Cadence and Guidon Competition brings a sea of smiles during 18th Annual CPO Heritage Days training event

Photo By Max Lonzanida | A smart phone vividly captures CPO Selectees from the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) as they performed their cadence and competed for the title of the Best Mess during a cadence and guidon competition during the 18th Annual CPO Heritage Days. This annual event is hosted by the Hampton Roads Naval Museum, in conjunction with local Chief Petty Officers and Nauticus. This year’s event was held on August 21-23, 2018, and attracted over 840 CPO selectees from 58 area and out of state commands. (US Navy Photo by Civilian Public Affairs Officer Max Lonzanida/Released)  

NORFOLK, VA, UNITED STATES

08.27.2018

Story by Max Lonzanida  

Naval History and Heritage Command

The Hampton Roads Naval Museum’s 18th Annual Chief Petty Officer Heritage Days was held on August 21-23, 2018. This year’s event set a new record, with over 840 Chief Petty Officer Selects participating from 58 US Navy Commands. According to the event’s co-chair, BTCS(SW) Thomas Dandes (Ret.), the three-day event “is an opportunity for Chief selectees to connect with their history and gain insight into being a chief, which will help them become stronger Navy leaders”. Each day’s events started off before the crack of dawn, when each group of CPO Selectees mustered at Town Point Park, which is adjacent to the museum. There, CPO selectees from individual commands were broken into separate groups and took to boarding the USS Wisconsin (BB-64) for a morning of historical and heritage presentations.

The real esprit de-corps building event started each day after lunch, in something that resembles a talent show and borderline vaudeville show; the guidon and cadence competition. Groups of CPO Selectees were competing for the best mess trophy, and this was one of the components that were judged. The scene of over 250 CPO selectees and US Navy Chiefs taking over the Sail Nauticus Pavilion next to the USS Wisconsin was akin to a USO show; with a panel of judges seated at a table, cell phone cameras eagerly recording, and a plethora of pictures recording the event. In-fact, in order to capture the best of both still and video; public affairs staff mounted an action camera to a standard DSLR camera, which allowed for both incredible still pictures and video. The footage and associated still images are attached to this article.

There was yelling, dancing, and formation marching as CPO Selects took to the main stage for the cadence competition. Singing Anchors Aweigh was a popular method to meeting this judged requirement; but many individual commands intertwined popular music, marching cadences, and acted out colorful scenes that many were familiar with. There were a few civilian spectators drawn in from visiting the museum as well. Cadence, as many service members know, are call and response marching songs sung by military personnel during drill and ceremony. They are meant to keep service-members from stepping over one another and to keep a uniform appearance as a cohesive unit, also known as close order drill; according to a 2015 Master’s Thesis authored by Travis G. Sulley at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Ironically, that thesis reviewed the particulars of a military cadence from a musical standpoint.

At the conclusion of each unit’s rendition of a colorful and creative cadence, which blurred the lines of a vaudeville act, judges took to scrutinizing each unit’s guidon. Many know a guidon as a standard pennant which signifies an individual unit and affiliation. Aside from that, each guidon was as creative as the commands that presented them. A can of spinach graced the guidon from the Navy Talent Acquisition Group-Pittsburgh, and a set of torque wrenches graced the top of another. Earlier in the day while “walking with a purpose” across the gangway to the USS Wisconsin, guidon bearers turned their guidons over for review. The guidons was placed for display on the fantail of the ship, and formally presented and interpreted to a panel of judges after cadences were called.

About the Museum:

The Hampton Roads Naval Museum is one of ten Navy museums that are operated by the Naval History & Heritage Command. It celebrates the long history of the U.S. Navy in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia and is co-located with Nauticus in downtown Norfolk, Virginia. Admission to the museum is free, simply by-pass the ticket line and take the stairs or elevator to the museum on the second deck. The museum hosts a robust educational program for area schools and commands, with free educational programs to area schools aligned with state curriculum standards, a travelling sea chest program, a premier Lego outreach program, and historical presentations for area commands. To inquire, contact their Educational Director, Laura Orr at [e-mail] or at [phone]. The museum is also host to a robust volunteer corps, who serve as docents, support special events, and assist in museum archives. To inquire, contact their Volunteer Coordinator, Darcy Sink at [e-mail] or at [phone]. Lastly the museum proudly hosts military ceremonies, such as re-enlistments, retirements, and promotions for area commands aboard the U.S.S Wisconsin and in the museum’s gallery. To inquire, contact their special events coordinator, Tom Dandes at [e-mail] or call [phone].

• Date Taken: 08.27.2018
• Date Posted: 08.27.2018 17:25
• Story ID: 290500
• Location: NORFOLK, VA, US