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    A New Way of Celebrating: Navy chief petty officers socialize while social distancing

    SUNRISE, FL, UNITED STATES

    04.01.2020

    Story by Chief Petty Officer Kathleen Gorby 

    Commander, Navy Recruiting Command

    SUNRISE, Florida - This time of year, U.S. Navy chiefs usually come together to commemorate the establishment of the chief petty officer (CPO) rank. The day is celebrated with group 5k runs, cake cutting and talks about what it means to be a Navy chief. Navy recruiting has recently gone to a 100% virtual telework environment to promote social distancing, so this year Navy Recruiting District (NRD) Miami chiefs will be celebrating a different way.
    CPOs refer to April 1, 1893, the date the rank of chief was established, as their birthday. Planning for this celebration takes place months in advance and usually requires lots of social events.
    “We had two different celebrations planned,” said Chief Petty Officer Ryan Visage, NRD Miami's CPO mess president. “We were going to have a cake cutting ceremony at the leading petty officers (LPO) conference and a CPO celebration for just NRD Miami chiefs during our quarterly training.”
    NRD Miami canceled all their public events, conferences and training's starting March 16. A week later, NRD Miami moved their recruiting to a virtual environment..
    “After the canceled group events, we were going to have a smaller cake cutting ceremony at our headquarters, but that got canceled too,” said Visage. “Now, I’m having our chiefs share memories from their own seasons and post what it means for them to be a chief on our group chat.”
    Since face-to-face celebrations were no longer an option, chiefs found other ways to come together. Facebook has been alight with chief pinning photos, group photos with other chiefs, and with the community wishing one another happy birthday.
    “The fact we, as chiefs, can’t spend today together is sad,” said Chief Petty Officer Amirah Azziz, attached to Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) Tampa. “But we are making it work. We are celebrating from afar and using different avenues, such as Facebook groups, phones calls, and different social meetups to connect with each other.”
    Finding a way to make things work is not new to chiefs. They have been leading from the front for the past 127 years.
    “The way we are adapting to this virtual celebrating is indicative of what it means to be a chief,” said Azziz. “We find ways to make things happen. We still have a mission here at NRD, but we are adapting and overcoming challenges while keeping our Sailors and their families health and well-being at the forefront of our minds.”
    NRD Miami chiefs are doing more than just sharing pictures and stories, they are also participating in virtual runs and workouts.
    “I am doing the virtual Afghanistan 17.9,” said Visage. “The distances was chosen in honor of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, which lasted 17 years and nine months. The organizers chose April 1 to hold this run, in honor of the chiefs birthday.”
    The territory assigned to NRD Miami includes South and Central Florida, from Brooksville (50 miles north of Tampa), east to Vero Beach, drawing a line under Orlando, and then southward to Puerto Rico (PR) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI).
    Navy Recruiting Command consists of a command headquarters, two Navy Recruiting Regions, 15 Navy Recruiting Districts and 11 Navy Talent Acquisition Groups that serve more than 815 recruiting stations across the world. Their combined goal is to attract the highest quality candidates to assure the ongoing success of America’s Navy.
    For more news from Commander, Navy Recruiting Command, go to http://www.cnrc.navy.mil. Follow Navy Recruiting on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NavyRecruiting), Twitter (@USNRecruiter) and Instagram (@USNRecruiter).

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 04.01.2020
    Date Posted: 04.01.2020 20:15
    Story ID: 366386
    Location: SUNRISE, FL, US

    Web Views: 220
    Downloads: 0

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