Chief Petty Officers (CPO) are a group of men and women that have for a long time held a significant position in the United States forces. The initiations have changed over the years and remain a tradition that defines acceptance of the new selectees by their colleagues. During the world wars, the main initiation ceremony involved crossing the equator. Today, much involves tests on a person's physical and psychological ability to deal with problems, challenges and emergency situations. The CPO has a number of values and traditions that the members are taught and required to follow throughout their years of service. Initiates are subjected to the process to help them acquire important life skills such a tolerance, humility in service, and servant leadership.
For one to become a Chief Petty Officer, the recruits must undergo an initiation, a process that involves physical and psychological training. A future Chief Petty Officer has to learn to serve with humility and tolerance. The initiation process involves tossing a candidate into the swimming pool waters at Pearl Harbor. It is a tradition that has been in practice since the days of the Second World War. The tossing was a means of welcoming a new CPO into the mess, a place of men and women of substance. One person tossed into the water has to dry and change the clothes before they join the rest of in a ceremonial act. Other than tossing the new members into the water, the CPOs were also allowed to consume alcohol with the rest of the team, eating from wooden troughs, singing songs for the older members and even performing skits (Leuci, 2015).
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Although there have been changes in the methods of initiation over time, the process remains alive and serve its core purpose. Both traditional and modern methods of initiation aim at bringing out the leadership roles in the selectees. They are considered the future leaders of sailors and the Navy's backbone. Initiation is a preliminary step that is used to test a person's resolve, will, ability, and endurance. Some have been subjected to wearing clothes of ridicule on the initiation day and are made to look lowly and weak. The end of an initiation session makes the beginning of a career with the rest of the team. It is a tradition that traces its roots the early days of the 50s and 60s and has to be continued, albeit with some changes. For example, the tossing of a person into the pool with their uniform came to an end years back and people started wearing other clothes (Leuci, 2015).
The Chief Petty Officers initiation has been in existence for a long time and defines annual celebrations that welcome new members into a team. The process has evolved over time and today, the greatest challenges are humility, tolerance, and leadership. Once a person is done with the initiation, they are welcome aboard for celebrations and for the advancement of their careers. Initiation is a transitional step that marks a person's entry into a career that they desire. Those who are initiated feel equal to the rest of the team after the process, putting an end to the inferiority feelings that they may harbor. It also marks the recognition of the selectees as skilled, of age and responsible enough to put on the colors of the United States Navy and related forces. The initiates become bearers of the national emblem as the power is passed over to them from the rest of the group. They become part of the group that bears the load of protecting the citizens from unwarranted external aggression.
Reference
Leuci, J. L. (2016). A Tradition of Change: CPO Initiations To CPO 365. Retrieved August 17, 2017 from: https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/browse-by-topic/Communities/Chief%20Petty%20Officers/CPO_365_History.pdf
