The evolution of Chief Petty Officer rate, the increase in responsibilites and authority of CPOs, and the establishment of senior chiefs, master chiefs, and the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy.
As a new Ensign reporting aboard our submarine, I was met topside by my Senior Chief and the XO. I learned a great deal from my Senior Chief & to this day I owe him a great deal of gratitude. We worked as a team to run my department.
Every new Ensign should have your attitude sir. Some aspired to make a name for themselves on day one at their first command. They usually did and it wasn’t a good one.
As A Marine I was visiting my soon to be training wife a FN on ADRM-2 USS Alamogordo, frequently she was on watch and I was welcomed to sit in on daily classes on the BOAT. The CD Chief actually thanked me for attending his classes as I asked questions. At one point in the beginning of the class he asked why a MARINE would want to attend DC training, my answer was “Marines are on Navy Boats, Right?” He said “Ships!”, I said “ Right Boats”, he then said “THEY ARE CALLED SHIPS!”, I then said “Yes CHIEF, SHIPS!”, then back to my answer I said “when these things are sinking, I want to do everything in my power to keep it afloat!” He laughed and said”Good Answer!” I asked what I thought were important questions for example “what is the head of these pumps”, “Can they be daisy chained”. My Damage Control Training has paid off in life, once I broke my water service off at the wall of my house, (1” Water was coming in at 90psi) I spotted a small stool, smashed it, pulled out my knife and made a plug, beat it into the pipe end, stopping the flow. At that moment I thanked my DC Training Chief
Absolute, best comment I have ever read. Hoorah semper Fi. I've got nothing but respect for Marines after spending nearly five years with them in LeJune and Iraq as a Navy Riverine. They called us Devil Squid.
I am even more proud of my father who is a retired Master Chief. I remember the day he made Master Chief. I didn’t realize it then but he made Master Chief in 15 years. Not bad for an African American male who in the beginning was a BT2(BR) from Camden, NJ! I even more proud of him now that I have seen your video. Thank you, sir! #NavyBrat
@@constancemiller3753 When I was in VFA 151 we had two Senior Chiefs make Master Chief in 15 years and the CO put them both up for the Meritorious Service Medal and they got it. He credited them for keeping his planes in the air during the first Gulf War by keeping the Maintenance Department running smooth and showed his appreciation with those two medals that normally senior officers get.
I too am a son of a Master chief. Mom's retort to me when I said that I was a navy brat to a friend. Was you are a Chief's son and they don't rate a brat. LOL Only commissioned officers. Dad's common line was. Hay straight up and FLY right. USNA When we went for drives mom sitting in the passenger seat would say " clear right" . 1939-69 flight instructor first half of WWll. Just some remembrance of the past.
Ok he's African American... please tell me how this is relevant? He had the EXACT SAME chance as everyone else and prevailed among them. From hard work and dedication. Please stop perpetuating the myth that black people are still oppressed. They haven't been opposed in your life time and probably your fathers lifetime also.
My first Chief was a EMCS in high school JROTC. He was an outstanding man who had been part of Operation Deep Freeze. His stories about being on the ice sparked a wanderlust for traveling. In 1986 I enlisted in the Navy and traveled the world, in part because of a Chief. CDR, USN (Ret)
Your video was very interesting. I served in the Seabees and was a PO2 Construction Mechanic, my brother was a PO2 Deep Sea Diver, my father was a CPO Yeoman, and my grandfather was a Machinist Mate in WWI.
Consrtruimus Batuimus I was the first recruit to leave Orlando as a Constructionman out of 145 companies that proceeded mine. By coincidence my Company Commander was a Utilitiesman 1. I was already designated for Construction Electrician. My uniforms were about a week late because there weren't any blue stripes to sew on them. Orlando had never stocked them. I did not go to a battalion but spent nearly four years in a public works department. I learned how to work in a water plant, waste water plant, large air conditioning plant. I'd worked for the telephone company before I went in and also worked in the base telephone exchange as well as the power plants. I worked on anything electrical and then some. I was a clerk and I even poured sidewalks. It was a good all around experience and it all came in handy over the years when I was buying and selling properties.
I remember that damned pipe shrieking through the PA system ahead of every announcement. And there were dozens of these announcements every day, at least where the lower enlisted ranks were! We'd all groan aloud at this annoyance. Eventually, they dispensed with the whistle and began with the word, "NOW!". What a relief! Everyday life improved after that!
