Photo By Julia LeDoux | Posing with U.S. Sailors from across the National Capital Region before participating...... read more read more
JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, Va. - Navy chief petty officers and chief selectees took to the streets of the National Capital Region Aug. 29 for the annual Force Master Chief Pride Run.
“This is not about PT,” said Master Chief Brad McIntire as he addressed the group, which formed up for the event in front of the Bowling Center on the Fort Myer portion of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall. “This is about doing what we’re doing right now. It’s about the esprit de corps of being a chief petty officer.”
The run began with warm-ups that were led by some of the chief selectees. The group of 262, which included Force Master Chief Sherman Boss, director of the Hospital Corps, and force master chief, U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, and Command Master Chief Terry J. Prince, senior enlisted advisor the Defense Health Agency, then made its way through Arlington National Cemetery and the National Mall, where they were briefed about the historical significance of 14 memorials.
“Your involvement was critical to the success of the event and the motivation displayed was a direct reflection of the professionalism within each of your command’s CPO Mess,” Boss wrote on his Facebook page. “I am pleased to know that our traditions and heritage are safe and sound in the hands of our future Goat Locker.”
In Navy jargon, the goat locker is a lounge, sleeping area and galley on board a naval vessel reserved for the exclusive use of chief petty officers.
Participants came from 12 East Coast Commands, including the Naval Health Clinic at Patuxent River, Md.; the Naval Support Facility at Thurmont, Md.; Walter Reed National Military Medical Center; Naval District Washington; Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads; Naval Health Clinic Quantico; Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune, N.C.; Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point, N.C.; Navy Medicine Professional Development Center; Naval Medical Support Center, Portsmouth, Va.; and the National Military Command Center. Runners included hospital corpsmen and one Marine Corps gunnery sergeant, said Force Master Chief John Dempsey of the Navy’s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.
Boss added that the event also provided an opportunity for the Navy’s chiefs to network with one another, creating “contacts for life.”
“Out of the 300,000 plus Sailors in the Navy, only a few get the chance to become a chief petty officer,” Boss wrote via email after the event. “When you compare it to our overall U.S. population, you get a better sense of what it means to be the chosen few and that’s a pretty good feeling.”
The event concluded with a cookout held in front of the Bowling Center.
| Date Taken: | 08.29.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 09.03.2015 16:48 |
| Story ID: | 175211 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 134 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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