{"id":23010,"date":"2015-02-23T12:38:41","date_gmt":"2015-02-23T12:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:14:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:14:23","slug":"top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/education-transition\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"Top commands&#8217; tips to help sailors make chief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"635598885866487715-CPO365-Hawaii-2-\" data-alignment=\"center\" data-object-id=\"00000155-caf7-de5d-adf7-feff04b60000\" data-type=\"image\" src=\"http:\/\/snagfilms-a.akamaihd.net\/bd\/01\/8a43058949f296a738713d432667\/635598885866487715-cpo365-hawaii-2-jpg\"\/><figcaption> <span>Chief Hospital Corpsman Shane Hicks talks with first class petty officers from commands across Hawaii about naval heritage as part of CPO-365. Engaged, diverse and interactive mentoring sessions are crucial to top performing commands.<\/span><\/figcaption><figcaption> <span>Photo Credit: MC1 Brian McNeal\/Navy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> Pinning on the anchors of a chief petty officer may be the biggest milestone in an enlisted sailor&#8217;s career, <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Getting anchors pinned on may be the biggest milestone in <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">an <\/span>enlisted sailor<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">&#8216;<\/span>s&#8217; careers. B,<\/span>but successful candidates for E-7 don&#8217;t <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">they didn&#8217;t <\/span>get there alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sure, earning one&#8217;s anchors comes with years of long hours and the willingness to take on tough jobs, but <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">your<\/span> the ability to move up the ranks also depends on the willingness of command leaders <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">one&#8217;s leadership and <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">belongs to your leadership and your <\/span>command <\/span>to invest in developing top-notch sailors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Often what sets apart the best commands from the rest are their focus on training first class petty officers. Sometimes \u2014 although not always \u2014 that can mean<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> and<\/span> having leadership, including officers, who have enlisted experience.<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">, according to new advancement data obtained by Navy Times.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">l<\/span>past three years, the Navy&#8217;s chief-eligible population has fluctuated between 26,635 and 29,400, while the number of those selected to advance in each annual selection board has averaged between 3,811 and 4,352, according to new advancement data obtained by Navy Times. On <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Annually, an <\/span>average, <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">of <\/span>15.1 percent of <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">the <\/span>eligible first classes make chief each year, almost 1 in 7<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">, or almost <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">just under <\/span>1 in 7, makes chief<\/span>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using the latest official data from the Naval Education and Training Professional Development and Technology <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Advancement <\/span><span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u200b<\/span>Center, Navy Times analyzed the numbers <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">used the latest official data available from the Advancement Center to figure <\/span>\u200b<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">out what the Navy-wide numbers really are,<\/span><span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> and <\/span>to &#8220;rack and stack&#8221; commands with at least 10 eligible first class petty officers to see which ones did the best job in 2015 of helping <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">have the best in helping <\/span><span class=\"rte rte-comment\">first classes <\/span>them get into the chief&#8217;s mess. <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Navy Times only ranked commands with 10 or more eligible to prevent ranking tiny commands with medium and large ones.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The result: a list of 30 top commands that advanced the most chiefs as a percentage of eligible candidates. The analysis also yielded the 30 commands with the most eligible first classes that failed to mint any new chiefsed the fewest chiefs of their candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Fleet winner<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The envelope please &#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And the winner of the best command to advance chiefs in fiscal year 2015 is\u2026 [gasp] a fleet command: dock landing ship Oak Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Little Creek, Va.-based Oak Hill saw 7 of its 13 eligible first classes, or 54 percent, make chief in the fiscal 2015 cycle \u2014 surpassing shore commands that have a reputation for <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">as <\/span>jobs with lighter hours and where sailors have <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">get <\/span>more time to study and prepare for the chief&#8217;s exam. Candidates must, at a minimum, pass this exam to be assessed by the chief&#8217;s board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it wasn&#8217;t just Oak Hill at the top. Ten of the 19 CPO candidates aboard the destroyer Curtis Wilbur<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> saw 10 of their 19 CPO candidates<\/span>, <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">or <\/span>53 percent, were <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">get <\/span>selected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I knew we&#8217;d done well with our candidates, but I had no idea we were tops in the entire Navy,&#8221; Command Master Chief (SW\/EXW) Jamie Hamilton of the Oak Hill told Navy Times in a recent interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Mentoring is key<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">The <\/span>CPO-365 mentoring program was established in 2010 as a year-round training and mentoring program for chief hopefuls, <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">although <\/span>there&#8217;s been no official evaluation of how well commands are implementing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But those aboard the Oak Hill <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">The winners <\/span>say the investment of <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">ing <\/span>time and energy into <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">for <\/span>chief training is a critical factor in their success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a testament to how seriously our command takes the CPO-365 program and process and the work that has been put into the effort by both our first classes and our chief&#8217;s messes,&#8221; explained Hamilton, who said his commanding officer gave him the latitude he needed to develop and provide meaningful <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">that he was given the latitude by his commanding officer to develop and give good <\/span>chief training each week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;It shows what this program can do for your command if you take the time and put in the effort,&#8221; Hamilton said. &#8220;For this command, we view it as an investment in our sailors, and now that&#8217;s paying dividends for us.