Shipping over in style
November 14th, 2011 | Chiefs Navy Personnel | Posted by Jenn Rafael
Do you have a favorite re-enlistment ceremony?
Maybe a family member or VIP swore you in. Maybe the location was historically significant.
Or maybe you were being circled by sharks at the time.
Although he wasn’t defying death while raising his hand, Senior Chief Aviation Electrician’s Mate (AW) Mukunda-Krishna Tyson of Patrol Squadron 1 likely won’t forget his ceremony before Sunday’s Seattle Seahawks game.
In the photo below, Tyson is sworn in by Lt. Thomas Madera, also of VP-1, as tens of thousands of fans watched. VP-1 is based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash. (And the hometown Seahawks beat the Baltimore Ravens, 22-17.)
In the comments section, tell us about your most memorable re-enlistment ceremony and what made shipping over that day so special.
Senior Chief Aviation Electrician's Mate Makunda-Krishna Tyson, right, is sworn in by Lt. Thomas Madera on Sunday. // The Associated Press
McFaul’s new chiefs beat the crowd
September 15th, 2011 | Chiefs leadership Navy Photos Pinning Promotion Surface Force Atlantic Traditions | Posted by Bill McMichael
The Norfolk-based destroyer McFaul broke ranks Thursday and pinned its five new chief petty officers day earlier than the rest of the Navy. There was a good reason for that.
Sailors aboard the guided missile destroyer McFaul gather on the ship's flight deck for their chief petty officer pinning ceremony Sept. 15. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kayla Jo Finley
McFaul did so to accommodate a scheduled deployment. So even when a short-notice delay changed that deployment date, the ship held the ceremony so as not to exclude family members who’d traveled to take in the rich tradition.
Chief Logistics Specialist (AW/SW) Tamika Tillman receives her chief's cover during the destroyer McFaul's chief petty officer pinning ceremony. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kayla Jo Finley
“It was very important to have my family here with me today,” said Chief Logistics Specialist (AW/SW) Tamika Tillman. “I can’t even describe what it means to have them present.” Tillman was pinned by her daughter, son, fiancé, fiancé’s grandparents and her best friend of 17 years.
Also entering the McFaul Chief’s Mess Thursday were Chief Engineman Christopher Brown, Chief Fire Controlman Daniel Chenowitz, Chief Sonar Technician Surface Johnny Nichols and Chief Fire Controlman Corey Stowe.
Command Master Chief (SW/SCW) Dianne Lohner shared the importance of the day and welcomed the new chiefs to the mess.
“Today, without a doubt, is one of the most important days in a sailor’s life,” said Lohner. “This is a day they will never forget. Every year we are taken back to the day we were promoted. It is always an emotional day pinning our sailors.”
Command Master Chief (SW/SCW) Dianne Lohner grants "permission to enter the mess" to the newly-pinned chiefs aboard the destroyer McFaul. // U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kayla Jo Finley
Our hearty congratulations to the new McFaul chiefs, and to new chief petty officers everywhere.
There must be more than meets the eye
February 7th, 2011 | Abusive leadership Chief of naval operations Chiefs JAGMAN Military dog handling Navy secretary Retirement eligibility Retirement Grade Determination Board | Posted by Bill McMichael
Senior Chief Master-at-Arms Michael Toussaint had an anniversary of sorts Feb. 5: It marked one year since his Retirement Grade Determination Board met in Norfolk, Va., to decide which grade he would take into forced retirement after having his re-enlistment request denied by Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of naval operations, and being censured by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus in the fall of 2009 over alleged abusive leadership practiced while serving as the top sailor at Bahrain’s military dog division in 2005 and 2006. Yet Toussaint, who passed the 20-year mark for retirement eligibility in January 2010, a couple of weeks before the board met, has hung on for more 12 months.
The Navy will say only that the three-member Norfolk board’s grade recommendation to allow Toussaint to retire as a senior chief “is still being reviewed.” It won’t say where the review stands in that process. Or whether it has reached the desk of Juan Garcia, assistant secretary of the Navy for manpower and reserve affairs, who is the “final adjudicating authority” for such cases, according to Lt. Justin Cole, a Navy spokesman.
That’s the same thing the Navy told us in November.
Toussaint’s case sounds sensational. And given the actions Roughead and Mabus have already taken, some sort of discipline would appear on its face to be a given. A 2007 command investigation uncovered more than 90 instances of gambling, consorting with prostitutes, hazing and abuse of junior sailors took place on the 2004-2006 watch of the former military dog kennel chief in Bahrain.
He and his lawyers denied the most serious claims at the two-day determination board hearing, however, with Toussaint telling the board that his other actions had been misconstrued, the Virginian-Pilot newspaper reported.
Meanwhile, Toussaint remains in uniform — assigned to the ultra-secretive Naval Special Warfare Development Group, headquartered at Oceana Naval Air Station’s Dam Neck Annex.
Caramel macchiato pairs well with 0600-1200 watch
November 2nd, 2010 | Chiefs Life at Sea Navy | Posted by David Larter
Some carrier chiefs are filling their crusty chief's mugs with some high-class joe, trading in Navy sludge for bold Sumatra blend. // MC2 Peter Lawlor
Ace reporter and newest Center of Excellence fellow Sam Fellman last week blew the lid off of the burgeoning gourmet coffee dependence among thousands of carrier crew members.
The story, posted on the Navy Times website, exposed that carriers throughout the fleet were training SHs to run espresso machines, opening gourmet coffee shops and offering the highly addictive substance to sailors.
