A Hero will be leaving the MCPON office in on December 13th 2008.

When I first met him, he was HMCS Campa, and helped initiate me into the Chief’s Mess at NHCS in 1998. He helped set the mold for me as a Chief Petty Officer and is one of my many coveted signatures in my Chief’s Signature book. Congrats MCPON!! –HMC(AW) Crone

Here is the story from NavyTimes:

MCPON, departing: Campa to retire

By Mark D. Faram - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Nov 4, 2008 10:37:58 EST

The Navy’s top enlisted sailor announced he will step down by the end of the year.

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (SW/FMF) Joe R. Campa Jr. said he will leave office Dec. 13 and retire April 1. The departure will make Campa, at two years and five months in office, the shortest-serving MCPON in the 41-year history of the job.

“I wanted to stay focused and leave in full stride — that’s what I am going to do,” Campa told Navy Times. “I didn’t want to stay too long — there’s a danger in a position like this that the longer you stay, the less connected you are with those on the deck plates where I’ve always been the most comfortable — I did not want that to happen to me.”

But the announcement doesn’t mean Campa’s work is done.

“This is not a farewell — not yet,” he said “I still have some time before retirement and there is still plenty to be done.”

His final weeks will be spent putting the final touches on a few initiatives he’d like to complete. He also wants to leave some ideas for the next MCPON, should his replacement choose to act on them

Campa’s departure after 29 years of service will be strictly business, much as his time in office has been.

“There will be no ceremony when I leave,” Campa said in an e-mail to his leadership mess Monday. “Just as I’ve turned over with reliefs in the past, it will be simple, and it will be short — a handshake in the office with the next MCPON will suffice.

“The memories I’ll take with me of this job will last a lifetime — you are to thank for that,” he said in the message. “We’ve accomplished a lot on behalf of our sailors and I’m confident you’ll continue to do so. I hope you realize the role you’ve played in every decision or recommendation to come out of this office.”

Campa said he will not have a hand in selecting his replacement — a process that is expected to begin now that Campa has signaled his exit. Any current command master chief is eligible to become MCPON.

“That decision will be totally up to [Chief of Naval Operations] Adm. [Gary] Roughead,” Campa said. “But once that person is named, I will do everything I can do to set that person up for success.”

In a personal message sent to all flag officers, Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Gary Roughead said that the “Navy owes MCPON Campa a great debt of gratitude for what he has accomplished on behalf of our sailors.”

Roughead said he was “deeply indebted” to Campa “for his leadership and extraordinary support for me in my first year as CNO.”

The message noted many of Campa’s accomplishments, but took special notice of the key theme of Campa’s tenure.

“Early in his tour, it was very clear that his intent was to re-set the chiefs’ mess and return its members to the role of deck-plate leaders,” Roughead said in the message. “[Campa] systematically, through numerous deliberate decisions, refocused our navy chiefs on what our navy needed and expected of them. As his tenure comes to a close, the term ‘deck-plate leadership’ has become the watchword of the Navy chief.”

Since the top enlisted position was created in 1967, only one other MCPON has served less than the three years normally allotted for the job: William Plackett, who served two years and 11 months, from October 1985 through September 1988.

Of the 11 MCPONs to date, six have served at least four years in office. One of them, John Hagan, the eighth MCPON, served the longest at five years and seven months. Three others served between three and four years.

MCPON Guidance for Active Duty Selection Board

MCPON To Chief Selection Board: What I Expect of First Classes

Story Number: NNS080625-11
Release Date: 6/25/2008 4:51:00 PM

By Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist (SW/AW) Bill Houlihan, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Public Affairs

MILLINGTON, Tenn. (NNS) — Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON)(SW/FMF) Joe R. Campa Jr addressed the active duty chief petty officer selection board June 23 and outlined his expectations of first class petty officers being considered for selection to chief.

“You are the gatekeepers to our [CPO] community,” Campa told the selection board. “What you do in the next several weeks will impact our [chiefs] mess and our Navy for years to come.”

First line leadership, rating expertise, professionalism, communication, loyalty and heritage are all mentioned in the CPO precepts, the governing document each selection board uses as they deliberate and select Sailors whose records appear in front of a board.

“Those expectations are the things we expect our first classes to be doing. We expect them to generate deckplate results. The most important factor I want you to consider is leadership, what they’re doing for those they lead. No one should be wearing an anchor on their collar if they can’t lead Sailors,” Campa said.

Language taken straight from the guidance, “Expectations of the First Class Petty Officer” has been inserted into the selection board’s precepts, and those Sailors who live up to them have the best chance of putting on anchors Sept. 16.

Campa introduced the Expectations in December 2007 and reinforced a number of characteristics effective first class petty officers have always demonstrated. Just seven months later, those expectations have been formally recognized as the most significant indicators of a candidate’s potential to lead as a chief.

Campa followed a similar formula after he introduced the Chief Petty Officer’s Mission, Vision and Guiding Principles. Within a year of their creation, they were inserted into senior and master chief selection board precepts.

“It’s one thing to talk about what we expect from our leaders, it’s a whole other matter to drive performance based on those expectations. That’s what we do when we place the Guiding Principles or the Expectations into precepts.

“We’re telling our Sailors that if they want to be advanced, the success of those they lead is what the board is going to look at,” said Campa.

The results of the MCPON’s message will be felt by the entire fleet when CPO results are released later this summer.

For more news from Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, visit www.navy.mil/local/mcpon/.

Service Dress Khaki’s Wear Testing

Aww jeez.. Damn Damn Damn…
Now they come back. This is a part of Naval heritage I always wanted to wear. Read below..D/C

Service dress khaki wear tests underway

By Mark D. Faram - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday May 1, 2008 7:12:58 EDT
Service dress khaki wear tests underway

Wear tests of a throwback service dress khaki uniform have begun at six Navy locations and will continue through the summer.

“Sailors should be aware the service dress khaki [tests] for E-7 and above are underway and they will soon see this uniform out and about,” said Rob Carroll, head of the Navy Uniform Matters office.

The khaki tests are part of a number of wear tests currently underway around the Navy. Other wear tests include attempts to improve the current enlisted service dress white and blue “crackerjacks.”

Chiefs and officers will test the khaki uniform in Washington, D.C.; Norfolk, Va.; Millington, Tenn.; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Newport R.I.; and Yokosuka, Japan. Carroll said testers are expected to wear the uniform as a travel uniform, too.

The uniform, popular during World War II, was worn through the Vietnam War. It was done away with in sweeping changes by then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo Zumwalt.

The tests will run through Aug. 25.

Wear testers will fill out online surveys and participate in focus groups about the uniform, Carroll said, and sailors who had frequent contact with those wearing the uniforms also will take part in focus groups.

Article from NavyTimes: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/04/navy_khakiweartest_043008w/