@@IMBrute-ir7gz ...I am shuttering now at the memories as well from the squealing 1MC. Sweepers man your brooms, sweep down all decks fore and aft...Carry on!
@@IMBrute-ir7gz When I first went aboard my Frigate in 1981, we had a full bird Captain, very unusual! We appreciated getting pierside with cruisers and destroyers tied up outside us. Really pissed them off! Then Captain Ellis rotated to his shore billet, at the Pentagon. We never had the Bosun whistle as he disliked it. Then we got our new young Captain, a Commander. He was more gung-ho, and reinstated the Bosun whistle. And we lost pierside priviledge. 😆
love your work keep it up my dad was a chief petty officer corpman for 27 yrs i grew up the navy brat that i am today love my country and love my dad that served in korea and vietnam and he still hated war but loved helping people i learned alot from him he died just last year on this date and i miss him so much
As a recently retired Chief, I had never heard the foul vs fouled history lesson before. That's pretty awesome! Technically, "fouled" is the correct term since 1978, even if it's not grammatically correct and ignores a bit of history/tradition. Time to go check out your other videos (this is the first I've watched).
Our ETCS taught us squids to make coffee. Our 80 cup pot was never cleaned, annd was dark and crusty inside. I went to clean it once, but Seniorchief read me the riot act! It would "ruin the flavor!" Even our Captain liked our coffee better than that in the wardroom. He'd come in a few times a day to get coffee. 😉
Anyone who has served in the USN knows in their core who runs the fleet. The Admirals and Captains may give the order, it's the Chief that makes it happen. God bless you Master Chief, my Senior Chief was truly a blessing as a MMFN in 73
Being a BM3, I often had to remind a certain MSC to follow the chain of command and talk to the relevant deck/division officer and BMC first. Junior deck zeroes frequently came to me for advice and info/scuttlebutt. After four years on an LST, I knew more about the ship and its physical operations than the captain,. My second CO made me BMOW of the watch for docking, and I was qualified as conning officer as an E-4.
I learned some things in your video, although as a retired sub MC I wouldnt admit I didnt know it. So now that I do know it, its moot. Good video. ETCM(SS) Ret J A Hoffman
I remember at Camp Delmar where HM's trained to go with the FMF, the HM Chiefs in their khaki's walking around and the Marines saluting them, that was always a laugh.
A few years back I was at a restaurant on the Seattle Waterfront...place which is on one of the piers. Sitting with some friends, having lunch, and there was a tall ship flying the Ecuadorean flag tied up at the adjacent pier. Just had to got check it out. Her name was the Guayas, homeported in Guayaquil, and despite the masts she was steel-hulled, built in Spain in the 1970s. Nice ship the Ecuadorean Navy has. As I was looking around I saw one of our CPOs coming up the quarterdeck. I noticed that he was wearing the blue Recruiter badge on his left breast pocket. The Ecuadoreans. unsure, saluted him. Gave me a laugh, so I struck up a convo with him for a bit. he just blew off the fact that he had been saluted, better safe than sorry so when in doubt, salute.
@@1337penguinman As a shiny new "OSVET", or other service veteran as my first hitch was USAF, it took me awhile to get used to Navy ranks. Even Mom couldn't understand why I went from a buck seargent with three stripes to one stripe as an ET3. Both were E4. At Great Lakes, we had a bunch of Saudi students in ET School. We never knew what rank they were, they all had more gold dripping off them than an Admiral! So we saluted them all. 😆
I was a Seabee in Gulfport. Sometimes going to Keesler AFB, I saluted there all the time. The AF recruits weren't used to seeing us Bees's with emblems on our caps. I never busted on them, just saluted back.
