The Norfolk-based destroyer McFaul broke ranks Thursday and pinned its five new chief petty officers day earlier than the rest of the Navy. There was a good reason for that. McFaul did so to accommodate a scheduled deployment. So even when a short-notice delay changed that deployment date, the ship held the ceremony so as not to exclude family members who’d traveled to take in the rich tradition. “It was very important to have my family here with me today,” said Chief Logistics Specialist (AW/SW) Tamika Tillman. “I can’t even describe what it means to have them present.” Tillman was…
Browsing: Chiefs
Senior Chief Master-at-Arms Michael Toussaint had an anniversary of sorts Feb. 5: It marked one year since his Retirement Grade Determination Board met in Norfolk, Va., to decide which grade he would take into forced retirement after having his re-enlistment request denied by Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of naval operations, and being censured by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus in the fall of 2009 over alleged abusive leadership practiced while serving as the top sailor at Bahrain’s military dog division in 2005 and 2006. Yet Toussaint, who passed the 20-year mark for retirement eligibility in January 2010, a couple of…
Ace reporter and newest Center of Excellence fellow Sam Fellman last week blew the lid off of the burgeoning gourmet coffee dependence among thousands of carrier crew members. The story, posted on the Navy Times website, exposed that carriers throughout the fleet were training SHs to run espresso machines, opening gourmet coffee shops and offering the highly addictive substance to sailors. Well, the story blew up on our Facebook page and was soon being tweeted around the Twittersphere. The revelations have been drawing criticism from old salts. “You have got to be sh****** me!” one Facebook commenter said. Another said:…
Master Chief Petty Officer Jeffrey Covington, command master chief of U.S. Fifth Fleet, kicks off the Southwest Asia Chief Petty Officer Association picnic. (Photo by MC2 Class Jason T. Poplin) Maybe he made you scrub the deck for no apparent reason. Maybe he has a permanent scowl on his face. But it’s the chief’s 117th birthday, so wish him well! Did you know that some of the first chiefs made only $70 per month? Or that there were more than 200 chief ratings after World War II? If you want to hone your goat locker knowledge, here is a good…
Scoop Deck blogger Lance M. Bacon just completed a 24-hour embark aboard the carrier Harry S Truman. This is the play-by-play. ABCS (AW/SW) Ernest Taylor (left) gives Scoop Deck a full tour of the flight deck during flight ops (Photos by Lance M. Bacon) 1445 Scoop Deck has hooked up with ABCS (AW/SW) Ernest Taylor, the safety LCPO. We spend the next 45 minutes traversing the flight deck – 4.5 acres of controlled chaos.