Well, the story blew up on our Facebook page and was soon being tweeted around the Twittersphere. The revelations have been drawing criticism from old salts.
“You have got to be sh****** me!” one Facebook commenter said.
Another said:
“Fancy coffee on a warship? We had to drink motor oil passed off as coffee in my day serving on the Independence. I hope sailors these days know how good they have it.”
Still another:
“If that’s their definition of Navy coffee, they’re not sailors.”
Sure, it’s easy to poke fun at the idea of a fancy-pants latte available on a United States capital warship. But should we really begrudge our sailors a pumpkin spice latte while they are underway for months at a time? Soldiers are chowing down on Whoppers in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Brits offer their sailors alcohol underway, for crying out loud.
At least one sailor voiced his approval on Facebook:
“Last week was my first time underway on the Bush. Love having the Starbucks coffee.”
What do you think?
Congratulations, chief
September 20th, 2010 | Chiefs Photos | Posted by Phil Ewing
First came the chief’s list, and now the inevitable follow-up: Tons of photos of new chiefs pinning on their anchors and donning their combination covers for the first time. It can be an emotional experience, as Chief Information Systems Technician Joseph Valencia shows in this outstanding shot by MC2 James Evans. More here, here, here, here and here.
Special bonus photo: remember the Navy photographer whose shot of the fast attack submarine Annapolis in the Arctic was a Time magazine photo of the year last year? She is now Chief Mass Communications Specialist Tiffini Jones Vanderwyst, and got a special hoo-ya.
Happy birthday, chiefs!
April 1st, 2010 | Chiefs Historical Navy The deckplates | Posted by Lance Bacon
- Master Chief Petty Officer Jeffrey Covington, command master chief of U.S. Fifth Fleet, kicks off the Southwest Asia Chief Petty Officer Association picnic. (Photo by MC2 Class Jason T. Poplin)
Maybe he made you scrub the deck for no apparent reason. Maybe he has a permanent scowl on his face. But it’s the chief’s 117th birthday, so wish him well!
Did you know that some of the first chiefs made only $70 per month? Or that there were more than 200 chief ratings after World War II?
If you want to hone your goat locker knowledge, here is a good site. And here is another.
Again, happy birthday chiefs! Just don’t eat too much cake — PRTs are just around the corner.
A day aboard Truman — The flight deck
March 30th, 2010 | Aviation Carriers Chiefs Life at Sea Maritime operations Navy The deckplates | Posted by Lance Bacon
Scoop Deck blogger Lance M. Bacon just completed a 24-hour embark aboard the carrier Harry S Truman. This is the play-by-play.
ABCS (AW/SW) Ernest Taylor (left) gives Scoop Deck a full tour of the flight deck during flight ops (Photos by Lance M. Bacon)
1445
Scoop Deck has hooked up with ABCS (AW/SW) Ernest Taylor, the safety LCPO. We spend the next 45 minutes traversing the flight deck – 4.5 acres of controlled chaos.
MC-Pong
March 9th, 2010 | Chiefs Photos Sports Submarines | Posted by Phil Ewing
MC1 Jennifer Villalovos / Navy
“All right, shipmate, let me show you how we do in the submarine force — maybe I’ll come atcha up high — just like a Tomahawk we can launch through the vertical launch tubes, son — or maybe I’ll sneak ‘er over the net real low, just like we might use a torpedo, get me?”
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (SS/SW) Rick West stood ready for a game of table tennis with a friend Monday at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash. Will his asymmetric ping-ping prove as controversial as his rock-oriented greeting style?
MCPON: “Boom!”
January 7th, 2010 | Carriers Chiefs leadership Life at Sea The Middle East | Posted by Phil Ewing
MC3 Nichelle Whitfield / Navy
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (SS/SW) Rick West greeted Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 3rd Class Nikita Boles on Wednesday in the hangar bay aboard the carrier Nimitz in the North Arabian Sea. Will West begin asking sailors to “hit the rock,” much as he has made “hoo-yah” his catchphrase? His belief in muscle-display and samurai sword-browsing are both already matters of public record.
A name for DDG 1002
November 20th, 2009 | Blogs Chiefs Historical Science and technology Ships | Posted by Phil Ewing
What should the third Zumwalt-class destroyer be named? // Northrop Grumman
Maybe it’s that a three-hull class of advanced ships raises the stakes. Maybe it’s that there will be so many Arleigh Burke-class destroyers that they all start to blend together. Or maybe it’s that, with 51 more littoral combat ships that will carry only names of “medium-sized town names” (for now, anyway) people are worried they’re running out of ships to name for heroes.
Whatever the reason, people have been going after the as-yet unnamed third and last Zumwalt-class destroyer, DDG 1002, with name suggestions. Not just any Navy ship — DDG 1002.
An early one was “Robert A. Heinlein,” for the science fiction author. But one Navy Times reader rejected that and instead recommended “Ernest E. Evans,” for the legendary captain of the destroyer Johnston. The latest recommendation, according to an email making the rounds on a particularly salty distribution list, is “Delbert D. Black,” for the first master chief petty officer of the Navy.
Scoop Deck was cc’d on that email, which pointed to this blog post laying out the whole case. The Navy has plenty of ships named for chiefs of naval operations, writes blogger Chris Garett, but it needs to start according the same honor to its MCPONs, starting with Black.
What do you think? Would you pick Heinlein, Evans or Black for DDG 1002, or a different name altogether?