@@jimreed6776 I know what you mean, As a Nav-vet, (Prior Naval service) I got saluted a lot when I first went back into the Navy. I served 4 years in the navy, 1974-1978, and was honorably discharged in 1978, (as an E-4). I got out mostly because I didn't like it much. Well, to be honest, I hated it. I've always had a problem with authority, so the military wasn't really the best fit for me. I never got into any major trouble, but I didn't really excel either. I just kept my nose clean and did my time. But by 1982 the economy had gone bust, If you were in the workforce at that time, you know what I mean. I was married with 2 kids and couldn't find a decent job. So after being out for 3 years and 11 months I went back in. There was a Navy Recruiter I knew and he cut me a deal where I didn't lose any time in service or time in rank, I came back in, as I had left, a 3rd class Machinist Mate,. Plus the Navy gave me a $5000 re-enlistment bonus, Which for somebody who was basically broke was a damn good deal. It was pretty much as if I'd never gotten out. (because it was less than 4 years.) When I went back in, We (Myself, and other Nav-vets and Os-vets) had to take an abbreviated version of boot camp, R&O, New uniforms, and brushing up on the UCMJ, That sort of thing. Thankfully we didn't have to do any of that silly ass marching. lol While TAD, awaiting my orders to my new ship, I was temporarily assigned as a van driver, to and from 32nd street to Balboa Naval Hospital to RTC San Diego. Carrying new recruits back and forth to the Navy hospital mostly, I was required to be in dress blues, And because none of the new boots knew any better, if you had anything on your sleeve, they saluted. Hell, they were so scared of anything with stripes, they'd pop tall and salute a barber's pole. I had a ship's patch on my shoulder, a third class MM patch, and a hash mark on my sleeve, Plus I was wearing tailored cracker jacks,. So driving/walking around on RTC, I was always looked upon by the recruits as someone to salute. So I understand about being saluted, I did the same as you, just returned the salute, rather than embarrass anyone. Although when I could, and in private, I told them they didn't have to salute me. So anyway, after 4 more years I was almost halfway to retirement, so I figured why not just stay in. It was the best decision I ever made in my life. I still didn't like the navy much, but the job security kept me in. I served for 20 years in the navy, but the only times I really liked the navy was the three years I spent on the island of Adak, Alaska. The year being a boat captain on the Oil Recovery team at 32nd Street, San Diego, And the four years being the LPO of a law enforcement boat pool in San Diego. Working directly for COMNAVSURFPAC, my shop supplied the whole west coast, Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines. (Navy and coast guard) with RHIB boats for drug interdiction duties, (chasing drug runners, and for boarding parties). Other than those few years, I didn't like the Navy much. But I'm very thankful I stuck it out for as long as I did. I got to see a lot of the world I would never have been able to see otherwise, and experience things that I never would have been able to experience had I not reenlisted. Like I said before, it was the best decision of my life. Please forgive me for rambling on as I have, I didn't mean for this to become a novel. MM1 Davis, USN, Retired.
Outstanding presentation MasterChief, my Bootcamp company commander was a BMC and so, that was my introduction to what a Chief was. The entire 8 weeks at RTC/NTC Great Lakes Ill he never smiled one single time but, I made it thru basic then 6 years of Naval Service. Pushings boots have their trials.
My Father retired as a CPO. He came up in the Navy starting out on Sumner Class Destroyers out of Mayport Fla. He did his final cruse on U.S.S. Iowa. Hated Carriers.
Excellent presentation, Master Chief, and exactly what I would expect from one of our CPO's. Bravo Zulu. A few notes: First is that I am the son of a Chief. ETC Fred E. Lougee, Sr. I never made any point of mentioning that fact after I enlisted, partly because I wanted to be known on my own merit but mostly because I figured that it wouldn't do me any good and might even have been counterproductive in some circumstance. However, when Dad came up from Houston, where he was living at the time, to Great Lakes for my recruit graduation I did introduce him to my C.C. by his rank, retired. It took him a long time to make Chief. Two reasons, first that he did a spell in the Air Force after his first hitch in the Navy, second that he was working out-of-rating for the last several years. When he was finally given the opportunity, I think in 1978, he failed the test because he had a case of the flu. He retested the following year and was at the top of the list for Chief candidates servicewide. I enlisted after d***ing about for a couple of years after high school. One of the many things that the CC told us Ricks was that the life expectancy for a retired Chief at that time was five years because a lot of them have nothing to do and just "stop". I hope that statistic has changed, but I started to get a bit worried because Dad had been retired for almost 5 years at that point. Fortunately he had a good life post-Navy, passing in 2011 at the age of 70 from complications of diabetes. One of the mementos I have is a small statuette, pewter. The words "The Chief" are written on the base and the figure itself is a man in khaki, one foot up on a bollard, elbow resting on knee and holding a coffee cup. Supervising in style, obviously. Thanks for explaining the EM rate badge. I confess to having been puzzled by that for years. I did my Service Week of Basic in the Education bldg. One of the PO's there supervising the Ricks was a 1st Class, short Filipino guy. I saw his rate badge and asked "Electrician's mate, right?" "No. Basketball player."
