United States Navy
Chief Petty Officer Creed
During the course of this day, you have been caused to suffer indignities, to experience humiliation. This you have accomplished with rare good grace and, therefore, I now believe it fitting to explain to you why this was done. There was no intent, and no desire, to demean you nor to insult you. Pointless as it may have seemed to you, there was a time-honored and valid reason behind every single deed, every single barb.
By experience, by performance and by testing, you have been this day advanced to
Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy and only in the United States Navy does E-7 carry unique responsibilities no other armed force throughout the world carries, nor which grants privileges to its enlisted personnel comparable to the privileges and responsibilities you are now bound to observe and are expected to fulfill.
Your entire way of life has now been changed. More will be expected of you; more will be demanded of you. Not because you are an E-7, but because you are now a
Chief Petty Officer. You have not merely been promoted one pay grade. You have joined an exclusive fraternity and, as in all fraternities, you have a responsibility to your brothers even as they have a responsibility to you.
Always bear in mind that no other armed force has rate or rank equivalent to that of the United States Navy. Granted, that all armed forces have two classes of service: enlisted and commissioned; however, the United States Navy has the distinction of having four (i.e., Enlisted, Bureau appointed
CPO, Bureau appointed Warrant and Commissioned). This is why you can maintain with pride your feeling of superiority once you have attained the position of E-7 in the United States Navy.
These privileges, these responsibilities do not appear in print. They have no official standing. They cannot be referred to by name, number nor file. They exist because for over 100 years the
Chiefs before you have freely accepted responsibility beyond call of printed assignment and have, by their actions and performance, commanded the respect of their seniors as well as their juniors.
It is now required that you be a fountain of wisdom, the ambassador of good will, the authority in personnel relations as well as technical application. Ask the
Chief is a household phrase, both in and out of the Navy. You are now the Chief.
The exalted position that you have now achieved - and the word exalted is uses advisedly - exists because of the attitude and performance of the
Chiefs before you. It shall exist only as long as your compatriots maintain these standards.
So this, then, is why you were caused to experience these things. You were subjected to humiliation to prove to you that humility is a good, a great, a necessary attribute which cannot mar you in fact, it strengthens you and, in your future as a
Chief Petty Officer, you will be caused to suffer indignities, to experience humiliation far beyond those imposed upon you today. Bear them with the dignity, and with the same good grace, which you bore these today.
It is our intention to prove these facts to you. It is our intention that you will never forget this day. It is our intention to test you, to try you, and to accept you. Your performance today has assured us that you will wear your hat with aplomb, as did your brothers in arms before you.
We take a deep, sincere pleasure in clasping your hand, and accepting you as a
Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy.
The Chief Petty Officer Retirement Creed
You have on this day, experienced that which comes to all of us who serve on active duty in "OUR NAVY." I say "OUR NAVY," because your departure from active duty in no way terminates your relationship. By law and tradition, U.S. Navy Retirees are always on the rolls ever ready to lend their service when the need arises. The respect that you earned as "The Chief" was based on the same attributes that you will now carry into retirement. You should have no regrets. Do not view your retirement as an end of an era but rather as orders to a new and challenging assignment, to a form of independent duty. Remember well that you have been, and will always be, an accepted member of the most exclusive of all fraternities - that of the U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officers. The active duty Chiefs salute you, your retired Chiefs welcome you. I wish you the traditional "Fair Winds and Following Seas."
From the CPO WEBSITE "http://www.connecti.com/~joelbee/cpomess.htm"
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You are faster than the speeding bullet.
You can leap building on single bound.
You can walk on water...
Believe me that's how I felt!
SKC(SS)USN
----We are known as the Backbone of the Navy and we have the answer for everything. The composite table of Filipinos in the Navy by rank is very interesting. The number of Filipino Sailors in the combined top Enlisted Grades (E-7, E-8, & E-9) are more than 10 percent of the total. This number is very significant considering that the Filipinos in the Navy are much less than ten percent in 1993.