, and we taught many a junior Sailor and many a junior Officer how to avoid the worst mistakes and safely navigate to mission success. In turn, Chief Petty Officers have found greater opportunity, and a corresponding desire by the Navy to fold Chief Petty Officers into more complex roles of leadership and management. In 1958, the pay grades of E8 and E9 were created to specifically retain the talent and expertise that was deemed crucial to the future success of our Navy; less than a decade later, Master Chief Gunner’s Mate Del Black would become the first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, signaling a level of leadership and Navy-wide involvement that just 30 years before could not possibly have been SIGONELLA, Sicily (April 1, 2019) Members of the Naval Air Station Sigonella Chiefs’ Mess pose for a conceived of. Chief Petty Officers raised group photo as part of the 126th Chief Petty Officer Birthday celebration, April 1, 2019. NAS Sigonella is an operational ashore base that enables U.S., allied, and partner nation forces to be when and where the bar, elevated the game and catapulted our Navy towards new and greater success. they are needed to ensure security and stability in Europe, Africa, and Southwest Asia. (U.S. Navy photo By Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Russell Smith
by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Josh Coté/Released)
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