Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON)(AW/NAC) Mike D. Stevens completed a trip to San Diego-area commands Dec. 14.
During the three-day trip, he met with Sailors and Marines stationed at Naval Base Point Loma, Naval Base San Diego, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC) Pomerado, Naval Recruiting Station (NRS) Mira Mesa, Naval Amphibious Base (NAB) Coronado, and Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island.
“I feel it’s important to see the dedicated Sailors, chief petty officers, and officers face-to-face, said Stevens. “No e-mail, teleconference, or video teleconference is going to replace the power of being together in the same room. You build trust by looking Sailors in the eye, giving them ground truth and making their concerns your concerns.”
MCPON talked with area chief petty officers about his initiative, ‘Zeroing in on Excellence.’ This initiative consists of three focus areas; developing leaders, good order and discipline, and controlling what we own.
“This initiative is not a new program,” said Stevens to chiefs at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton. “This is recognition that 30,000 chief petty officers, collectively pulling on the same rope, can accomplish extraordinary things.” He stressed the importance of developing leaders.
“Your Sailors are a reflection of you,” continued Stevens. “They see how you act. They see what you do. Show them that you genuinely care within the depths of your heart and they will give everything they have to keep up with, and hopefully someday surpass you. Continuous improvement of leaders is my number one priority because it sets the environment for us to get after everything else.”
MCPON also discussed how no organization, department, or unit can reach beyond the limitations of its leaders.
“Other countries might have the same equipment and they may have the same intelligence but nobody has the same level of “Sailor” that we do in the United States Navy,” Stevens said during a visit to NAB Coronado. “It is our people that set us apart and we must rely on each other to accomplish the mission.”
Many questions were asked of MCPON during the visits. Sailors remain concerned about Perform-to-Serve (PTS) and the Enlisted Review Board (ERB). MCPON informed Sailors that the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan Greenert has said there will not be another ERB in the foreseeable future.
“Roughly nine out of every ten Sailors that apply in the PTS system are being accepted,” said Stevens. “This is a huge improvement from what we were seeing not too long ago.”
During the trip, the senior enlisted continuation board message, NAVADMIN 375/12, was released. MCPON encouraged chief petty officers to review the message and prepare their records for review.
“All chiefs, senior chiefs, and master chief petty officers, regardless of their source rating or specialty, with 19 years of service or more and three years time in grade are eligible for the continuation board,” said Stevens. “This is a quality assurance process, not a force management process – there are no quotas. Everyone needs to take a hard look at their records to ensure they are complete and accurate.
“We are also reviewing fleet master chiefs, force master chiefs, and command master chiefs this time because it’s important for senior enlisted leadership to set the example and show we are meeting the same standard,” he continued. “My record will be reviewed as well.”
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, December 18, 2012; Image: US Navy