Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC) - Norfolk, VA –
It all starts with leadership. The Chief’s Mess is unequivocally one of the most crucial links connecting the junior ranking to the top brass of any command. To be selected to ‘The Mess,’ a First-Class Petty Officer has to excel amongst their peers. But it doesn’t stop there. After being selected, the ‘Chief Selects’ must continue to prove their worthiness to ‘Be the Chief,’ in a time-tested, tried and true process—the Initiation.
Continuing from decades of tradition, Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC) proudly welcomes ten newly selected Chief Petty Officers.
The Chief initiation is a six-week program that focuses on several key areas: leadership development, mentorship, networking and teamwork, decision-making, alignment with core values, skill enhancement, lastly, tradition and legacy.
“Navy Chief, Navy pride!” chants echo around the base during the brief pauses from age-old and modern harmonic cadences in the pre-dawn hour. Navy blue and gold saturate the athletic fields and sidewalks as the newly selected chiefs physically train as part of the transformation to higher level of leadership.
Senior Chief Electrician’s Mate (Nuclear) Matthew Debski stated, "Here at MARMC we focus on leadership development quite a bit, and the Chief initiation process is the Super Bowl program.”
“Training our reliefs is both a responsibility and an honor,” said MARMC Command Master Chief CMDCM David Adkins. "By instilling a warfighting mindset, prioritizing Sailor readiness, and maintaining technical competency, we ensure the next generation of Chiefs upholds the MCPON’s (Master Chief of the Navy) Mission, Vision, Guiding Principles and the standards of the CPO Creed.”
MARMC, a field activity under Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), provides surface ship maintenance, management and oversight of private sector maintenance and fleet technical assistance to ships in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.