As far as I can tell, the Ship's Cook (SC) rating was the only one with a fourth class. The Cook was authorized in 1775 & changed to Ship's Cook in 1838. In 1885, the SC was authorized as a Petty Officer 2c. The rating was further divided into four classes, SC1c, SC2c, SC3c & SC4c. However, only the SC1c & SC2c were petty officers, PO1c & PO2c, respectively. The SC3c & SC4c were rated as Seaman 1c and Seaman 2c, respectively. The SC4c was abolished in 1921 & the SC3c was elevated to PO3c in rate. The Baker (Bkr) rating followed a similar history as the SC. A Chief Petty Officer wasn't authorized for food service ratings until 1902, as a Chief Commissary Steward (CCS). Commissary Steward 1c (CS1c) was authorized at the same time. SC1c, Bkr1c & CS1c advanced to CCS. CS1c was eliminated in 1931. MSCS, USN, Ret.
A buddy of mine was a Seaman when he came aboard, and struck for Electronic Tech. When he finally was promoted to ET3, they screwed up and misprinted his new ID card. He was the Navy's only "ET4"! Truly printed on his card! Sadly, he had to get it corrected and replaced.
As one of those uncivilized grunts when we were aboard ship I frequently availed myself of the knowledge of the Chiefs in order to find out what I needed to know, or was just curious about. GySgt USMC (Ret)
I just found your channel Christmas day 2020. I love learning about the navy I served in. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge with us Master Chief ! Wish I had found this channel sooner. I was an airman with three stripes about too choose a rating. When I got out. Just before desert storm ended. I came home and wished very much I had of stayed in the Navy I would have been better off today.
My Dad is a retired Senior Chief, I remember when he first made Chief, I remember coming home from school one day and him and the other Chief selects going over information they needed to know as well as singing songs. Knowing the heritage of the Chief Petty Officer makes me a bit sad that we don’t have something like this in the Air Force, our senior NCOs don’t have a culture like the chiefs mess and especially in some careerfields Master Sergeants have been so far removed from the job that you’re better off asking the Senior Airmen for information and our Staff and Technical Sergeants are the wealth of knowledge that Chiefs are to the Navy.
I'm a retired Air Force Technical Sergeant, but my top military experience was the day I helped pin the Anchors on the collar of my newly promoted wife. She Had made Chief Yeoman after 22 years in the Navy and Navy Reserve.
Our grandson whom my wife and I raised as a son just missed his first try at becoming a chief. He said he isn't through trying. He is a LS1 on the Aircraft Carrier Bush. Your explanation of the Chief order and rankings is very good, it helps me to understand some the information my son has given me. Thank you so much. YHS, Shelby
Thanks for the background info! My father was a CSK who handled the (an) Engine Parts Room at Norfolk during Operation Torch. The Navy used tens of thousands of diesels for, notably, landing craft.Transferred to San Francisco, he did the same for the island-hopping campaign, then was shipped out to Okinawa to do more of the same for the push against Japan -- which never happened. One of many-many-many-many ... and still special.
The AOCS I took over for (as the inflight ordnanceman in VP-10) was a great guy & retired as a master chief with 30 years in - all with never stepping foot on a ship. P-3 Orion's were only shore based but we'd go on six month deployments so it counted as sea duty. So the guy I'm talking about just kept going from P-3's to shore duty the entire 30 years. I was only in for 5 years but people will ask what ship was I in and I just explain I was a aircrewman & flew and never was on a ship. 30 yrs though with never being on a ship is something else though, cheers!
I watch a lot of history videos and videos about our awesome military. But this one is among my favorite. This is an awesome piece. Thank you. Very well done. Carry on.
Just discovered your posts and as a Navy vet 1964 to 1968 i am enjoying them greatly. If i had it to do over i would have made a career of it. Hindsight is 20x20!
I hadn't seen this before, but I'm glad I finally did. You hit a few pet peeves of mine pretty hard. I especially loved the part about USN. I never really liked the Unity Service Navigation bit. It always seemed contrived, much like the Sailor's Creed. I have subscribed and will certainly watch more of your videos. Also, you'll be glad to know it was our Selects this year who brought this video to my attention. I think this video hit the right target.
