Chief Petty Officer
Leadership – Heritage – Tradition
Mission
Provide leadership to the Enlisted force and advice to
Navy leadership to create combat-ready Naval Forces.
Vision
A senior enlisted force that serves first and foremost
as Deckplate Leaders committed to developing
Sailors and enforcing standards; remains responsive,
aligned and well-connected to both Leadership and
Sailors; and conducts itself in a consistently
professional, ethical and traditional manner.
Guiding Principles
Deckplate Leadership – Chiefs are visible leaders who set the tone. We will know the mission, know our Sailors, and develop them beyond their expectations as a team and as individuals.
Institutional and Technical Expertise – Chief are the experts in their field. We will use experience and technical knowledge to produce a well trained enlisted and officer team.
Professionalism – Chiefs will actively teach, uphold, and enforce standards. We will measure ourselves by the success of our Sailors. We will remain invested in the Navy through self-motivated military and academic education and training and will provide proactive solutions that are well founded, thoroughly considered, and linked to mission accomplishment.
Character – Chiefs abide by an uncompromising code of integrity, take full responsibility for their actions and keep their word. This will set a positive tone for the command, unify Mess, and create esprit de corps.
Loyalty – Chiefs remember that loyalty must be demonstrated to seniors, peers and subordinates alike, Few things are more important than people who have the moral courage to question the appropriate direction in which an organization is headed and then the strength to support whatever final decisions are made.
Active Communication – Chiefs encourage open and frank dialog, listen to Sailors and energize the communication flow up and down the chain of command. This will increase unit efficiency, mission readiness, and mutual respect.
Sense of Heritage – defines our past and guides our future. Chiefs will use heritage to connect Sailors to their past, teach values and enhance pride in service to our country.
Station HYPO 
20 November 2021 at 14:15
My late wife’s sister, Karen Link Wilson, retired from the Navy as a chief after twenty years in the service. Every chief I’ve ever known I’ve admired and respected. (Karen had already retired from the Navy before the last several months of Leah’s life. At her own expense, Karen flew from Virginia Beach to Missoula, Montana. Had it not been for all the help Karen gave me, I don’t know whether or not I’d have been able to hold myself together. This lady amazed me with all she did. She was the Rock of Gibraltar at THE most difficult time of Leah’s and my lives.)
A few nights ago I watched the John Wayne/Ward Bond movie, OPEARATION PACIFIC. It takes place in World War II. It is, in my opinion, not only a superb submarine film, but also a superb Navy film. Actor Jack Pennick plays the Chief of the Boat in this movie that takes place aboard the fictional USS Thunderfish. (Pennick’s is not a common name in this day and age, but he was a long-time assistant to John Ford; Pennick and Ford also served together, in the Navy, during the war. Pennick plays a Chief Corpsman in THEY WERE EXPENDABLE.)
Near the end of OPERATON PACIFIC, “The Chief” (Pennick) is killed while he and a young Ensign Caldwell (played by Martin Milner) are in a rubber raft attempting to rescue a downed flyer. There is a good deal of truth in submarines serving lifeguard service in the later stages of the Pacific War.
Ensign Caldwell apologizes to Thunderfish’s skipper, Duke E. Gifford (Wayne). Duke the actor gives a first-rate summation of the role Chief’s perform in the Navy.
The technical director of OPERATION PACIFIC was the late, great Vice Admiral Charles Andrews Lockwood. In my opinion, OPERATION PACIFIC is a very interesting movie. It is a credit to the Navy and the officers and enlisted personnel who, by tradition, make the Navy all that it is. Jack Pennick doesn’t do much talking in OPERATION PACIFIC, but he does a superb job playing The Chief.
As an aside, another thing I’ve always enjoyed about OPERATION PACIFIC: The plaque in the wardroom states that Thunderfish was built at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. That’s where USS SWORDFISH (SSN-579) that my dad served aboard was also built. We lived in York Harbor, Maine, while the nuclear SWORDFISH was being built.
My late father had great respect for Navy chiefs. I suspect they nursed “Topside,” as I called him, through the Pacific War. I know the COB’s my dad served with he was always greatly impressed by.
As an aside, Patricia Neal plays a Navy nurse and Duke Gifford’s ex-wife in OPERATION PACIFIC. Patricia Neal and Duke Wayne were together again in IN HARM’S WAY.
Here’s to the men and women who serve as Chief’s in the United States Navy!
Now, having climbed out of the rack shortly before writing this reply, it’s time for me to get back to work on the main part of the essay.
Thanks for another wonderful article on what makes the United States Navy THE best Navy in the world, Mario!
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