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Family members, guests and the crew of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) watched as 30 chief selectees marched in singing ‘Anchors Aweigh’ during the Chief Pinning, Sept 15.
The ceremony took place at the Bayview Community Center on Langley Air Force Base, and the guest speaker for the event was (Ret.) Fleet Master Chief Scott Benning.
“This is a great tradition,” said George Washington’s Commanding Officer Capt. Glenn Jameson. “This is 124 years of tradition. We have 30 chiefs to pin today, which is nearly five percent of all the chief selectees in the Navy. That’s an incredible accomplishment. I want to say that promotion in the Navy is not recognizing Sailors for their past work, but recognition that the Sailors have the capacity to lead at the next level. You will have to continue to prove that every day.”
The ceremony was the culmination of a six-week training period known as CPO 365 Phase II, which began immediately after the chief advancement results were released, Aug. 4. Phase II is designed to strengthen the leadership skills of the chief selectees, and provide a better understanding of what it means to be a Navy chief. Phase II also consisted of training on the history and traditions of the Chiefs Mess, mentorship, and additional responsibilities of being a chief petty officer.
“Not everything that we went through was designed to be difficult,” said Chief Machinist’s Mate Darren Kovas. “Some of it was to teach us things, but some of it was designed to be hard. They wanted to see if we really wanted this and if we were going to go the extra mile to get our anchors. It made it much more worth it.”
With the six weeks now complete, Benning spoke about their new roles in leadership, and sometimes they’ll just need to chill out and remember his motto of ICE; inspire, challenge and empower.
“Inspire,” said Benning. “Be the type of leader that can inspire people to be like you. It’s not just how you lead your life in the life lines, you’re a chief petty officer. It’s about how you live your life 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year. You are going to have to challenge your Sailors to do more than they ever thought they could do, and never forget that someone did that for you. That challenge part is where a great deal of leadership takes part because in order to challenge them, you have to give them the training, the knowledge, and the resources to go forward and perform the task that you’ve given them. Only after you challenge them, will you have the ability to empower them to go forward and lead. You can empower them because you’ve given them the confidence, you’ve given them all those tools, resources, and knowledge to accomplish a task.”
Benning also stated that family comes first because without the sacrifices that loved ones make, no one would be able to get to where they are now. He thanked the families for their support and for showing up to celebrate this moment with the soon-to-be chiefs. Families came from far and wide, some flying from places like Montana and others driving up the coast.
“We live in North Carolina,” said Jeanne Raney, the mother of a newly pinned chief. “We drove four hours to get here. When we first found out, it was something we didn’t want to miss.”
Having family there to celebrate this moment meant a lot to those being pinned as well.
“It’s an indescribable feeling that anybody would have, I would think,” said Chief Operations Specialist Travis Raney. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for our families. They take up a lot of the slack when we are gone. It means a lot to have them here.”
As the ceremony came to a close and families and crewmembers cheered for their Sailors, the newly pinned chiefs came together for their first chant as the fiscal year 2018 chief petty officers. “U-S-S GEORGE WASH-ING-TON! NAVY CHIEF! NAVY PRIDE!”
Join the conversation with GW online at www.facebook.com/USSGW and www.twitter.com/GW_CVN73. For more news from USS George Washington, visit www. Navy.mil/local/cvn73/.
| Date Taken: | 09.18.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 12.30.2017 17:12 |
| Story ID: | 260975 |
| Location: | NEWPORT NEWS, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 101 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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