@@masterchiefsseachest1983 Do you have anything on the CPO ACMM (AA) (T)? Service ended 1960 as far we know so far...also, any info or direction where to get it...looking for Scouting Squadron 5 on Yorktown and Torpedo Squadron 7 on the WASP...he was on both when they went down...info on the aviation mechanics, those AMM the were gunners and bombardiers, etc...thank you!
One very important FACT you failed to mention. As you outlined advancement to a Chief Petty Officer is highly competitive within the ranks but from the very beginning this rank is the ONLY rank that is authorized by appointment by CONGRESS. No other enlisted rank carries, in the military, this important designation.
Good scoop. Joined the USMC since it is/was the tough naval service and always proud to have worn an anchor for 30 years. Thanks to you, I know now to refer to it as a foul anchor.
I grew up in National City, CA. On the street I grew up on, I had at least 6 CPOs as neighbors-all Filipino. I recently learned about the Filipino Enlisting Program. Would be nice to hear your take on it. Or even ask one of your Filipino ship mates about it.
I've met many Sailors who came in through this program and they've told me of some aspects of it. Competition was always fierce to get in, so those Filipinos who enlisted were the smartest, the cream of the crop. My last CO was the son of such a Sailor - and he was just selected to promotion to captain.
I served with a man who came aboard on that program. He was a fellow Radarman. I got to know a couple Filipinos who were cooks for the officers. When we anchored out i would fish off the ship. They gave me shrimp for bait and i gave them all the fresh fish i caught. They cooked them and ate them right away. Worked out well for both of us! We didn't anchor out often. This was for sea trials when we got underway daily.
All the Filipinos I met were stewards who worked in the Officer's Mess except for one who was a Chef Radioman. Most of the Stewards stayed at PO 2 because you had to be a US citizen to advance further. The Philippines didn't recognize dual citizenship and the Filipinos intended to go back home and live a good life on their Navy pension.
Fascinating! I've watched a number of these presentations and they set a very high bar both for presentation and underlying scholarship. Senior armed forces personnel are commonly bright (arguably, their cock-ups stand out because they are not all that common?), and it's nice to find it here, not just in journal literature mostly written by them for consumption by their peers.
This documentary was very interesting. I'm English, so haven't really had a chance to have learnt this. I know the USN is fantastic, but this history is inspiring to hear. Thank you for such a well put together and enjoyable piece of history of how you got to where you are today.
It would be awesome to watch this outstanding channel with my late Dad, Machinist Mate Chief Petty Officer who was 4.0 Squared Away every day of his life. Thank you for this channel. Dad inspired me to join and I was blessed to be a YN3 . GO NAVY!!!!
In 1942, my chief engineer on the tug I sailed aboard, was a CPO on the Lexington that was sunk in the battle of Coral Sea. A quiet humble gentleman who led by example, never asking any person to do anything he did not do himself. As his assistant engineer, I remembered his example and became chief engineer myself. I’ll never forget him. Fair weather Lester.
I enlisted in 1958 and got out as a PO2 (AMS2) in 1962. I was Naval Air, serving in a seaplane squadron stationed in the Philippines and San Diego There was never any doubt in my mind that the CPOs ran the navy. The officers were mostly pilots, and very good at it, but other than OOD duties and some admin work, that’s pretty much all they did. The Chiefs kept the squadron running 24/7, and ensured the planes were kept in top shape. Good video.
My stepdad was a retired CPO! Back when I was a young lad I innocently asked him what was the difference between a Soldier anda Sailor? I've never forgotten his answer! "Kid, if a soldier F's Up on an Army Post, it won't sink"!
Got pinned with my Father’s Anchors on Sept 16, 2001. I will never forget our initiation and that day. I chose to leave shore duty early to go back to sea for my last tour on the USS West Virginia (Gold) as RCLCPO. Board selected, tried and tested. Thanks Master Chief.
Thank you for all this information.. it's helps me out a lot....my dad was on a destroyer WW2 I wish he was still around for me to talk to ......Again Thank You
Stumbled across your channel by accident and have been binge watching your videos. Great stuff! I didn't know what I didn't know about the history and traditions of the Navy as a service, lol. The Army tends to focus on unit heritage and branch histories. These are important, but I think it ends up with us having more affiliation with units and branches than with the Army as a whole. This is also why, IMO, you see institutional identity crises arise about once a decade in the Army. (New uniforms every few years being among the most recognizable symptom of this). The Army could take some pointers from the Naval services' preservation and teaching of history and heritage.
