Today begins the time honored tradition of Sailors embarking down the path of Chief Petty Officer Initiation. This process is arguably a time in an enlisted Sailor's career that will never be forgotten and relationships formed that will last a lifetime.
For those who are not accustomed with our tradition, simple put: its very goal is to breakdown the men and women who walk through the doors on day one, put them to a rigorous process that will challenge them, stress them, and then reforge them into the leader that the Navy needs for what's looming over the horizon.
As I enter my 18th year of molding the next generation of Chiefs, there are only two areas that I focus on: warfighting and heritage.
As a military fighting force first, if we are not focused on preparing our leaders to handle the reality of what warfighting actually looks like (launching missiles, deploying boots on ground, or even just being able to navigate personal/personnel conflicts), then our failures tomorrow will be linked to our compliancy today.
If we do not educate and place emphasis on our past (both victories and hard lessons learned), history has demonstrated that she loves to play the same record time and time again.
This process also serves to reinvigorate those of us who have been in the Chief's Mess for some time. It's an opportunity to break from the norm, train the next generation, and reconnect with Goats in the retired Mess.
The daily grind of being 'the Chief' is not sexy. Long hours, unplanned fires to put out, and being the group that is leaned on when things go sideways. BUT, the reward comes in seeing hard working Sailors climb the ranks, being able to help someone through a challenging issue, helping a family because it's the right thing to do, or simply sharing a great sea story with a Shipmate.
I will miss this when my time comes to hang up my uniform for the last time but until that day, here's to another great season of making Chiefs.
Cheers.
Senior Vice President - Leadership & Organizational Development, DEI, and Community Impact at Burlington Stores, Inc.
1wBurlington is so fortunate to benefit from the leadership contributions of those who have served!