The next collapse was turning the CPO initiation into.. “transistion, or induction” There are CPOs, SCPOs and MCPOs in the fleet right now that I have served with, that cannot tell an Ensign let alone a CO that something he/she is about to do is wrong and give the officer the correct info for him/her to make a informed decision. There are CPOs out there that are simply E-5’s wearing Khakis. We have all seen them, we each know a few of them. Whether they made rank because of quotas, gender or they looked good and therefore their evals were better. The PO1 that does 1000 hours community service is quite impressive, but doesn’t know his/her job, doesn’t deserve to wear the uniform of a CPO.
Yes, COs’ are too worried about what will happen if they don’t cower to the upper layer. Christ, they are even afraid to follow SURFOR instructions about CASREPS, because they think it makes them look bad. Instead of looking out for the men and women in the crew, they are more concerned about covering their own ass. Damn Pity! What would Nimitz or the other great Naval Officers think if they were to see what has happened?
Treat your sailors as grown men and women, treat theat as professionals. They in turn will not usually disappoint. But if they happen to “screw up” then deal with it swiftly and fairly. Then move on.

DO NOT PUNISH THE MASSES FOR THE FEW, FOR IN TIME, THOSE THAT MAKE UP THE MASSES, WILL HAVE SWAPPED PLACES WITH THE FEW.

Then whom will the blame for that be placed?

Chiefs, stand up and be accountable. Stick up for your sailors. It’s your place to tell the Chain of Command where they are screwing up. Are you the Chief Petty Offier or simply an E-7 or worse, an E-5 in Khakis?

For years I’ve done everything as a civilian because it’s easier than dealing with the Navy. I’ve even paid hundreds of dollars out of pocket (probably thousands, actually) just to avoid Tricare’s bullshit. It wasn’t until recently, in preparation for the move to Yokosuka, that I’ve been forced to actually deal with the Navy, and so far it hasn’t been pretty. In every instance I have driven home completely infuriated with the total lack of organization and common sense. Things that should be simple never are. It’s very hard for me not to lose my temper in situations like that, but I bite my tongue and suck it up…and I’m not even in the Navy.

While in the waiting room at the Norfolk medical facility (where I sat for over an hour just for someone to hand me my file), I witnessed a girl asking her CO why they didn’t change the way they did something that had to do with appointments (too many acronyms for me to know exactly what she was talking about), and then she suggested an alternative method that, in my opinion, sounded excellent in comparison. Her CO said nothing along the lines of, “that’s a great idea,” or if it was actually a bad idea, he didn’t explain why her suggestion wouldn’t work. Instead he said, “because that’s the way we’ve always done it, so that’s the way we’ll continue doing it.” I believe that statement pretty much sums up the entire Navy’s mentality.