FEWL.NET

UPDATE: The Stars and Stripes’ Chris Fowler has a good article on the MCPON visit, with additional questions and more in depth answers.

Joe R. Campa Jr., the 11th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) paid a visit to Fleet Activities Yokosuka on Thursday. The previous day, we were all told we’d be attending an all hands call he was holding on board the USS Kitty Hawk. Try as I may, I could not weasel out of it. We all mustered on the Kitty Hawk at 0800, and my first impression was the hangar bay was much bigger than it looks from the outside. There were thousands of Sailors, so many that I actually thought I was developing an anxiety disorder or something. We were all surrounded by these enormous flags from the US, Japan, and the “Don’t tread on me” jack…the photo op was perfect. There was some officer, one of those bristle-mustachioed skinny guys who wears one of those obnoxious aviator jackets, the brown leather ones with the fur, yannow? He kept walking around screaming for everyone to “dress right and cover down” and “straighten these ranks,” only to have the MCPON give the inevitable order to have “everyone fill it in…get in close,” completely throwing the rank thing out the window.

I had to be in like 120th row, so I couldn’t see the MCPON all that well. Luckily, Kitty Hawk has a pretty good PA system. I was actually interested in hearing what the Master Chief had to say, but unfortunately he ended up sounding more like the Public Affairs Officer (PAO) for the Navy, than he did a Chief. See, I’m used to Chiefs who don’t beat around the bush, use buzzwordstoe party lines (better?), or avoid sensitive issues. I’m used to Chiefs who have no problem being politically incorrect, but I guess being the most senior enlisted man in the Navy comes with some big expectations. His speech was really spirited, but it honestly seemed like the typical “you’re all doing a great job blah blah blah.” It was hot in the hangar and the impression I got from the people around me, is everyone just wanted to leave. He had a little trivia session where he asked some questions about how old the MCPON office, or the Chief’s mess is. He then proceeded to give MCPON coins to those who could do basic math…it was riveting. The MCPON didn’t talk too long before he opened up the floor for questions. He added the caveat that he couldn’t answer questions about immediate work related issues like “why is my chief…etc” or issues about the area, which was a little disappointing. Here’s most of the questions and his responses. I didn’t have a tape recorder, so it’s all from memory. I assume one of the million other Sailors who was there could correct any errors if they find them.

Why are enlisted and Officer meal deductions different?
I assume the person asking this wanted to know why we enlisted get money deducted from our pay for meals, while Officers can pay for their own as they see fit? The MCPON’s answer was “I don’t know” and seriously, why should he. He asked the crowd if anyone else knew why it was they were different, and someone yelled out “education!” “No, I don’t think that’s it” was the Master Chief’s response. One of the Officers in the audience, who was a prior enlisted, said regardless of why it was, it’s not as good for the Officers as everyone thinks. An ET1 from the USS Shiloh who was standing near me answered the question himself with “Because you’re a retard who’ll blow all of your money on booze and starve to death.” Classic.

Why can’t experienced Sailors stay in Japan?
This was the inevitable Continual Overseas Tour (COT) question that is asked at EVERY all hands call, it was just worded differently. The Sailor wanted to know why people who have been in Japan have to eventually leave, when their experience would benefit the Navy in Japan more, instead of having some newbies come in and mess everything up. On the surface, it’s sounds like he’s really looking out for the Navy - Japan relationship in the long run, but allow me to translate. What he really meant was “Master Chief, I love Japanese chicks. I love them so much I got married/am banging one. I also like Manga, Pocky, school girls, and other geeky Japanese shit. Why oh why, Master Chief, can’t I stay in Japan longer than the current cutoff?!” The MCPON responded by basically saying the experiences you have out here, and the things you learn, need to be passed on to other Sailors. He said the way we operate over here is in such a way that if we passed it on to Sailors in other AOR’s, that it would only make us stronger as a force. I completely agree with him.

What is the Navy doing to prepare the GW for duty in Japan?
Good question, but there was really no answer. MCPON said he knows training has been going on, and the crews have been talked to yadda yadda. This will be the subject of another post, but there’s nothing the Navy can do to prepare the crew of USS George Washington other than keep the crew on constant lock down, which I assume will happen. If anyone is currently on the USS George Washington and can offer some insight into what kind of things have been going on, or if restrictions are already in place, please e-mail me.

Someone talked about how IAs only strain an already strained Navy.
Initially someone asked a question that I assume dealt with IAs, but no one in the back could hear it, so we were all kind of lost. Immediately following that question, a female Sailor told the MCPON that she feels IAs do nothing more but strain and already strained Navy. With downsizing, undermanned crews, and IAs, the Navy…as in the people not on shore, is tired, stressed, and worn thin. This was probably those wisest thing said during the whole Q&A. We are an extremely stressed Navy, and we’re continuing to downsize, deploy to war zones on IA duty, and take on new non-traditional missions in the global theater. The MCPON said he completely understood, but that we had to realize that we were at war, and a Navy at war has to deal with more sacrifice. Even though I’m sure no one wanted to hear it, he was absolutely right. He then went on to tell about how he sees some Sailors doing missions in Iraw, like Electronic Warfare (EW) guys over there using Navy technology to prevent IEDs from detonating, or FCs, ETc, etc., outfitting land bases with Close-In Weapons Systems (CIWS), which is pretty bad ass. It’s too bad all we do is get underway and do donuts…when the hell are we going to do something cool? Give us a fucking humanitarian mission or something, please! On a side note, this was the only question to elicit a response from the rest of the audience, who applauded for support.

