George Washington Frocks 19 Sailors to Senior Chief

USS GEORGE WASHINGTON, At Sea (NNS) -- Nineteen senior chief petty officer selectees took the stage aboard the U.S. Navy's forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) to be frocked by their closest colleagues, June 26.

This frocking ceremony was a right of passage to the next paygrade that gave them the authority to assume the title and wear the uniform of senior chief petty officer.

"I chose two people who have been with me ever since I joined the Navy to pin me," said Senior Chief Aviation Ordnanceman Keith Foshee. "I went through 'A' school with Chief Warrant Officer 2 Thor Tweet, who then went with me to the USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) where I worked for Senior Chief Lamont Bethel, who was a first class petty officer at the time, and who are now both with me here aboard George Washington. I couldn't think of any other two who have been with me from the beginning to pin me."
Each selectee stood proudly as they accepted their new responsibility.

"Being a senior chief means a lot of work hours," said Master Chief Boatswain's Mate Raymond Sanders. "Instead of leading a division of petty officers, they will be mentoring and training chief petty officers. It's a greater challenge but it opens up a door to command master chief where you lead an entire ship of Sailors."

There are many motivations and challenges in the lives of each selectee that have shaped them into the leaders and people that they've become.

"One of the greater struggles I faced was deploying and having to be away from my family," said Senior Chief Aviation Ordnanceman Phillip Durio. "It's sort of a bittersweet feeling, but life is filled with sacrifice and my family wouldn't have the opportunities they have today if it hadn't been for us collectively sacrificing. I don't regret any of the time that I have served in the U.S. Navy."

George Washington and its embarked air wing, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, provide a combat-ready force that protects and defends the collective maritime interest of the U.S. and its allies and partners in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

For more news from USS George Washington (CVN 73), visit www.navy.mil/local/cvn73/.