Interesting presentation. I appreciate and admire your drive to have collected all the memorabilia you did, and the stories to go along with it. "Fouled" is not the only instance of someone associated with the Navy not knowing what they're doing *fouling* things up - but you probably knew that already. Regarding the electrician rating device, I had my own theory (which I guess was wrong). Where we in America use the term "grounded" when talking about electrical safety, other English speaking countries often use the term "earthed" - so I figured that might be why the globe was selected. Oh well, live and learn.
Great presentation, Master Chief. How well I remember those "good ole days." I really very interesting to see how the rank and the rates have evolved. As far as I can remember, the only Chief that we had on our CAN was a Yeoman, all the other section leaders were First Classes.. The roughest one was our Boatswain Mate 1st Class. I guess you would say that he was the (chief) of the boat.
Master Chief, you were entering the Navy just as I was transferring from The USS Proteus at Site III, Guam to my last boat the USS Philadelphia. I made CPO on board the USS Hunley, also at Guam, getting frocked in mid-1979 after 9 years in the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. My rating was Interior Communications Electrician, NEC 3364 Nuclear Plant Electrical Operator. When I put the Chief's uniform on, my life changed, and my relationships with the men I worked with in the Nuclear Repair Office changed as well. Mostly, I had to learn how to be the kind of CPO that you are describing, a process that I found rewarding and challenging. I actually worked in my rate, or led sailors in it, for six months in the tender gyro repair shop, which in itself was a period in which I had to be the technical expert. The Chief in charge of that shop had transferred without replacement and the Repair Boss asked me to take the shop under my wing until a new CPO could be ordered in. With a lot of support from the other Chiefs on the ship, and given my head, we made a successful repair facility out of a great bunch of green ICmen who didn't need me any more when I was released back to the Nuke Repair office. On my last patrol on the Philadelphia SSN690, I rolled over 12 years and had the third red hash mark sewed on my blues while in La Madelena, Sardinia. Technically, when I separated in October 1982, I was out of uniform because I never transitioned to gold crows and hash marks. That uniform is still in my closet, unworn since I took it off the last time 40 years ago. I am inordinately proud of my Naval Service, brief though it was, and I had many regrets about leaving the Navy after only 12 years. I have the highest respect for you and the Chiefs like you who stuck with the Navy for your entire 30 year career.
US Navy Tradition in my family goes 5 Generations now, myself, and two brothers Generation 4. Dad Generation 3, Grandfather Generation 2, Great Grandfather Generation 1. All of us were Prior Enlisted before Commissioned. My Daughter Generation 5, currently a CDR (O-5) Naval Aviator. She broke the chain and Entered the Naval Academy 12 days before her 17th Birthday. But also have several Senior Enlisted Navy Uncle's and Cousins.
CPO Leo Grinnan, "Archie" to his family. Served in WW2 as a Hellcat mechanic. His youngest son Jim was my best friend. May they rest in peace. I made E5 as an ABH. I still consider the Navy the best job I ever had.
E-3 to E-8, Served aboard carriers in the classified billet of "Classified Material Custodian" reporting to CVIC and the Captain's Office. If it was classified, it came through my restricted entry workspace on the 03 level. We never talked about what we did, period. Deployed overseas Liberty was restricted (for example, no travel to the New Territories / border area, Macao or Panmunjom in Korea). Battle Station was CO's JA Talker on the bridge. Member, Special Sea and Anchor Detail. Man Overboard muster tabulator. Completed ESWS in 1981. Love your collections, I also have many mementos. My best to you in all your continuing efforts, Master Chief! BZ! A final word: We both know WHO runs the Navy!
MCPON, one position dad requested his name be removed from consideration for, twice. Dad served a tour at Ft. Myer and was there when the first MCPON occurred. That was one of only two shore stations he hated being at because on occasion it meant that he had to go to the Pentagon. The only thing he liked about that posting was that on a Friday, after barracks inspection, if he wanted to come home to Ohio, he could leave around noon. And he was one of the two people who did the inspections. The other shore station he disliked, Great Lakes. He got yanked off his first ship ( USS Missouri ) to go to radio school there. That wouldn't have been so bad except the Korean War started and he wanted to go back to the Mo. Navy was having none of that and instead made him an instructor there after he completed his schooling. And kept him there for a total of 3 years. He got fed up with it and went to BUPERS to see how he could get out of their. "Only one way out, put in your papers to become a CT instead of an ET." He did. Next thing he knew, he had orders to school in Hawaii and then to Guam. He made E-7 on Guam in 1956, E-8 in 1960, and E-9 in route to Africa in 1964. One thing you didn't cover was "Leading Chief". A title that shows up on his evaluation paperwork from when he was an E-8 in Turkey. That basically was a title which lead to the later Fleet, Command and Force Master Chiefs and could be held by an E-8 ( or possibly an E-7 ) at an installation or ship where there were no higher enlisted.
