First class petty officers assigned to submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) participated in the Navywide chief petty officer advancement exam, Jan. 21.

The annual exam was administered to more than 50 first class petty officers looking to become the Navy's newest chiefs.

"I always said if I put on khakis, I would want to put on khakis as a chief," said Legalman 1st Class Demetric Hart. "You may not realize it, but you're preparing to make chief your entire career."

The preparation involved in advancing to chief petty officer includes studying for a 175-question test, but also includes creating a body of work that stands out in the eyes of a selection board.

"The exam portion is all the same; you have to take an exam to get picked up for a selection board," said Hart. "Everything after that is pretty much up to the board. It all depends on what you've done in your career to get you to that point. Our job is to get ourselves into the game. We have to pass that exam to get our ticket to the ball," said Hart.

Following the board, those selected will become the Navy's newest chief petty officers.

"When you walk in and [there are] first classes looking up at you, you can feel it," said Chief Personnel Specialist Sean Omayas, education service officer for the E-7 exam. "Every time I'm in that situation, I'm already thinking about how I reach these guys."

Omayas has administered the E-7 exam 9 times in his career and has been a chief petty officer since 2011. He feels the journey to becoming a great chief only begins with the exam and never really ends.

"Those people who put on the anchors, they shouldn't get cocky," said Omayas. "It hasn't even started yet. You have to rely on your brothers and sisters in the mess because you still need to learn. I've been a chief for 5 years now and I'm still learning. I look at senior chiefs and master chiefs and just by watching them, I learn. For your Sailors, you can't afford to stop learning."

Emory S. Land is a forward deployed expeditionary submarine tender on an extended deployment conducting coordinated tended moorings and afloat maintenance in the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operations.

For more information about USS Emory S. Land, visit http://www.emorysland.navy.mil or like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/EmorySLand, or on Twitter @EmorySLand.

For more news from Commander Submarine Group 7, visit http://www.navy.mil/.