SAN ANTONIO – Navy Medicine San Antonio area Chief Petty Officers (CPO) and CPO selectees were among the participants in the first San Antonio CPO Pride Day event Sept. 8 at the oldest VFW post in Texas.
Approximately 215 CPOs, CPO selectees and retired CPOs gathered at VFW Post 76 located on the famous San Antonio Riverwalk for the inaugural event designed to demonstrate pride in service and build unity as one San Antonio Chief Petty Officers Mess.
San Antonio CPO Pride Day was billed as an historic first – an annual event that will grow each year, according to Command Master Chief Mitchell Sepulveda, Navy Medicine Education, Training and Logistics Command (NMETLC) command master chief (CMC).
“The South Texas Chief’s Mess has assembled as one team, one mission, unified and always ready!” Sepulveda said during opening remarks. “CPO selectees – take in this moment in time, as it is truly historic. You should feel honored and privileged to not only witness, but be a part of this inaugural occurrence. South Texas (San Antonio) CPO mess – there is no doubt in my military mind that this will continue to grow!”
The San Antonio area CPO Pride events kicked off with a quick ¾ mile Riverwalk march. CPO selectees donned gold T-shirts with a locally-designed crest that read “Keepers of the Cloth,” a reference to the American flag. They marched two abreast, beginning and ending at the VFW, where they gathered with the area CPOs, referred to as “genuines.”
“Genuines are genuine chiefs,” said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Aaron Abreu, a Hospital Corps “A” School instructor at the Medical Education and Training Campus (METC). “They’ve been through the season, the training process we’re in. They wear the anchors. We’re selectees, not yet CPOs.”
The selectees will be CPOs – true genuines – when their anchors are “pinned” Sept. 16.
The Riverwalk march was followed by a brief gathering featuring opening comments from Sepulveda, followed by comments from Greg Pratt, Force Master Chief, USN (ret.), now USAA relationship director for Military Affairs (Sea Services) in San Antonio.
Dinner provided by a popular Texas barbeque restaurant chain was next, followed by the main event, the drill competition.
The three CPO selectee teams, or “messes,” represented their commands, demonstrating their military prowess before three judges and an audience of CPOs. The chiefs were joined by a few VFW members and interested observers.
Each mess marched to its original “Jody calls,” traditional call-and-response cadences sung by military personnel while running or marching. The “Jodies” transitioned smoothly and creatively into brief skits highlighting Navy and CPO history and tradition.
The judges were Pratt; Brannon Knox, Force Master Chief, USN (Ret), now the military liaison for Veteran’s United Home Loans of San Antonio; and Albert Mireles, first past president of VFW Post 76. Judging was based on ccreativity, heritage, initiative/enthusiasm, and drill execution.
The Navy Medicine Training Support Center (NMTSC) and METC mess placed first, followed by the Navy Information Operations Command (NIOC) mess, then the Naval Technical Training Center (NTTC) and Navy Recruiting District-San Antonio (NRD-SA) mess.
“The drill competition and just the overall CPO Pride event were great,” Pratt said. “The chief selectees inspired me. They shared the things they’ve learned, what their concerns are, and what they still hope to achieve. Many hope they can live up to being a chief, but they all know they have the mess to lean on and learn from. The leadership within the combined San Antonio CPO mess came through in true form.”
The mess came through in large part by beginning planning in 2016, said Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Phil Woods, senior enlisted leader for Hospital Corps “A” School.
“From coast to coast, CPO Pride Day has been an annual event that has highlighted our history and heritage year,” Woods said. “A group of CPOA (Chief Petty Officer Association) presidents came together and made it their mission to initiate a tradition in Military City USA by orchestrating this Inaugural South Texas CPO Pride Day.”
For Abreu and the CPO selectees, the lessons in history, heritage and pride taught by Woods, Sepulveda, Pratt and all the “genuine chiefs” are essential to their success.
“It was an awesome event,” Abreu said. “Sailors depend on the CPOs, so training like this is important. We have to be ready to set, uphold and implement the standards. It was special and exciting for all the selectees to be a part of the first group to do this in San Antonio.”