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1. The navy has changed, and with it, so have the chiefs. Where once a Chief stood up for, mentored, and defended his people, in this day and age, he is more worried about covering his own backside, and more than willing to let the junior sailor take the fall. Yes, there are some like that - more worried about positioning themselves for personal gain than in making sure thing work the way they should. But, in all honesty, you will also find that in the Wardroom, First Class Mess, and so forth.
You are right, but the bigger difference between the first class mess and the chief's mess is that in a way, the Chief's Mess selects it's members. It's this rewarding of this behavior (by promotion) that encourages it. Every chief influences the sailor below them. One bad chief really can ruin the pot, so to speak. It sets an example, that others follow (because its working). In away bad politicians are like the flu.
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3. The "respect" due to the chiefs. Unfortunately while they teach us that respect goes up and down the chain of command, I have witnessed on too many occasions that this only applies to the e-6 and below. Many times have I witnessed gross displays of disrespect to junior sailors, with the sole reason being "I'm a chief". This is a lesson that perhaps needs to be relearned. Respect does go both ways. That's why one of the things we're supposed to do is never forget where we came from. Collectively, we do that. However, there are individuals that do forget.
I do understand that, chief. I truly do. Some of the Chiefs at my command are great. Others give you the feel that they tolerated the first six pay grades until they reached the one they enlisted to be. It is definitely the perception that this sort of behavior is tolerated by the mess that sours sailors. You work for a chief who acts like that, and they never change. A junior sailor does not know where to turn, they feel that they cannot go to another chief, because the other chief will back up the other. They are uncertain of whether or not to go to EO or an officer, because if nothing is done the fear repercussions.
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4. "Chief's take care of their own." This mentality drives a solid wedge between a sailor and his chief. Call it what you want, but a chiefs mess does not air its dirty laundry, and alot of times, keeps anything severe from happening when one of its own does mess up. This layer of protection causes morals to slip as well. Power corrupts. A junior sailor with a liberty incident (even an E-6) is made to apologize to the entire division, while a chief is swept under the rug, so as to not tarnish the image. My question is, what's the difference? I've seen things, even on this board, that basically defend chiefs, even when they are out of line. If a chief berates and belittles his people he must "just have a domineering personality." We had one sailor on my last ship who we put on suicide watch due to his "Domineering" chief. True, we believe that what happens in the Mess stays there. That is also a policy that the Wardroom and First Class Mess should be working with. As to the liberty incidents you describe, I don't recall seeing anyone being made to apoligize to the entire division at quarters. To me, that is simply making matters worse. Praise in public, reprimand in private.
I would agree with you on this, but only to a point. There are incidents that happen, that the entire crew will know about. To hunker down and circle the wagons is in my opinion not the correct answer. I would (In my opinion) stand up, acknowledge the issue, and mention the steps being taken to deal with it. (Not specific details) but it shows to the crew that these matters are taken seriously and are not tolerated. It also goes a very long way in restoring the trust that has been eroding for years.
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6. Power corrupts. I've witnessed a chief rip into a junior sailor because that sailor did not do as told, and intentionally perform an illegal act (sabotage a pipe patch) so as to get the HT attention. Knowing that chief, while he yelled at the sailor for not doing it, had the sailor actually gotten into trouble while carrying out those orders, the chief would have left the sailor hanging. That is a serious allegation. Now, my question is, how do you know the Sailor would have gotten into trouble for carrying out the orders?
I do not know that the sailor would get in trouble. I do know that the order was illegal, and knowing that chief since he was a first class, I know that he would let the sailor take the fall IF he were to get into trouble.
Chief, I thank you for taking the time to respond to this post. I hope the post did not come off as a blanket statement against all chiefs in the mess. I've met some great ones in my career, and I've met many poor ones as well. But I truly feel that the mess as a whole is in for some rough times if it does not address issues like these. We just did a climate survey at the command, and one of the questions was "Do you feel that you can give honest feedback to your chain of command without fear of repercussion?" The answer was a resounding no, with the stipulation that the crew felt it could trust the officers, but not the chiefs. Warranted or not, this is a VERY serious problem.