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cmdr. Bryan Carmichael, the ship&#8217;s CO, called the year-round training and mentoring program &#8220;invaluable&#8221; and chalked it up as one of the<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">ir<\/span> ship&#8217;s best achievements. It wasn&#8217;t easy at first, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Initially it takes a little time out of the schedule each week,&#8221; Carmichael said. &#8220;But it&#8217;s like anything you do that is important, you must invest holistically in the concept and inevitably the results in leadership will pay off twofold in the end, with a better trained and more professional leadership team.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3826\" height=\"2829\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635598893950666815-cpo365jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-48713\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635598893950666815-cpo365jpg.jpg 3826w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635598893950666815-cpo365jpg.jpg?resize=300,222 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635598893950666815-cpo365jpg.jpg?resize=768,568 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635598893950666815-cpo365jpg.jpg?resize=1024,757 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635598893950666815-cpo365jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1136 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635598893950666815-cpo365jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1514 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3826px) 100vw, 3826px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>First class petty officers conduct a CPO-365 community service event aboard the battleship Missouri. A successful program takes commands willing to give time to this effort on a regular basis.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>Photo Credit: MCS Emiline L.M. Senn\/Navy<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Chief training<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Training chief candidates throughout the <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">all <\/span>year with engaged, diverse and interactive sessions is a crucial part of a top performing command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;You don&#8217;t just dust off last year&#8217;s program and start over from page 1,&#8221; Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (AW\/NAC) Mike Stevens told Navy Times Feb. 17. &#8220;To be effective, CPO-365 needs to be a living and breathing thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MCPON urges chiefs to be creative and look at all the service&#8217;s new instructions, programs, naval messages and news \u2014 good and bad \u2013 for use as material for instruction and discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Growing good chiefs doesn&#8217;t come easy,&#8221; Stevens said. &#8220;It&#8217;s hard work, and the best chief&#8217;s messes roll up their sleeves and get to work every year <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">and work <\/span>to create good training programs and opportunities for their first classes.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And it takes more than chiefs to make this work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;It takes commands willing to give time to this effort on a regular basis,&#8221; he said. &#8220;What&#8217;s clear is that the good commands take the hit and give that time and get back the investment of time with plenty of interest in making good new chiefs.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Engaged leadership<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carmichael knows the value of training chiefs. He was one himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 49-year-old skipper served for 12<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">twelve<\/span> years as an enlisted sailor<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">man<\/span>. He was surface warfare qualified and rose to be a chief electrician&#8217;s mate before he was selected for the enlisted commissioning program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We focus on training and mentoring all our PO1s for the entire year, not just the ones selected for CPO, during the initiation season,&#8221; Carmichael said. &#8220;This way the CPO mess is engaged in mentoring the entire year, not just for a couple months prior to pinning and then we forget about it until the next year.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chief&#8217;s training is also a priority for the third member of the command&#8217;s triad, who also had <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">led <\/span>an enlisted career before going officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Executive officer <\/span>Cmdr. Orlando Bowman, the ship&#8217;s executive officer, rose to the rank of Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class (AW) before he, too, was picked up for a commissioning program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hamilton believes that <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">credits <\/span>having a former chief as a CO and a former first class as an exec has made <span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> as making <\/span>his job much easier. They give him <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">, giving him <\/span>the time and the leeway to lead training as he sees fit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Buy in from your command&#8217;s leadership, your triad, is so crucial, and it can make or break your program,&#8221; Hamilton said. &#8220;It just can&#8217;t be underestimated how much impact that has on the success of a program \u2014 and I can tell you that it&#8217;s definitely not treated this way at all commands in the Navy.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To be sure, you don&#8217;t need a skipper or XO who are prior enlisted, they just need to be engaged in first class mentorship and skilled at helping first classes get the challenges and successes \u2014 and evaluations \u2014 they need to be noticed by the selection board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, it doesn&#8217;t hurt to have a mustang skipper. The Curtis Wilbur CO, Cmdr. Hans De For, is a former torpedoman second class.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Earning one&#8217;s anchors comes with long hours and tough jobs, but command leaders must be willing to invest in training.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":48707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,12,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3087],"class_list":["post-23010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education-transition","category-news","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"S45CC7B6TJDBHO4ESYOMCJDMXI","arc_canonical_url":"\/education-transition\/jobs\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Top commands&#039; tips to help sailors make chief - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Earning one&#039;s anchors comes with long hours and tough jobs, but command leaders must be willing to invest in training.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top commands&#039; tips to help sailors make chief\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Earning one&#039;s anchors comes with long hours and tough jobs, but command leaders must be willing to invest in training.