Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Tyler Slavicek | Capt. Colin Day and Command Master Chief Miles Gray present a senior sailor of the...... read more read more
After 28 years of service, Command Master Chief Miles Gray will be retiring in March. In his final BirdFarm, I sat down with CMC to discuss his career and wisdom from a lengthy career.
MC: What do you believe is the key to success for today’s Sailors?
CMC: Respecting one another. Not just looking out for yourself, but having the mindset of “what can I do for us and not just me?” More senior Sailors, need to listen to their junior Sailors when they come to them with problems. Senior Sailors are experienced and might not see cerain things as a problem, but some junior Sailors do. We need to listen to them and try and put ourselves in their shoes to help them solve those problems.
Be more involved in morale. Morale is not a senior leadership thing. It’s everybody’s responsibility. So be more proactive in building morale. Be more involved in what’s going on around the command. Each day come in and say, “hey, what can I do make the command better?” What can you do to make changes? Don’t look for other people to make changes. What can you do to make changes? Everyone here is a leader.
MC: What motivates you personally?
CMC: You know, when I was a very young age, I was told what I could and couldn’t do. What motivates me is people telling me what I can’t do. I was told I couldn’t become a CMC, because I was a prior recruiter. I’m here because of that. I am motivated by what people tell me I can’t do. I go out and do what people tell me I can’t do, and that is how I leave my mark for my children. My dad left an exceptional trail for me to follow. He gave me something to aspire to, and I want to give my children something to aspire to as well.
MC: Do you have a favorite motto?
CMC: My favorite motto is: “Permission granted to lead.” There are so many people sitting back waiting for somebody else to do something. You do it. When I was a young chief going through chief initiation, I was told that I seem like the type of person to sit back and watch things happen. But that couldn’t be further from the damn truth. Truthfully, I started speaking after that. If I saw something wrong I said something about it. If I didn’t agree with something I would speak up. So when someone asks me, “what do you think about this?” I’m like, “hell, you tell me, permission granted to lead!” Like I said, everyone’s a leader. Everyone needs to take charge. That’s my job to help and assist you. So permission granted to lead.
MC: Throughout your long career, what has been the toughest challenge for you?
CMC: My toughest challenge has been balance. When I came into the Navy, I was taught about sacrifice, and taught to leave home. So, I left home. And my focus was to go out there and be successful at whatever it was I was doing. I worked a lot of long hours and that was just normal to me. But I never thought about applying that same energy into my home. It took me a while to figure that piece out. And I’m still not going say I’m 100% on that. I think I’m getting better now and as I get closer to retirement, I’m starting to focus more on my kids and my home. My biggest challenge has been balance.
MC: What advice would you give a junior Sailor checking into JFK?
CMC: Learn your job first and foremost. Your name and your job should be synonymous. We’re in the business of keeping our country free. If no one knows their job, how do we get the ship under way? So learn your job first and foremost. Ensure that you build balance into the equation and understand what that actually means to you.
MC: What advice would you have for anyone aspiring to be a CMC?
CMC: Don’t do it for the rank. Don’t do it for the money. Do it for the people. And that this is what it’s all about. When people do it for the rank or prestige, they hurt people and they hurt commands. It’s not about you. It’s about everyone here. That goes up and down the chain of command, it’s not about you as an individual. It’s about everyone here. Start early and it varies depending on the community that you are a part of. I’m fortunate enough to be able to have served within human resources, aviation, flag commands, and facilities. This experience makes my network bigger. So start building that network now.
MC: What has kept you in the Navy? What has kept you raising your right hand at each reenlistment?
CMC: My dad. There’s no motivational story there. At the beginning, it was my dad saying, “hey, what’s your plan?” and it was my lack of having a plan that made him tell me, “no, you’re going to reenlist.” And, you know, I respect my dad so much, knowing he has walked this walk, so I listened to him. After a while, I fell in love with the Navy. It was me wanting to do the best by the Navy. The Navy has done a whole lot for me. It has essentially turned me into the person I am today. So, and after that, it was making sure that my children were happy to see who I am, happy to say, “Hey, that’s my dad.”
MC: You have a pretty large social media presence and you’re active in social media. How has that helped you as a leader?
CMC: It’s no secret that I’m an introvert. Social media allows me to be who I truly am. It’s also humanized me. Sailors come in to my office from time to time and say, “CMC, you’re hilarious.” But looking at my face, they probably couldn’t tell, or would be scared to even say anything like that, but it has got more Sailors talking to me. I accept anybody who sends me a friend request and then show them this is who I am. If you use social media the right way, it’s positive and I’ve used it for the positive. I love it. I enjoy making people laugh. I’m so glad that social media has given me that outlet without having to stand on the stage.
| Date Taken: | 03.13.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 03.13.2024 08:49 |
| Story ID: | 466039 |
| Location: | VA, US |
| Web Views: | 133 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Farewell Q&A with CMC Gray, by PO1 Michael Croft, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
PCU John F. Kennedy (CVN 79)
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