SUFFOLK – The Hub 757 auditorium echoed with pride as five newly selected chief petty officers marched forward to receive their gold fouled anchors. The ceremony, held on September 16, 2026, marked the historic 133rd Chief Petty Officer Pinning Ceremony for Naval Information Forces (NAVIFOR), Fleet Cyber Command and Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command (NCDOC).
The arrival of the five selects at the Hall of Heroes was the culmination of an arduous six-week initiation period designed to strip away individual ego and forge a warrior ethos. During the ceremony, mentors and family members participated in the traditional "donning of the hat," placing combination covers onto the heads of the new chiefs before pinning the anchor insignia onto their uniform collars.
NAVIFOR Force Master Chief Augustine Cooper served as the guest speaker, delivering a powerful charge that emphasized the profound transformation of entering the Navy's senior enlisted ranks.
“What you did to this point in your career got you selected. What you did during the season got you accepted. What you do from this day forward is what matters most.”Cooper noted. “Pressure is not a burden. Pressure is a privilege. It means you have been entrusted with something that matters.”
Cooper connected the 133-year legacy of the rank—established on April 1, 1893—directly to the high-stakes, fast-paced domain of modern information warfare. He reminded the five new chiefs that the systems, networks, and secrets they guard hold immense strategic weight.
“In Information Warfare, the effects of your leadership may travel faster than any ship and farther than any horizon,” Cooper remarked. “We fight not only on, above, and below the sea, but across space, inside networks, and across every frequency and signal that connects our fleet. When the crisis erupts, the first shots will be non-kinetic, moving through our networks and across the electromagnetic spectrum.”
Cooper issued a directive regarding deckplate leadership and accountability, telling the new chiefs, “The standard you walk past is the standard you accept. Holding someone accountable is not cruelty; it is one of the highest forms of respect. It tells that Sailor, “I believe in your potential too much to let you settle for mediocrity.” Cooper also honored the families and loved ones in attendance, acknowledging their quiet sacrifices and stating that the anchors pinned that day belonged to them just as much as to the Sailors.
"To the families here in attendance: look at your Sailor today. Selection to the rank of Chief Petty Officer is achieved by fewer than ten percent of all who raise their right hand to enlist in the United States Navy. You bore the burden of long deployments, missed holidays and birthdays, unanswered questions, and late-night calls. You held the homefront together while your Sailor stood the watch. This anchor belongs to you just as much as it belongs to them.”
NAVIFOR’s mission is to generate, directly and through our commands, agile and technically superior manned, trained, equipped, and certified combat-ready Information Warfare forces to ensure our Navy will decisively DETER, COMPETE, and WIN.
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