Twenty-four active duty and selected reserve Chief Petty Officer selectees stationed on board Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base received their anchors to become Chiefs in front of shipmates, family and friends during a pinning ceremony held Friday in the hangar of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 59.
Donned for the first time in their khaki uniforms, the Chief Petty Officer selectees marched around the assembly to center stage while bellowing the Navy song, “Anchors Away” in unison. After a reading of the meaning of the Chief Petty Officer’s anchors, each selectee was pinned by family members, friends and esteemed colleagues, while their sponsoring chief covered them with their traditional chief petty officer combination cover.
“This day means everything. It is the pinnacle of my career,” said Chief Electronics Technician Mitchell Roseberger of NAS Fort Worth JRB Ground Electronics Maintenance Division.
Making chief is arguably the most pivotal point in the Navy’s enlisted career path. Once the Navy’s all-hands message officially announced the names of those selected to be promoted to chief six and ten weeks ago, the 24 chief selectees were ushered into Chief Petty Officer 365 training. Mentally and physically exhausted from several weeks of rigorous induction training, many of the chiefs reflected a common theme of fatigued euphoria.
“Pride or regret,” whispered a hoarse Chief Aviation Machinist’s Mate Norris Herron, of Fleet Readiness Center West, repeating an axiom summing up the lessons the chiefs had gleaned during the long hours of CPO 365.
Nearly every Sailor has received a form of sage counseling or guidance from a chief that may have served as an awakening or turning point in their career. For NAS Fort Worth JRB Command Master Chief Devin Kroshus, who was pinned a chief in 2002, the words of wisdom transcended mission accomplishment and focused on troop welfare.
“I was always told that we are here to serve and not be served,” said Kroshus. “When you put on the anchor it is not about you anymore – it is about the Sailors you lead.”
A command master chief with 26 years of service to the Navy, Kroshus imparts his own advice to the newly pinned chiefs, “to me, a chief is a leader, teacher, mentor and all things to the Sailors we lead. When you put on the anchor you are looked at differently and it is presumed that you have all the answers. In all reality, we do have all the answers and they can be found by asking a chief,” said Kroshus.
Among the fellow Sailors, former chiefs since retired, and families observing the Navy’s time-honored tradition, scores of Marines, Soldiers, and Airmen attended the ceremony to show support to those they’ve worked alongside in the past.
“Our [former] regimental corpsman was about to get of the Navy when he got the message that he’d been selected. Now he’s standing tall in that crowd of chiefs,” said Master Gunnery Sgt. Dean Beutz, 14th Marine Regiment Field Artillery Chief. “Making chief kind of puts a new perspective on one’s career path.”
14th Marines’ corpsman now attached with Expeditionary Medical Facility Dallas One Detachment Foxtrot, Chief Hospital Corpsman Rex Loveday, was five months away from his service limitations based on his last rank.
Loveday said, “Making chief means that over 19 years of service has paid off. Never give up on your goals, no matter how far off they seem or how hard you have to work to achieve them.”
Date Taken: | 09.16.2016 |
Date Posted: | 09.20.2016 15:27 |
Story ID: | 210104 |
Location: | FORT WORTH, TX, US |
Web Views: | 158 |
Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NAS Fort Worth JRB Promotes Newest Chief Petty Officers, by Rusty Baker, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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