“Traits to make me a successful officer”

Former Commander, Naval Security Group Command
- Rear Admiral George Patrick March, United States Navy, Retired

Belief in the importance of the mission of the Navy and the Cryptologic Community and the ability to articulate and pass that belief on to subordinates.

Readiness to undertake any mission and to accept the job assigned. I never campaigned for any certain position but rather tried to do the best I could at what the Navy decided I should be doing.

This is why, when I was the Assignment Officer (detailer) in BuPers, I sometimes wasn’t too sympathetic with young officers’ whining when they came into my office.

From the very beginning understood the importance of the Chief Petty Officers.

I have a facility for getting along with people, but, at the same time, I think I had an inherent sense of what was important and what was fair – both to the Navy and to the individual.

Chief Petty Officer Training

"What excited me about the Center for Cryptology Corry Station's approach to Chief Petty Officer training was an entire chain of command's commitment to a vital part of our organization - to make them (Chief Petty Officers) better, more efficient, and more effective," Master Chief McCalip said.

"All too often, when a Sailor makes Chief, they think they've 'made it,' and, in some ways, they have...but it is so important that we provide strategic mentoring to further their professional and personal development. The fact that we had an admiral-select (Edward H. Deets III) sitting in there the whole week sent a message to the Chiefs and officers that Corry's commitment to being the best flows from the top down."

The course was originally conceived, developed and delivered by (then) Commander Mike Lambert, Director of Training, Naval Technical Training Center Corry Station, Pensacola, Florida. The CO/XO/CMC and wardroom were instructors in this course.