Since 05-05-05
Chiefs fire back on ‘nitwit columnist’
Since 05-05-05
From:
Waspscpo@aol.com [mailto:Waspscpo@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2005 6:28 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients
Subject: Chiefs fire back on ‘nitwit columnist’
http://www.soundingsnews.com
Chiefs fire back on ‘nitwit columnist’
If you stand among those convinced the Navy of Old that once took care of its
own, faithfully living by the mottos, “Shipmates take care of shipmates” and
“Once a chief, always a chief,” has increasingly become an indifferent and
scattered Navy, take heart.
I thought so, too.
Until, that is, I found myself contemplating this past week the 90 (and
counting) e-mails printed and sitting in an enormous pile on my desk. That pile
represents the opinion of petty officers first class who have yearned to make
chief and chief petty officers spanning the senior enlisted ranks, both active
duty and retired, from literally across the globe.
All profess to be true sailors at heart; refusing to allow the Navy they know
and love to die a peaceful death at the hands of political correctness,
service-wide apathy and/or the blathering of some nitwit columnist.
The column, “Are the chiefs taking care of their own?” that appeared here April
13, offering my own personal take on the new CPO club at Naval Station Norfolk
and included a commentary on the current climate of the CPO community, drew such
a huge, sweeping response from E-6s on up that it literally became a part-time
job on my part to respond to these readers.
A substantial number of active-duty sailors from here to the West Coast and
points as far-flung as Iraq and the Med were so irate that they told me in no
uncertain terms to go straight to “H-E-Double Hockey Sticks.”
Would they permit me to quote them in a follow-up column? Absolutely not! As
eloquently ferocious as their e-mail rantings were, these upright outspoken
sailors categorically refused to allow their names to see print.
As one CPO expressed: “I have no desire to learn nuthin’ from you or any rag you
write in.”
Another: “You are not a chief. You have no business critiquing the way you
believe we have evolved or failed. Being married to a (senior) chief only allows
you to pretend you have anchors, not actually wear them.”
And: “You don’t like our new chiefs’ club? Fine. Stay out of it. We don’t want
you there anyway.”
None of those who took me to task over that column made the slightest mention of
the fact they have fought relentlessly throughout their naval careers for my
personal right to freely express my opinion — yes, even when that opinion is in
direct opposition to their own.
On the other hand, I’ve heard from countless others who had plenty to say, both
pro and con, about the new chiefs’ club and the current state of the CPO
community in general.
For instance, ASC Bill Cross from COMLANTFLT who loves being in the CPO
brotherhood and wrote, “I have been to the new club a few times and each time I
was very pleased with the service and quality. While it is not the
nightclub/sports bar that the old establishment was, it is a very enjoyable
place for brother and sister chiefs to get together for lunch and after-work
socializing.”
And STGCS John Tran who has been stationed at Dam Neck for several months,
wrote, “I’m an active member for both my command and Dam Neck CPO Messes. I can
tell you that we are alive and strong; we have a tight CPO Mess. We even
combined our chiefs with the Coast Guard chiefs at our command to make it
stronger. We always get together at least once a week after work at the CPO club
to socialize and support our club.”
Others, however, voiced a less favorable opinion regarding the CPO climate in
general.
ENC (Ret.) Roland Conoley who now resides in Kevil, Ky., wrote: “I just finished
reading your little missive on the new CPO Club at NORVA. In today’s world of
‘ME ME ME’, one could not expect much more than what you found there. I don’t
know where we lost our respect as leaders: was it the lack of moral fortitude or
a lack of backbone?”
CTTC John Oswald, stationed aboard the USS Kitty Hawk home ported in Yokosuka,
Japan, wrote: “The column you wrote regarding the new CPO club in the old train
station in Norfolk certainly hit the mark. I couldn’t agree more with your
assessment of the CPO community as a whole. A friend still in Norfolk forwarded
it to me. I’m glad he did. Rest assured it’s making the rounds here in Japan.”
Jim Pearrell, a retired chief petty officer who had been stationed in Norfolk
during his Navy career and currently lives in Idaho Falls, Idaho, wrote: “The
theme that seems to run through the past 25 years is that things have changed a
great deal and from my perspective, not always for the best. I guess that’s
progress. I feel fortunate to have been a part of a group of men who for a very
long time were considered the ‘Backbone of the Navy.’ ‘Ask the Chief’ was the
phrase that codified the credibility and the respect and respect commanded by
this group, a phrase used by everyone from seaman to admiral.”
Another retired chief petty officer, Dick Hallowell, a docent onboard the Midway
Museum in San Diego, Ca., who completed in 2002 a subsequent civil servant
career at Fleet Combat Direction Systems Support Center as a design analyst,
wrote: “I had the opportunity to go aboard quite a few Navy ships of all types
during my second career and was appalled at the lack of supervision by senior
petty officers, especially chiefs, during my visits. I even commented on this to
commanding officers during my departure briefings. Somewhere along the line, the
pride and esprit has been eroded from our current CPOs.”
Others who e-mailed me expressed not only a sincere longing for the past that
they gave their hearts and souls to as sailors but also genuine hope for the
future.
For instance, RMSC (Ret) Stan Ogrodnik who lives in Thurso, Scotland, wrote, “I
served for 28 years and was a proud senior chief for 13 years. I have never
gotten the Navy out of my system. I still think about it and dream about it and
want to go back to it. My time was good, so enjoyable, no matter where the Navy
sent me. Sadly, it went too fast.”
Ogrodnik hopes that “Old chiefs will use the club along with their wives,
girlfriends and shipmates. Our new chiefs can learn a lot from them, if they
attend. Things like camaraderie, tradition and service. If I were there, I would
support the new club.”
I also received an e-mail from Navy Capt. David Meadows, author of the books
Joint Task Force Africa, Joint Task Force France, Joint Task Force America and
Joint Task Force Liberia as well as the Sixth Fleet series of military
thrillers. Meadows is currently assigned to the Joint Staff of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff at the Pentagon.
He wrote: “It is important to respect those who have gone before us and to
recognize that what we do today is a result of what they did yesterday.”
Perhaps JOCS (Ret) H.G. “Knobby” Luberacki who lives on Lake Gaston in North
Carolina summed it up best when he wrote: “The big change and I believe the
beginning of what you’re seeing today happened when the Powers That Be did away
with the CPO initiation like the one I went through. Looking back on my own
initiation as a rite of passage into the CPO Brotherhood was one of the proudest
days I ever had during my 21 years of service.”
He concluded his letter by expressing, “The famous author, Thomas Wolfe, wrote:
‘You can’t go home again.’ That means, at least to me, that a person can’t go
back to the place or the way it was years ago. All we have today and in the
future are the great memories of what it was like, way back when.”
Thank you, Knobby, for putting a big period on a very long sentence.
E-mail Debi at
DebiKetner@aol.com or snail mail her at Soundings, 258 Granby St., Norfolk,
VA 23510. Debi is a certified nutrition consultant, grief/stress/anger
management therapist and addiction interventionist.
Military Matters
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Contributed,
YNCS Don Harribine, USN(ret)