1972-1992 Chief Petty Officer (submarines), United States Navy Retired. Was initiated in September 1981. Wish you would have included something about Chief Petty Officer initiations. I understand that they do not do these anymore, another Navy tradition gone by the wayside, but one with introspective value and deep meaning. I feel that it helped me to be a better Chief. Thank you for taking the time to make and share this Mater Chief. It brings back many fond memories. And yes, I still have salt in my veins. :-)
The still do them, although much of the physical harm has been removed, they now call it “the season”. Lot of yelling, lots of PT, lots of tasks to get you ready to lead.
My father ATCM Lowell Clifford Applegate USN/ret (deceased) was a true shipmate. He never ran a foul of the standards of the UCMJ. Growing up I knew the meaning of restriction, inspection, muster, all before the age of six. Yes, if my room didn't pass muster upon inspection I would be on restriction. Thank you for this perspective of the best the US Navy has ever produced. Anyone who has ever been around a Chief, (particularly a Master), for any length of time knows that the Navy only operates because of Chiefs Thank you for your service.
Great video! My Seniorchief, ETCS Neil K. Normandin, was legendary on board my Frigate. We'd have stormed the gates of Hell and kicked the Devil out, if Seniorchief Normandin ordered us to. He taught me, a young ET3 in my second hitch (first was USAF), to all I knew about my UHF radios. He could tell me what component was bad, just from a description of the fault. When I finally got sent to the "C" school on that particular radio, I aced it. Nobody aces the final test. I did, because my ETCS had shown me a very rare and little known problem. Once a new ensign onboatd had the audacity to tell ETCS that he, the ETCS, did not know how the radar worked! Oh Hell! We saw him getting ted. He took the Ensign into the Radar Room, and growled "Dog the hatch!" We did. We then heard five minutes of yelling, bellowing and loudness, like a thunderstorm. There was a knock on the hatch, we undogged it. Seniorchief came out, then the Ensign staggered out, literally white! He looked mortified. Seems he didn't know the Seniorchief had been one of the authors of the SPS-10 radar manual. He never crossed our ETCS again. There is a saying in the Navy. God is a Masterchief! 😎
Foul anchor reminded me of part of one of the Captain Horatio Hornblower books. His ship was I think in some south Mediterranean port when the anchor was fouled on something. I think they backed sail and then got a running start till the line went taut and yanked the anchor free. I had heard of another method of going around the anchor in a small boat paying out the line hoping it would catch on a fluke, and then raise up the foul anchor. Don't know much about that.
One point I was surprised not to see about the white hat is that it was also used for emergency flotation as were the dungarees (part of my Navy basic training )
Hey Master Chief... Retired QMC here. Former Coastie who graduated top in recruit training and top in both QM-A school and SM-A school because that's what coasties do when assigned to Navy A Schools. As a QM2 aboard a USCGC Planetree and later search and rescue mission coordinator at a small boat station on the Texas coast, I had more responsibility and more authority than I had as a CPO in the Naval Reserve, even though I served as Command Chief for two commands on Admiral's and Commodore's staffs. As a QM2 I served as underway conning officer and saved my ship from extremis 3 times (read collision and sinking). I was first on the list for 1st class and CPO in the Navy's advancement exam and list. I refused the "initiation" because I'd already paid for a family vacation over that time period. Limp dick chiefs, including master chiefs threatened me but the hell with them. I didn't go past QMC for that action, but I'm proud to have kept my morals and character in spite of the goat locker assholes. I took care of my men and women in combat zones and the CMC of the Coast Guard and many others agree with my "command" decisions. Chiefs should not hold themselves so high if they can't tow the line. Can you? By the way, I was a midshipman in the Navy... it's a "Fouled Anchor"... line or chain wrapped around the anchor. Get your facts strait kid. Before Korea, there were no Senior or Master Chiefs.
