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09/22/2007 05:56:50 AM · #1 |
Yesterday I had the wonderful pleasure of viewing the US Navy's ceremony for 31 individuals being promoted to the rank of Chief Petty Officer. As an Air Force type, it was kinda fun to see how another service does ceremonies like this. I must say it's on a much grander scale than what we do!
First, the promotees headed down the stairs of the palace, singing a Navy song of which they all knew the first verse very well, the second verse not so much. (Which is OK - no one in the Air Force even knows there are other verses to the Air Force song..)
Then the invocation:
A view of the promotees and the other assembled CPOs to their right, along with the audience.
Each promotee had a "sponsor" or two (from what I could tell at least one other CPO) who pinned on the rank and put the hat on the promotee. They'd do one row, have them move behind, then do the next row.
Finally, at the end, each new CPO was belled and whistled off the "boat" one at a time. It was an awesome ceremony!
(Apologies for the quality of the shots - these were taken handheld, slow shutter, very high ISO - best I could do under the circumstances. Just sharing for those that might have an interest.) |
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09/22/2007 08:24:08 AM · #2 |
wait so why are promotion cerimonies taking place on the 21st? i always thought it was the first of the month, other services might do things a bit different than we do.
i always wondered how they did promotions from one rank to another, you know since the chevron is sown to the collar on the navys uniforms
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09/22/2007 10:48:38 AM · #3 |
| Not sure why on the 21st, but I did gather this was taking place elsewhere - Gen Petraeus was the speaker and mentioned his Chief was elsewhere doing the same thing for other promotees. Also gathered from one of the speeches that these guys have a six week "training" period they all go through together leading up to the day of promotion. Really a big deal in the Navy, this promotion, it seems. I also learned that these guys are tasked not only with with training the junior enlisted, but a big part of their job is training junior officers. That's very true in all services, I think, but the first time I've heard it so stated. |
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09/22/2007 01:17:22 PM · #4 |
| Terrific photos, Deb. You had a great vantage point. I also enjoyed the explanation of the ceremony. I'll be sharing these with my husband, who is interested in all things military. |
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09/22/2007 01:19:18 PM · #5 |
| Interesting...thanks for sharing this post, Deb. I actually love the photo of the soldiers descending Saddam's stairway (or at least I'm assuming that's Saddam's stairway...or rather I should use the past tense here, as Saddam no longer is the owner of anything, including his own hide). I've been to a couple of Army promotion ceremonies. Generally they seemed pretty low-key to me. Looks like this was a big deal. |
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09/22/2007 01:36:51 PM · #6 |
| These are fantastic Deb! I love the one on the staircase as well. I bet you could make some money selling these as prints to those guys! ;) |
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09/22/2007 01:40:25 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by Melethia:
Gen Petraeus was the speaker |
that explains it!
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09/22/2007 01:56:47 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by Fetor:
wait so why are promotion cerimonies taking place on the 21st? i always thought it was the first of the month, other services might do things a bit different than we do. |
This year was a bit different for various reasons. The Navy has instituted a 'scrubbing' period after the results are decided for advancement. Thus, this years CPO pinning ceremony was moved back a week. It's normally held on the 15th of September (unless that's a weekend. :)
Originally posted by Fetor:
i always wondered how they did promotions from one rank to another, you know since the chevron is sown to the collar on the navys uniforms |
The promotion to CPO is a bit different. The Navy is the only US Armed Force that treats advancement to E-7 with such ceremony. The transition from Petty Officer to Chief Petty Officer is such an important transition that we get a new uniform, and the anchors are pinned onto the collar. We also do a great deal of training in the two months between the advancement results and the pinning to ensure that the new CPOs understand the new role they will be playing.
One of the really fun things that we do every year is to travel to Boston and spend a week aboard the USS CONSTITUTION. I was able to make the trip this year as one of the 25 mentors of the 154 CPO selectees. The week consists of Naval Heritage Training, Sail training/Line Handling, and gun drills using the cannons. It culminates in a trip out into Boston Harbor where we actually sail the oldest commissioned warship in the world. I have a few pictures of the event here, if you're interested. (As an aside, I have been a CPO since 2003.) |
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09/22/2007 02:37:35 PM · #9 |
Thanks for sharing, Deb! That one on the stairs is just terrific. Your natural talent shines through - going right into my faves.
And thanks, too, to the other folks for chiming in with more info.
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09/22/2007 10:43:52 PM · #10 |
| Heh - glad you guys like the stairs shot. Were I to do it again, I'd definitely want something other than ambient light and on-camera flash, that's for sure! |
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09/22/2007 11:39:32 PM · #11 |
This is so awesome. I love the shots...the last one is my fave...very cool angles and pov. :)
Message edited by author 2007-09-23 00:08:58.
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