7 Years Ago - Teaching Chief Petty Officers - Strengthening The Links In The Chain of The Fouled Anchor - "Anchor Up" Chiefs

July 2002 - Former Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Vern Clark’s emphasis on “Covenant Leadership” led the officers of the Center for Naval Cryptology (CNC) at Corry Station, Pensacola, Fla., to dedicate three-and-a-half days recently to an off-site with their 22 new chief petty officers (CPOs).

The officers taught a course which they developed at the CNC called “CPO Continuing Education – Charting The Professional Development Vector.”

Created in July 2002 by Commanding Officer Capt. Edward H. Deets (now RADM and Vice Commander - Naval Network Warfare Command), Executive Officer Capt. Lloyd B. Callis, Director of Training Cmdr. Mike Lambert, and members of the Center for Naval Cryptology wardroom (many former Chief Petty Officers themselves), the course covered 16 diverse topics including a summary of the CNO’s required reading (books such as "Leading Change," "Powerful Conversations," "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, and The Power of Alignment," the CNO’s 5 priorities, 14 Minutes with the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, administration, Operational Risk Management, evaluations, personal career development, the Revolution in Navy Training, and command excellence.

According to Lambert, one of the purposes of the course was to put the CNO’s thoughts about positive self-talk and message alignment into the hearts and minds of the new CPOs. "The Navy is in the midst of transforming and this course is intended to put these new chiefs at the forefront of the transformation, well-equipped to 'lead the change,'" said Lambert.

"Our senior enlisted Sailors do an outstanding job of helping our first class petty officers make the transition to "khaki" during the six-week CPO initiation period,” said Deets, speaking to the new chiefs at the seminar. “What our officers are going to do is provide another significant piece in your continuing leadership education and discuss our expectations of you as chiefs. As the CNO said – you’ve made promises to serve and you are all living up to your promises. This course is part of an effort to fulfill our covenant to develop and mentor you, as well as to better equip you to share these important messages with our Sailors,” concluded Deets.

The Chief Petty Officer training continues today at the Center for Information Dominance.