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New Chief's Mess Training Pilot Course Underway
Story Number: NNS121213-22
12/13/2012

By Susan Henson, Center for Personal and Professional Development Public Affairs

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (NNS) -- The Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD) held a pilot of the recently revised Chief's Mess Training (CMT) course at Assault Craft Unit Four (ACU 4) Dec. 12.

The CMT course is year-round training consisting of lessons designed to provide additional leadership training for the Chief Petty Officer (CPO) mess. The course, which took six months to revise, is scheduled to replace the current version in the Spring of 2013.

Revisions and recommendations were based on feedback from the fleet, according to Master Chief Ship's Serviceman Leon Hazley, CMT course manager at CPPD. The purpose of the pilot was to validate the course curriculum materials, their effectiveness and the course length.

"The previous CMT was an hour-long course consisting of ten topics designed to be delivered on a monthly basis beginning in October and culminating in July each year," Hazley said. "The new course should be considered a rolling library of 19 current, relevant topics that are scenario driven. Each session may be taught at any time in any sequence throughout the year."

Naval Administrative (NAVADMIN) message 272/08 governs CMT, which is required for all active duty and reserve chiefs, senior chiefs and master chiefs. Unlike the previous course, the new course will be documentable in Fleet Training Management and Planning System (FLTMPS), Hazley said.

"This training is intended to unify the mess, heighten awareness of incidents involving Sailors and empower chiefs to conduct themselves in a consistently professional and ethical manner at all times," he said. "With these scenarios, we are prompting fierce conversations within the mess based on leadership challenges they will face on any given day."

CMT is a command-delivered training product designed to be taught in CPO messes at individual commands by members of the mess as assigned by the command master chief. Thirteen chiefs and senior chiefs from ACU 4 participated in the initial pilot course, which was delivered by Senior Chief Quartermaster Jerrod Morgan and Chief Operations Specialist John Pearsall, both assigned to ACU 4.

"Having an opportunity to facilitate a discussion between myself and other chief petty officers is an incredible opportunity," said Morgan. "It assists in opening the lines of communication in the chiefs' mess, and gives each chief perspective on what other chiefs are thinking."

The CMT pilot will run until the end of December, Hazley said. "We are scheduled to do another pilot onboard USS Enterprise the week of Dec. 17, and we hope to get another one accomplished in Newport, R.I."

Hazley said the initial pilot was successful. "We did a sampling of three of the topics that will be available in the new course. The feedback we received was very positive," he said. "The students stated that the topics were relevant, interesting and thought provoking. They also recommended that the duration of the training be 30 to 45 minutes long and that it should not be part of a mess meeting, but instead be conducted as CPO training."

Course feedback from the ACU 4 pilot included comments highlighting the value of the scenario format and the diversity of viewpoints generated as a result of scenario discussion, said Hazley.

"The strength of this course is that it covers many of the issues near and dear to every Sailor's heart such as suicide awareness, sexual assault, sexual harassment, hazing, operational stress control, ethics, bystander intervention, standards, mentoring and command unity," Hazley said. "Students will find the new training will enable them to not only learn from the experiences of the old salts in the mess, but it will also give them a chance to share their perspectives on whatever is being discussed. They will leave the training better prepared to deal with these issues in the future than they were previously."

CPPD Commanding Officer Capt. John Newcomer, who was a chief petty officer prior to being selected for a commission, said the best thing about the course was how it differs from other Navy courses. "In the CMT course, all scenarios are based on real events, which has a tendency to get people to open up more and talk about the issues as never before," he said. "This training will help develop chiefs into better leaders who continually set the tone, take better care of Sailors under their charge, and provide them with leadership tools that will ultimately lead to mission accomplishment."

CPPD is responsible for providing a wide range of personal and professional development courses and materials, including General Military Training, Navy instructor training, alcohol and drug awareness program training, suicide and sexual assault prevention, bystander intervention, and personal responsibility classes.

CPPD's required leadership training is delivered multiple times throughout a Sailor's career via command-delivered enlisted leadership training material and officer leadership courses in a schoolhouse setting. CPPD also administers the Navy's voluntary education program, which provides Sailors with the opportunity to earn college degrees.

CPPD additionally manages the United Services Military Apprenticeship Program (USMAP), which offers Sailors the opportunity to earn civilian apprenticeship certifications.

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For more news from Center for Personal and Professional Development, visit www.navy.mil/local/voledpao/.