COVERING PUGET SOUND NAVAL NEWS FOR BREMERTON | BANGOR | KEYPORT
Kitsap
VOLUME 1, NO. 26 | 23 SEPTEMBER 2011
www.kitsapnavynews.com
Over and out Gays and lesbians can serve in the open By Tom James tjames@kitsapnavynews.com
Paul Groslouis, an enlisted sailor, made a cake for his command to celebrate the end of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. It featured an iced gay pride flag. An era ended Tuesday, as the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, requiring that
SEE DADT | PAGE 8
Newly-promoted Chief James Coburn has his anchors pinned on at a Friday Sept. 16 ceremony for new chief petty officers aboard Installation Bangor. TOM JAMES/STAFF PHOTO
Anchors Aweigh New chiefs pinned aboard Bangor, Navy-wide By Tom James tjames@kitsapnavynews.com
From the opening prayer on, the nature of last Friday’s chief petty officer pinning ceremony was clear: “This is an exclusive club, Lord, reserved for only the best.” In the ceremony that followed, six Naval Base Kitsap sailors “received their anchors” aboard Installation Bangor Friday, making them chief petty officers and coinciding with similar ceremonies at commands Navy-wide. As the three highest Navy enlisted ranks, chief petty officers, or simply “chiefs,” occupy a special position in their commands, and carry an authority and visibility significantly greater than those sailors in the next-lowest rank, said one
chief present at the ceremony. “We induct new chiefs to be chiefs, we don’t induct them as E-7’s,” said Command Master Chief Brian Schell, command master chief for Navy Region Northwest. Instead, he said, chiefs join an exclusive group in which behavior is dictated not only by articulated minimum standards, but by a mostly unwritten code of leadership, setting them apart from E-7’s in the other armed services. The pride of that group was evident in Friday’s ceremony. The six soon-to-be chiefs marched into the room singing “Anchors Aweigh,” and finished the song with a bellowed call, “Navy chiefs, Navy pride!” Each was then called in turn to the stage to have chief petty officer’s insignia, a gold anchor fouled with gold chain and overlaid with the letters “USN,” pinned to his collar. Before each left the stage, another chief placed the chief petty officer’s cover, or cap, on the newly-promoted chief’s head, symbolically completing his uniform. “It was surreal, putting on the uniform before the ceremony,” said newly-pinned Chief Allan McGathey. “I feel outstanding.”
Now, said McGathey, comes the task of returning to his command, and learning about his new place there. Chief Kevin Stahl, who also received his anchors at the event, said that even during his induction he felt a difference in the way he was treated in his command, and that even though he had only been away from his command for a day, he anticipated it would feel different to return Monday. “I wouldn’t say the friendship is gone, but it’s a lot more on the lines of professionalism,” he said. When problems arise, said Stahl, “I won’t have that chief to turn to, because that’ll be me.” As chiefs, Schell said, the sailors will return to their command organizations not only as the first layer of command, responsible for relaying orders and making sure they’re carried out, but as sources of general authority within their specialty, about the Navy in general, and even for personal and career advice for their sailors. The ceremony, he said, marks the end of a yearly three-stage selection and training process as unique as the position itself, including a 24-hour day-and-night “chal-
SEE CHIEFS | PAGE 10
THIS EDITION Vets’ Stand Down showcases need .....................pg. 6 Shipyard commuters get new busses ..................pg. 2 POW/MIA Day ........pg. 3 USS Downes did unglamorous duty .................... pg. 13