Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Adm. John Richardson, and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON), Steven Giordano, gathered with chief petty officers (CPO) and CPO selects from commands throughout the National Capital Region (NCR) for a physical training (PT) session at the Washington Navy Yard Aug. 30.

CNO and MCPON met with Sailors from more than 40 commands, including Naval District Washington (NDW), Washington Communication Agency and the Pentagon to exercise alongside them and congratulate CPO selects on their upcoming advancement.

"It was motivational," said Chief Yeoman (sel.) Mujahideen Alikhan, assigned to Office of the General Counsel at the Pentagon. "It was great to see them out here getting a good sweat in with us. They showed us that they support us through this process and that the top leaders in our Navy care."

The PT session was part of the six-week CPO 365 Phase II training process that CPO selects undergo Navy-wide, with guidance by the Navy's current CPOs, before they officially assume the title and responsibilities of a CPO.

"The whole process has been outstanding. There have been a lot of learning experiences. It's designed to put you in pressure situations, test your leadership abilities and for you to learn from those tests. It helped get us in the mindset of being selfless. A lot of us show up to the process selfless, but we realize we're not as selfless as we may think we are. It sheds light on our weakness, allows us to correct them and come out of it stronger," said Alikhan.

The joint event consisted of Navy Operational Fitness and Fueling System exercises and was coordinated by the PT chairs of NDW CPO 365 Phase II, Chief Navy Career Counselor Demacardo Williams, assigned to Naval Support Activity Washington and Chief Aviation Electronics Technician Kyle Adams, assigned to the Navy Ceremonial Guard.

"This is the biggest joint PT event we've done," said Williams. "We were originally scheduled to have an earlier MCPON event with the selectees, but that got postponed and rescheduled. Eventually we sent out an invitation to the CNO to join us for PT as well and he was able to accept."

"For them to take time out of their busy schedules to personally congratulate the selectees shows how much they care, which echoes from the MCPON down to the most junior chief in the Navy. It's a huge morale booster. Not a lot of selectees in the Navy get the privilege of having the CNO congratulating them," said Williams.

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