A message to the new MCPON

Master Chief - BRAVO ZULU. Two things he has done as of late have simply been outstanding. 1. CMC Badges:

Command master chief badges will return to the traditional size and uniform location, thanks to an Oct. 3 move by new Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (SW/FMF) Joe Campa.

In addition, non-CMCs who are serving in a senior enlisted adviser role are now allowed to don the badge. The changes were announced in NavAdmin message 274/06.

The changes reverse earlier policy spearheaded in 2004 by then-MCPON (SS/AW) Terry Scott. Scott mandated that only those serving in a designated command master chief or command senior chief billet could wear the badge, and he introduced a smaller version of the device that was then relocated above the right breast pocket — the same place officers wear their command at sea pin. The larger badge was previously worn near the left pocket.

“That [larger] badge has long been a symbol of deck plate leadership in the Navy,” Campa said. “I think that we have gotten away from our basic mission of communicating with our sailors on the most basic of levels — I hope the symbolism of returning to the larger badge and manner of wear can help us reset ourselves as a chiefs’s mess and reconnect with our sailors.”

And here is the part of it I really am happy to see.

More important, Campa said, the rule change is more inclusive of those who serve as senior enlisted advisers but who aren’t in the command master chief rating.

“The standard for those senior enlisted advisers is the same that we hold our command master chiefs to, so there should be no doubt that they should also get the recognition by being able to wear the pin as well,” he said.

This means every enlisted khaki, E-7 through E-9, who has been designated by his commanding officer as a senior enlisted adviser can wear the appropriate badge commensurate with his rank.

2. Degree Requirements:

Chiefs who want to make senior may not be forced to have a college degree after all.

In what could become a stunning about-face of policy, the Navy’s new top enlisted sailor is “revisiting” the current mandate that chiefs have an associate degree to be eligible for advancement to senior chief in 2010.

That requirement, driven in large part by former Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Terry Scott, is currently set to kick in for the chief’s board that will meet in the summer of 2009. Navy officials are increasingly worried that not all sailors will have equal access to education to meet that deadline. The result: New MCPON (SW/FMF) Joe Campa is reviewing the policy.

Campa warned that a change is not guaranteed and cautioned sailors not to read too much into his review — yet.

“Right now, the degree requirement is still the official policy, and sailors need to act as if it’s going to stay that way,” Campa told Navy Times on Oct. 5.

“I am revisiting the issue because it is a big one for our chiefs’ mess, but I want to emphasize that no decisions have been made.”

I hope that he gets rid of the requirement. Having an "Associates" degree has nothing to do with being a great Senior Chief. That fact that many do bothers me and tells me more folks need to get back to sea.

Because I personally knew the previous MCPON, his tenure was one of heartbreak and heartache for me. MCPON Campa I do not know from Adam's off ox - but so far I like what I see. Now, if we could just junk that silly Navy BDU and just say "We will adopt the Army BDU with the following modifications....."