NAS Corpus Christi Chief Petty Officers celebrate 126 years of Deckplate Leadership
Naval Air Station Corpus Christi chief petty officers (CPOs) celebrated the 126th birthday of the CPO during a cake cutting ceremony, April 1.
Base leaders as well as CPOs past and present were on hand to honor the 126-year legacy of Navy Chiefs serving as trusted leaders, technical experts, advisers and mentors. The rank became effective April 1, 1893, and is an exclusive club, approximately 30,000 CPOs are serving in the Navy – roughly 10 percent of all active-duty personnel.
President Benjamin Harrison established the rank of Chief Petty Officer on Feb. 23, 1893, when he signed General Order 409. The rank was created to distinguish senior enlisted personnel based on their experience and ability to apply leadership and knowledge in providing guidance for junior personnel.
Bridging the gap between enlisted personnel and commissioned officers, CPOs must consistently demonstrate leadership, composure, confidence, critical thinking, competency, fitness, and knowledge. They must be subject-matter experts in their technical field and communicate Navy standards and information, including its traditions, history and heritage. Their priorities are to develop leaders, uphold and enforce standards, and train junior officers.
“A chief needs to have balance,” said HTC Michael Graham, guest speaker for the event. “There are times when a chief will take the message [from command leadership] down to the deckplates and say ‘okay guy, this is a good idea, let’s make it happen.’ But there are also times when you’ll need to step up and say ‘Skipper, that doesn’t make sense, there must be another way.’”
Naval Health Clinic Corpus Christi Commanding Officer, Capt. Miguel Cubano provided closing remarks during the ceremony and reminded all those in attendance about the impact a chief has on the officers in charge and their commands.
“The reason I’m here, and that most of the officers are here, is because a chief took care of us,” said Cubano. “A chief can make or break a command, without the chief to filter down what the triad expects to the deckplates in a way we intended it to be translated, those expectations will not be met.”
The ceremony ended with the cutting of the birthday cake, a time-honored tradition when the most senior Sailor and most junior Sailor present, and in some cases the oldest and youngest, cut the cake. NASCC Command Master Chief Gregory Williams, the “saltiest” CPO present, and ACC Timothy Wall, the youngest CPO present, cut the ceremonial cake.