Nearly sixty Pensacola-area Sailors were advanced to the rank of chief petty officer (CPO) during a pinning ceremony Sept. 14 in the Charles A. Taylor Hangar aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.

The 54 newest Pensacola-area CPOs, from commands located aboard NAS Pensacola, received their anchors during the traditional ceremony attended by more than 1,000 service members, civilian employees and family and friends.”

“These Sailors have been tested, tried and accepted into the world’s largest maritime fraternity,” said Master Chief Mario Rivers, the NAS Pensacola command master chief. “Welcoming these chiefs into the Mess is something we know not only increases the capabilities of the Navy they have chosen to serve, but carries on the CPO tradition the next generation of deckplate leadership.”

The ceremony concluded a six-week Navy-wide training program for first class petty officers selected for advancement to CPO, known as CPO Initiation, which began Aug. 7 when board-eligible first class petty officers were notified of their selection for advancement. The training program, a process designed to foster teamwork and resilience and hone leadership skills, is implemented throughout the Navy, locally supervised under the guidance of the Pensacola-area Chiefs Mess.

During the initiation process, Pensacola-area CPOs guided and mentored the 54 selectees, focusing on aspects of teamwork, facing adversity and leadership through a series of community relations events, classroom instruction and one-on-one mentoring sessions. Rivers said that each of these events is carefully designed to ensure chief petty officer selectees are mentally and emotionally capable of accepting the new responsibilities their current rank.

“The institution of the chief petty officer is like no other,” he said. “For 125 years, the United States Navy has relied on the chief to ensure the conduit between the deckplate and the wardroom remains unbroken. These newest chiefs are the next step in the evolution of our great Navy, and I don’t doubt they’ll hit the ground running.”

Naval Air Station Pensacola, referred to as the ‘Cradle of Naval Aviation,’ is designed to support operational and training missions of tenant commands, including Naval Aviation Schools Command, the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training, Marine Aviation Training Support Groups 21 and 23 and is the headquarters for Naval Education and Training Command.

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