A Chief asked what the MCPON meant in his NavyTimes article.
The MCPON was recently features in a NavyTimes article with the headline “UNACCEPTABLE!” The article was talking about commands filing their Sailors by not doing whatever they could to advance their Sailor’s careers. Most notable was the MCPON’s feeling that commands not doing Career Development Boards (CDBs) are failing their Sailors. CDBs are periodic reviews of your career progress with senior enlisted, who offer guidance on how you can better achieve your goals. He stood by his comment that if commands aren’t doing CDBs that they’re wrong. I agree with the Master Chief on this point as well. I have never had a CDB and at this point in my career, where I’m jaded and just overall don’t give a shit about it anymore, I think they could have helped me keep on track and done something more than just stay off the radar. How’s this for strange? I’ve been on my ship for 2 1/2 years now, and we have a Disciplinary Review Board (DRB) nearly once a week, yet I have never heard of anyone every having a CDB as long as I’ve been on board. And just how strong is the MCPON? After the article was out in the NavyTimes, we all of a sudden had to fill out CDB worksheets…typical reactive Navy.

Questions about training.
Two questions were asked about training. One was asking whether “C” schools were being looked into for improvement. From a person who’s been to a few, I can tell you that “C” schools are lacking in the Navy. The technology in the classroom is never on par with what’s on your ship. It’s either “you’ll never see thing, but we still have to teach it until our curriculum is updated” or it’s “you guys don’t have this yet, but in a few years you should.” Both of which do nothing to help the technicians who have to work on the equipment in the future. Master Chief Campa acknowledged that we definitely have to try and keep up with the changing technology, and that “C” school effectiveness is always being looked at.

The other question was about training that new Sailors get before going to the fleet. A lot of people think that training has gotten shorter and shorter, and new Sailors aren’t properly prepared for the fleet. I have to agree with this outlook, as even I wasn’t ready for the fleet when i went through my initial technical training. Everything was completely different then what I had actually learned. One thing the MCPON didn’t like was Computer Based Training (CBT), and even said that in some instances Sailors aren’t even touching the equipment anymore. Where it used to be a hands on experience of taking a piece of equipment apart and putting it back together, Sailors are now sitting at a screen and clicking through the sequence. MCPON said he believes that hands on experience where a senior Petty Officer or Chief is passing on his not-so-by-the-book experience on how to do something in the fleet is an invaluable resource. Like the “C” schools, “A” schools are constantly being evaluated.

When are the new uniforms being rolled out?!

If you really want to know, January of 2009.

How could senior leadership justify depriving basic civil liberties?
Honestly, I don’t think the Navy does a bad job when it comes to civil liberties. I don’t think the Sailor actually knew what civil liberties were. Neither did the MCPON, who corrected him with “I think you’re talking about just liberty in general.” He gave the standard talk about how when we take the oath, we agree to give up some rights, and how screwing all of us over is better for the US - Japan relationship in the future…you know the drill.

I think he asked a few more questions, but at this point everyone just wanted it to be over with and get the hell out of there. It seemed like every time he said “next question” everyone in the back would grumble and fidget around waiting to go. Finally, when he said “last question” the crowd roared with applause and cheering…seriously. I immediately thought everyone wearing khaki was going to be pissed, but what do you expect? We’re the miserable 7th Fleet.

One thing I really appreciate the MCPON talking about was the role of the 2nd and 1st Class Petty Officers. He said when a Seaman becomes a PO, they go through a petty officer indoc to outline their new expectations. The only other time that happens is when the Sailors makes Chief. What about the two ranks in between, who are absolutely the backbone of the Navy. He said they’re working on something for us, and I really hope that comes to fruition. The leadership continuum classes they have now aren’t shit.

On a personal note…
I recently (finally) qualified as an Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist (ESWS), and the MCPON was the one who pinned me on Thursday afternoon. After telling us how he used to serve under our current Captain, and how our ship has such a positive reputation (seriously though, we are a bad ass cruiser), he started the pinning ceremony. He said a few words about how we should be proud of achieving this qualification, and welcomed me and three of my shipmates, all four of us original C-ville Sailors, to the Surface Warrior community. He shook my hand and gave me one of his coveted MCPON coins and put my pin on my utilities. Three things were going through my head. “Why am I so nervous?” “He’s a lot shorter than he looks on TV” and as much as I hate to sound like Joe Navy, “this is probably the highlight of my Naval career.” I think the MCPON being there made me think of my pin as something to be proud of, instead of just something I needed to get before I was delinquent and wanted to get the hell out of Japan.