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/education-transition\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-23T12:38:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T19:14:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark D. Faram\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark D. Faram\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/education-transition\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/23\\\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/education-transition\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/23\\\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Top commands&#8217; tips to help sailors make chief\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2015-02-23T12:38:41+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T19:14:23+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/education-transition\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/23\\\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 1395,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/education-transition\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/23\\\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635599759732218170-140915-n-rj834-191jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Education &amp; Transition\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Your Navy\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/education-transition\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/23\\\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/education-transition\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/23\\\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/education-transition\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/23\\\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Top commands' tips to help sailors make chief - Navy Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/education-transition\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/23\\\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/education-transition\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/23\\\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635599759732218170-140915-n-rj834-191jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2015-02-23T12:38:41+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T19:14:23+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Earning one's anchors comes with long hours and tough jobs, but command leaders must be willing to invest in training.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/education-transition\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/23\\\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/education-transition\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/23\\\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/education-transition\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/23\\\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635599759732218170-140915-n-rj834-191jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635599759732218170-140915-n-rj834-191jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/education-transition\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/23\\\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"News\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"news\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Your Navy\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"your-navy\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 4,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Top commands&#8217; tips to help sailors make chief\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Navy Times\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Independent News For Sailors | Navy Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Navy Times\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/navy-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/navy-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Navy Times\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Top commands' tips to help sailors make chief - Navy Times","description":"Earning one's anchors comes with long hours and tough jobs, but command leaders must be willing to invest in training.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Top commands' tips to help sailors make chief","og_description":"Earning one's anchors comes with long hours and tough jobs, but command leaders must be willing to invest in training.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/education-transition\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/","og_site_name":"Navy Times","article_published_time":"2015-02-23T12:38:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T19:14:23+00:00","author":"Mark D. Faram","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark D. Faram","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/education-transition\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/education-transition\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Top commands&#8217; tips to help sailors make chief","datePublished":"2015-02-23T12:38:41+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T19:14:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/education-transition\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/"},"wordCount":1395,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/education-transition\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635599759732218170-140915-n-rj834-191jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Education &amp; Transition","News","Your Navy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/education-transition\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/education-transition\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/education-transition\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/","name":"Top commands' tips to help sailors make chief - Navy Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/education-transition\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/education-transition\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635599759732218170-140915-n-rj834-191jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2015-02-23T12:38:41+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T19:14:23+00:00","description":"Earning one's anchors comes with long hours and tough jobs, but command leaders must be willing to invest in training.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/education-transition\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/education-transition\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/education-transition\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635599759732218170-140915-n-rj834-191jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635599759732218170-140915-n-rj834-191jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/education-transition\/2015\/02\/23\/top-commands-tips-to-help-sailors-make-chief\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/","ad_zone":"news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Your Navy","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/","ad_zone":"your-navy"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Top commands&#8217; tips to help sailors make chief"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","name":"Navy Times","description":"Independent News For Sailors | Navy Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization","name":"Navy Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/navy-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/navy-logo-white.png","caption":"Navy Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Navy Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635599759732218170-140915-n-rj834-191jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23010"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23019,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23010\/revisions\/23019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23010"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=23010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}