Photo By L.A. Shively | Navy chiefs and service members, from across the spectrum of coalition forces aboard...... read more read more
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CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan -- Navy chiefs and servicemembers from across the spectrum of coalition forces aboard Camp Leatherneck, celebrated the 119th birthday of the Navy chief petty officer, with an April 1 ceremony and rededication of the chiefs' mess.
Special guests at the celebration included Maj. Gen. Charles M. Gurganus commanding general, Regional Command Southwest; U.K. Army Brig. Stuart Skeates deputy commanding general, RC(SW); Maj. Gen. David H. Berger, commanding general, Task Force Leatherneck; Brig. Gen. Gregg A. Sturdevant, commanding general, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward); and Brig. Gen. John J. Broadmeadow, commanding general, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Fwd).
The rank of chief petty officer was created when then U.S. President Benjamin Harrison, signed general order 409 and U.S. Navy regulation 1893 circular. Worthy sailors who served as first class petty officers for more than six years were promoted to chief at that time.
A color guard followed by an acapela version of the “National Anthem” opened the ceremony at Camp Krutke, the Navy Seabee camp, for approximately 150 guests. A message from retired Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Jim Herdt was read by Chief Petty Officer April Merriman explaining the purpose behind designating 2012 as the Year of the Chief by the United States Navy Memorial Foundation. The foundation serves to preserves the history of the sea services and educate others about it.
“For the first time, the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation will shine a nationwide spotlight on the history and contributions of our Navy’s chief petty officer mess, highlighting you, the group of leaders with a direct impact on every Navy and Coast Guard community,” read Merriman.
The Year of the Chief will be officially launched, April 2, with a kick-off event at the foundation in Washington, D.C.
Regional Command Southwest Command Master Chief Mike Smith read MCPON Rick West’s birthday message.
“We’re not just celebrating another year of chiefs serving the Navy,” read West. “We’re celebrating everything it means to be the chief. Our anchors are a symbol of a culture and a way of life. Since 1893, chiefs have been charged with the responsibility of ensuring our sailors are the best in the world, ready to carry out our Navy’s mission when our nation calls.”
Chief Petty Officers Frank Small and Troy Brown conducted a heritage presentation. Small shared information on the history and meaning of the charge book, an important part of the induction ceremony Navy chiefs participate in when they are selected for chief.
Originally, the charge book was a repository for technical and professional information and qualifications a petty officer acquired during service. Today it is a record of lessons learned and information shared during induction process, often including photographs and other memorabilia, Small explained.
Brown described the pre-1893 chief as a veteran salt: a sailor who had been around Cape Horn; could splice a line quicker than spit; repair a sail at 75 feet in the air in a 60-knot gust; or pick up a hammer and forge weld an emergency mend that kept the main boiler online, 2,000 miles from the nearest shipyard.
After the presentations, the chiefs’ mess was dedicated to Chief Petty Officer Raymond Border who was killed by a roadside bomb, Oct. 19, 2011, as he was inspecting a route for a convoy in Paktika province, Afghanistan. Border was a builder with Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 74, based in Gulfport, Miss., working with a provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan.
Chief Petty Officer Scott Abbott took the podium, read Border’s biography and shared memories of his service with Border. Abbott was tasked to lead a crew constructing an observation tower during a field exercise. The crew was having trouble erecting the tower and Border could have sat back and let them fail, Abbot remembered. Instead, Border jumped in and assisted the crew, completing the project successfully.
“No one on my crew, including myself I might add, had gone through his class to learn how to properly build this tower. Ray knew I needed help and that’s exactly what he gave me,” said Abbot. “He taught me what I needed to know to get through each day.”
Years later, Border and Abbot were selected for chief at the same time and went through induction together.
“I witnessed displays of his unselfishness and passionate leadership on a daily basis,” Abbot said. “If it wasn’t for him and the guidance he gave me, I might not be here.”
“Becoming a chief is one of those career milestones that just can’t be repeated in the United States Navy. It’s special to anyone who has done it,” said Smith. “We are the keepers of technical expertise, of heritage, tradition and the focal point of the embedded knowledge within the Navy.”
| Date Taken: | 04.01.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 04.02.2012 08:59 |
| Story ID: | 86107 |
| Location: | AF |
| Web Views: | 585 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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