Page 4 - USCG Chief Petty Officer Logbook

To the Chief’s Mess of the United States Coast Guard
Happy Birthday, Chiefs!
I am forever proud to have worn the Anchor. I would move on from my time in the Chief’s Mess to assume a different leadership role in the United States Coast Guard. However, what I learned in The Mess would strengthen and guide me for the rest of my life. The lessons learned are part of the foundation that makes me who I am as both a Coast Guardsman and a person.
The Chief’s Mess is simultaneously one of the most nurturing and unforgiving environments one will ever encounter. Chiefs protect and care for each other. They also tell each other the truth. When required, that truth is frank and unvarnished. From day one, the time-honored initiation process ensures that humility is the backbone of one’s personal understanding of what it means to be a Chief.
In addition to telling each other the truth, Chiefs focus on possibilities not limitations. They concentrate on all things that are in their sphere of influence. If immediate action is not their responsibility, they quickly kick it up the chain with a recommended solution. Speaking truth to power is yet another essential and revered trait of those who wear the Anchor.
From the very beginning, Chief Petty Officers have been a unifying force in the United States Coast Guard When the CPO grade was established in 1920, the newly formed Coast Guard was a mere five years into its existence and still suffering significant growing pains. We often speak of the “merging” of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service and the U.S. Life-Saving Service in 1915 as the birth of the Coast Guard. In reality, our predecessor services would remain rather distinct as two unique branches, lifesaving and seagoing, under the new U.S. Coast Guard banner head. Each service had a proud history and culture. Their amalgamation would take time. The enlisted personnel in each branch even wore different uniforms. That would begin to change with the formal establishment of the grade of Chief Petty Officer. While it would take several more decades and a second world war to really merge the two, the double-breasted naval style jacket worn by all Chiefs was an important early step toward creating the Coast Guard that we know today.
The addition of the U.S. Lighthouse Service and Bureau of Marine Inspection & Navigation to the robust stew that is our service history and culture would further challenge the concept of “one Coast Guard.” The extraordinary diversity the Coast Guard’s 11 statutory missions make that goal no easier today. But a Chief is a Chief. The unity of the Mess and a commonality of purpose continues to be that same unifying force that it was 100 years ago. Whether the Chief goes to work in ODUs, coveralls, flight suit, or any other uniform, the Anchor unites. 100 years in the future, I predict that the Anchor will prevail.
Never forget that today’s operations are tomorrow’s history. Once a Chief, always a Chief.
18 May 2020
4
CAPT Robert L. Desh, USCG (Retired)
Former Executive Director and Regent, Foundation for Coast Guard History Chief Damage Controlman
Silver Life Member, U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officers Association
Past President, Honolulu Chapter, Chief Petty Officers Association
or Coast Guard History
Chairman
RADM John Acton, USCG (Ret)
Vice Chairman
Executive Director
CDR Gary M. Thomas, USCG (Ret)
Board of Regents
CAPT Robert Ayer, USCG, PhD CPO Robert Craig, USCG (Ret) CAPT Robert L. Desh, USCG (Ret) VADM James Hull, USCG (Ret)
C. Douglas Kroll, PhD
AT1 John Longnecker, USCG (Ret) CWO Sandy Schwaab, USCG (Ret) VADM Howard Thorsen, USCG (Ret)
Treasurer
CDR Paul Fawcett, USCG
Founder
Executive Director Emeritus CAPT Fred Herzberg, USCG (Ret)
Chairman Emeritus
VADM Howard Thorsen, USCG (Ret)
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