MCPON Rick West WORD TO THE WARRIORS

I don't think I have to tell you that it's been a hectic month for us all. I'd like to thank all of you who attended the passing of the cutlass ceremony, and the many more of you who have written or called with your congratulations. It's meant a lot to me, and to Bobbi. I'm ready to get to work. I've got some ideas and most of them fall in line with what we've established over the last two years. My expectations of this Mess are very high. I believe that there is no room for mediocrity in our ranks. I also believe that any Chief, Senior Chief or Master Chief who is not making the effort our Sailors deserve needs to leave and create a vacancy that can be filled by a Chief who deserves to fill it. Those of you who have heard me address Chief's Messes as a FLTCM know this is nothing new with me. In the next several months I'm going to be working to determine the best means to ensure those of you working the hardest on behalf of our Sailors have strong opportunities to advance. That means force shaping at the senior enlisted level.

There are other areas I'm going to ask you to continue to focus on. Our Navy Working Uniform has been the subject of much discussion and plenty of debate. The time to talk about how certain decisions were reached has long passed. Our Navy needs you to fill your traditional role as the enforcers of standards and the role models up and down the chain of command. This new uniform is going to represent who we are as United States Sailors. And when you tell me that our Sailors are ready to wear that uniform proudly out in town, that's when I'll go to the CNO and ask him to re-visit the policy on manner of wear. I have no doubt that we will reach that point soon, but I leave it up to you. Chief Petty Officers must be the ones who train our Sailors to wear the NWU and to demonstrate to us all the way it should be worn. You will soon see another email from me laying out the expectations for training to ensure our Sailors and Leadership know what is expected.

Within a few months, the Standard and Conduct Board instruction will be released to the fleet. If you're not familiar with the intent of the S/C Board, it standardizes the Disciplinary Review Board process and places even more responsibility at the door to the CPO Mess. Chiefs at every command will have the opportunity to mentor and counsel Sailors proactively instead of in reaction to a problem. Leading Petty Officers will have input to this process and the Sailors themselves will have the opportunity to opt for Voluntary Diversion rather than UCMJ action. This instruction/program clearly places an emphasis on Chief Petty Officer action and leadership. This will further strengthen the Mess. Long-range items I'll be discussing with the Fleet and Force Master Chiefs are the revamping of the E6 and below evaluations and strengthening of some of our enlisted warfare programs. I believe those programs should be designed to improve our men and women as Sailors. An ESWS pennant means little to nothing if our Sailors can't fight their ships. The warfare device itself is a symbol that the Sailor has the base knowledge to do the right thing at the right time for their ship and shipmates. For the E6 and below evaluations I do not intend to move forward with those until we have clearly captured how the E-7 and above evaluations have resonated in the Fleet and we've captured our Lessons Learned and Best Practices with the same.

Other subjects that I know you've already taken onboard are our command Indoctrination and Sponsorship programs. Brilliant on the Basics is not new to any of us and it emphasizes what we all know as Chief Petty Officers: we must do the simple things well to take care of our Sailors and their families. If we do, the challenges to follow will be easier to confront. Brilliant on the Basics should be a Navy wide focus....execute!

Communication is something I expect to really focus on. We're going to tear down Direct Line and build it back up into a web site that is relevant and full of information you and your Sailors can use every day. I'm also going to be reaching out to you, asking for feedback from the fleet. I want to hear what our best CMCs are doing and make those successes public so we can all learn from them. Same for our Sailors. We have hundreds of thousands of amazing Americans doing great things. We're going to find a way to put those men and women in the spotlight. The issues mentioned above are just a few of the things we'll be addressing over the next several months. Stand by to attack each of them.

Shipmates, it's an honor to lead this Mess. I look forward to working with every one of you and hearing feedback on issues you feel require it.

Take care of our Sailors.

HOOYAH!!

v/r

MCPON Rick West