USS Enterprise (CVN 65)
The Shuttle Newsletter Edition
“We are Legend”
September 10, 2012 Issue
CPO Selectees Learn, Grow with Guidance from Mentors
Story by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brian G. Reynolds
USS ENTERPRISE, At Sea – For over one hundred years the rank of Chief Petty Officer has been a staple of the rich tradition that the Navy continues to uphold. In no other branch of the military does the rank of E-7 hold such a reverent overtone - steeped in tradition and riveted in its deckplates - as it does in the United States Navy. It goes without saying that the transformation from junior enlisted Sailor to Chief is not something that automatically happens. Newly-selected chiefs must first go through an intense induction process that lasts for six weeks. During this process, the selectees are trained to metabolize the fundamentals of leading from the deckplates. None of this would be possible without great mentorship. Induction season is an exciting time, not only for the newly selected, but for the Chief Petty Officer mess as well. Chiefs have the opportunity to mentor and train the CPO Selectees in a wide variety of topics and in a myriad of settings “Induction is a great opportunity for Chiefs to pass on knowledge and traditions to the selectees,” said Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Terri Somers. “Mentorship plays a pivotal role in this process. This is a great opportunity for us to prepare those that will eventually take our place.” This training and mentoring is a many-faceted evolution, ranging from one-on-one time with the selectees’ sponsor, to group training sessions with the entire CPO Mess. “Mentorship is critical to the success of induction season,” said CMDCM Dwayne E. Huff, the command master chief of Enterprise. “The relationship between the Selectees and their sponsors, as well as the relationships they are building with all of the Chiefs in the Mess are important. They are joining the Mess and, in order to be an effective part, need to establish that rapport.” Sponsors are the selectees’ primary mentor during the induction season, guiding them through the six-week learning process and providing valuable insight into the workings of the Mess. Other Mentors that the Selects encounter are those Chief Petty Officers that make up the various committees formed for the induction season. All of the committees are governed by the induction chairperson, Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Cheri Snaza.
“We set up committees to oversee different aspects of the induction season,” Snaza said. “These committees ensure that every aspect of the induction is given the attention that it deserves and that the Selectees have a source to go to for guidance on those issues. Two of the busiest committees are the PT committee and the Training Committee. They basically work all season long hand in hand with the Selectees to ensure that they are ready come the day of pinning.” The Training Committee coordinates all of the training sessions the budding Chiefs attend, and provide feedback to them on various evolutions that they undergo in the process. “The bottom line is that Chiefs lead Sailors,” said Senior Chief Aviation Electronics Technician, Robert Hocking. “With that, the Chief is responsible for the failures of his Sailors. The successes, it’s a team’s success, not the accomplishment of just one person, and certainly not solely the credit of the Chief.” For the selectees, mentorship takes many shapes and forms. But for most, it is merely guidance in the form of one-on-one sessions that point the selectees in a positive direction. “I don’t think that the induction process would even exist without the mentorship from the Chiefs,” said Chief (Sel) Aviation Ordnanceman Benjamin M. Porter. “We are so used to looking at a small area of the picture. When you sit down and have a one on one session with the Chiefs you start to see how big the picture really is. There have been many ways I have benefited from their mentorship. Thinking outside of the box is a great example of that.” With the coordinated mentorship from the Chief’s Mess, the leadership of tomorrow’s Navy is being born. As seasoned Sailors, members of the Mess feel that it is an extreme responsibility and honor to have the opportunity to mold these new leaders. “Each year a group of new Chiefs is selected and tested and they add themselves to our ranks,” said Hocking. “Everything that they are they bring to the Chief’s Mess. These yearly additions help to keep the Mess strong, energized and focused on what’s important. The Navy continues to change and get better and the Chief is part of that. We each add a little bit to that legacy, that reverence that Sailors talk about when using the word ‘Chief.’”