Army’s Loss is Navy’s Gain: From Recruit to Chief Warrant Officer Two

Photo By Rod Hafemeister | 200529-N-WO852-043 NAS KINGSVILLE (May 29, 2020) Newly commissioned Chief Warrant Officer Two Marlon Blackmon receives the oath of office from Capt. Erik Spitzer, commanding officer, Naval Air Station Kingsville.  

KINGSVILLE, TX, UNITED STATES

05.29.2020

Story by Rod Hafemeister 

Naval Air Station Kingsville

One of the Navy’s newest warrant officers almost joined the Army instead.
Senior Chief Aviation Ordnanceman Marlon Blackmon was commissioned as a chief warrant officer two in a May 29 ceremony onboard Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas.
Blackmon grew up in Lewisville, Alabama, in the shadow of the Army’s Fort Rucker. Military roots go deep in his family, with most having served in the Army
“All I knew was the Army and I had already signed up,” Blackmon said. “Then this Navy recruiter sees me walking out of the Army office.
“The guy pulls out a binder full of port call pictures, tells me I can get the rate I want and offers me a bonus.
“So I’m the first one in my family to join the Navy.”
Blackmon said it was more than two years before he even heard about warrant officers. He was a second class petty officer when one showed up at his unit.
“I realized that’s what I wanted to be,” he said. “And I realized I needed to know everything – I did a lot of cross-training throughout the aviation field.”
Applicants for warrant officer need to be at least chief petty officers and have at least 14 years and less than 20 years of service, Blackmon said.
He made chief in 2012 and applied for warrant the first time in 2015. He said he was disappointed when he was not selected, but his wife encouraged him to try again.
He made senior chief in 2018 and was selected for warrant officer on his second attempt.
Before his formal commissioning, Capt. Erik Spitzer, NAS Kingsville commanding officer, awarded Blackmon the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for his performance as weapons department lead chief petty officer from October 2018 to June 2020.
When Blackmon arrived at NAS Kingsville, the position had been vacant for more than eight months. He said the courtesy inspection he got shortly after arrival gave him page after page of deficiencies that needed correction.
During a subsequent CNIC and Regional Command Assessment for Readiness and Training (CART), his department received a “perfect score.”
“You did that, with only one other person in your department,” Spitzer said.
After Blackmon was formally discharged from the Navy, Command Master Chief Petty Officer Jacob Bristol removed his senior chief anchors.
Blackmon’s family then pinned on his new warrant officer rank and Spitzer administered the oath of office.
Immediately after, a parade of vehicles drove by, members of the chiefs’ mess honking and yelling congratulations.
Coronavirus precautions prevented a large group ceremony, but the chiefs were not letting Blackmon leave without a proper farewell.
Blackmon’s new assignment is a helicopter squadron in Hawaii.
“I’m the ordnance officer, " he said. "Iwill work closely with the ordnance chief at the command. Ordnance operations has always and will continue to be my job, I just have to take a step back and manage the operation with less hands on."

• Date Taken: 05.29.2020
• Date Posted: 06.05.2020 15:08
• Story ID: 371558
• Location: KINGSVILLE, TX, US