Chief Petty Officer (Select) Carlton Wourman takes a closer look at a chief petty officer jacket at Yokosuka’s uniform shop Tuesday. Wourman, an intelligence specialist on USS Curtis Wilbur, found out Tuesday he had been selected for promotion to chief petty officer. (Jim Oâ™Donnell / S&S)
Chief Petty Officer (Select) Carlton Wourman takes a closer look at a chief petty officer jacket at Yokosuka’s uniform shop Tuesday. Wourman, an intelligence specialist on USS Curtis Wilbur, found out Tuesday he had been selected for promotion to chief petty officer. (Jim Oâ™Donnell / S&S)
Chief Petty Officer(Select) Karl King takes a looks at a Chief Petty Officer uniform belt at Yokosuka's uniform shop. King is a Machinist Mate on the USS Kitty Hawk. (Jim Oâ™Donnell / S&S)
Petty Officer 1st Class Steven Long is weighed by Chief Petty Officer Will McClain at the Naples, Italy, base gym Wednesday. Long and about 30 other Naples-area first class petty officers were selected for advancement to chief petty officer and started their six-week transition period with the height, weight and body fat measurements. The transition will include a formal chief petty officer indoctrination course, almost daily physical fitness training sessions and refresher training on military drill. Long and the others will receive their chief’s anchors during a ceremony in mid-September. (Jason Chudy / S&S)
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The wait is finally over for first class petty officers here and around the Navy: The selection board has announced the results for promotion to E-7 — chief petty officer.
Sailors on ships and shore commands were given the news early Tuesday, ending a seven-month wait for thousands throughout the Navy.
Eligible for selection as chief this year: 18,965 sailors. Number of chief petty officer billets available, according to the U.S. Navy Bureau of Personnel: 4,323 — but filling all wasn’t a necessity. The Navy is expected to announce the total number of selectees Friday morning.
“I was relieved,” said Chief Petty Officer (Select) Carlton Wourman, an intelligence specialist on the USS Curtis Wilbur. He was with Senior Chief Petty Officer Kevin Manns at the Yokosuka uniform shop seeking out new uniform items.
“Making chief petty officer has been a goal of mine for a long time,” said the 34-year-old Detroit native, a 14-year Navy veteran. “The chief petty officer community is the ‘crème de la crème’ of the enlisted community.”
Chief Petty Officer (Select) Karl King, 41, a machinist mate on the USS Kitty Hawk, also was checking out some new uniforms.
“I was shocked and ecstatic,” said the Arlington, Texas, native, referring to his reaction Tuesday upon hearing the announcement.
King has been in the Navy for 19 years, and this marked the third time he’d been eligible for selection as chief. Those selected must pass a chief’s exam, then be selected by a promotion board that includes master chief petty officers and commissioned officers.
“I am looking forward to initiation. This is just a stepping stone for me until I make master chief,” King said, half-jokingly.
The chief petty officer initiation, which lasts roughly six weeks, is aimed at changing petty officers first class into chief petty officers, said Master Chief Petty Officer Mike Driscoll, command master chief for Commander, Naval Forces Japan.
“The crux of the whole initiation process is training. It’s not meant to be degrading,” Driscoll said. “We want the chief petty officer selectees to have all the tools in their toolbox necessary to be a good chief petty officer.”
Those responsible for the selectees’ initiation were equally excited about Tuesday’s announcement.
“The Chief’s Mess in some ways is actually more excited than the selectees because they know what’s going into it,” said Master Chief Petty Officer Anthony Knight, the Blue Ridge’s command master chief and president of the ship’s Chief Petty Officer’s Mess.
“This is something the mess does together, and it brings all the chiefs closer,” he said about the initiation. “We’re on the same page and have the same purpose.”
Knight says his fellow chiefs are ready.
“They take this process seriously by teaching the core competencies and challenging the selectees,” he said. “They have stuff they have to accomplish and figure out to prepare them for entering the mess, so that on Sept. 16, the day they will be pinned as chief petty officers, those anchors will have some meaning. Events in the world today call for chiefs to take the job of developing sailors seriously, and that’s what we plan to do.”
The selectees can expect a full plate of activities before Sept. 16, Knight said. “A very rigorous (physical training) program has been set up for them. It will be a jam-packed schedule, but it will get them ready for entering the mess.”
Among the Blue Ridge selectees anxious to join Knight’s CPO mess is Angel Tejada, a 16-year Navy veteran. The 35-year-old postal clerk from Puerto Rico said he was very surprised to hear his name announced.
“It was like, ‘wow,’” he said. “It feels good to know all that hard work has paid off.”
According to the Defense Finance and Accounting Web site, Tejada is likely to see a jump in his basic pay of more than $400 a month due to the promotion. But for Tejada, it’s not about the money.
“It’s important to make chief,” he said. “It’s always been my dream to be the guy who had all the answers, the guy who always gives guidance to others. Now, I’ll get a chance to fulfill that dream.”
