Six Sailors assigned to the submarine tender USS Frank Cable (AS 40) received their gold fouled anchors and combination covers for the first time during a chief petty officer pinning ceremony held at the Navy Operational Support Center in Portland, Ore., September 16.

The ceremony followed a six-week training period known as CPO 365 Phase Two, which began after the CPO advancement results were released. During the training, senior leaders and mentors introduced the chief selects to challenges designed to strengthen their leadership skills, and provide a better understanding of what it means to be a Navy chief.

"We've been tested for the last six weeks, but no matter how busy we were, we had to [put] our Sailors first," said Chief Ship's Serviceman Joann Maldonado. "It's just having a balance. It's knowing what's expected of you and actually knowing what you can accomplish."

During the ceremony, Capt. Jeff Farah, Frank Cable's commanding officer, discussed the history of the chief and how the transition from first class petty officer to chief petty officer has changed throughout the years.

"The transition that was presented to me for these selects was top-notch," said Farah. "The leadership training and the morale building was unreal. These new chiefs we have are fantastic. They took every bit of it with dignity, honor, courage, commitment and went right through the full transition. I couldn't be prouder."

After being pinned with their anchors and capped with new combination covers, each chief made the final transition into their new role by being piped through side boys.

"No matter how hard the struggle was, today trumps everything," said Maldonado. "I'm just very thankful that I'm a chief now, and I get to lead my junior Sailors to success."

Frank Cable, currently in Portland, Ore. for a scheduled dry-dock phase maintenance availability, conducts maintenance and support of submarines and surface vessels in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

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