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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY - NAVAL HISTORY & HERITAGE COMMAND
Chief Petty Officer
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Chief Petty Officer Medal of Honor Recipients
One Hundred Years of Leadership: The Chief
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the U.S. Navy
Petty Officer Ratings Badge Locations and
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Information about USS Chief (MCM-14)
Individuals serving as Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy 1967-present
US Navy Interviewer's Classification Guide
Master Chief Boatswain's Mate Carl
Brashear, USN (Ret.)
History of the Chief Petty Officer Grade
by CWO-4 Lester B. Tucker, USN (Retired)
Reprinted from Pull Together: Newsletter of the Naval Historical
Foundation and the Naval Historical Center, Vol. 32, No. 1
(Spring-Summer 1993).
It is a sure bet that one of the proudest days in an enlisted
individual's naval service is the date on which a first class
petty officer dons the uniform and is accepted into the Chief
Petty Officer community. At this time, the PO1's leadership and
professional abilities are recognized by superiors. These qualities
continue to be honed with experience and maturity until retirement.
This article covers the history of the grade of Chief Petty
Officer. April 1, 1993, marked the 100th anniversary of the creation
of that grade. It is necessary, however, to look back to the origins
of the Continental Navy to establish the foundation of relative
grades and classifications that led to the ultimate establishment
of the CPO grade. During the Revolutionary War, Jacob Wasbie,
a Cook's Mate serving on board the Alfred, one of the first
Continental Navy warships, was promoted to "Chief Cook"
on June 1, 1776. Chief Cook is construed to mean Cook or Ship's
Cook which was the official rating title at that time. This is
the earliest example of the use the term "Chief" located
to date by the author.
The United States Navy was reauthorized under
the Constitution by an act of March 27, 1794. The fledgling Navy
was to consist of four forty-four gun frigates and two thirty-six
gun frigates. The action taken by Congress on that date was based
upon the need to counter the Algerian pirates. However, a treaty
was reached between the United States and Algiers prior to completing
any of the vessels, and the act was allowed to expire.
The construction or completion of three frigates was later
directed under an act of July 1, 1797. Those ships were the Constitution
and United States, each rated at forty-four guns, and the
Constellation, mounting 36 guns. Personnel allowed to the
two classes of warships were the same under both acts. Petty officers,
who were appointed by the Captain, consisted of one Captain's
Clerk, two Boatswain's Mates, a Coxswain, a Sailmaker's Mate,
two Gunner's Mates, one Yeoman of the Gun Room, nine Quarter Gunners
(eleven were allowed for the two larger vessels), two Carpenter's
Mates, an Armorer, a Steward, a Cooper, a Master-at-Arms, and
a Cook. Non-petty officers, as listed in the 1797 act, consisted
of 103 Ordinary Seamen and Midshipmen and 150 Able Seamen for
the larger frigates; the smaller vessel, Constellation,
was allowed 130 Able Seamen and Midshipmen and 90 Ordinary Seamen.
None of those figures included Marines, which added three Sergeants,
three Corporals, one Drummer, on e Fifer, and 50 Marine Privates
to the complement of the larger ships. The 36 gun frigate was
allowed 1 less Sergeant and Corporal and 40 rather than 50 Marines.
Generally speaking, precedence of petty officers
was not really introduced until the U.S. Navy Regulations, approved
February 15, 1853, were published. It must be pointed out that
those regulations were declared invalid by the Attorney General
on May 3, 1853, and were rescinded due merely to the fact that
the President rather than Congress approved them. However, this
did not mean that the information and the guidelines contained
in them were inaccurate. Conversely, the Secretary of the Navy
submitted a set of naval regulations for Congressional acceptance
on December 8, 1858, but they were never acted upon in that session
of Congress. Based upon pay tables of the period, the contents
of the 1858 plan, like the regulations of 1853, appear to have
contained the current rating structure of that period.
Prior to 1853, one could infer a quasi-precedence of ratings
based upon the sequence in which ratings were listed within complement
charts; this is backed by differences in pay of various petty
officers. Another issue to be considered is the fact that the
order of the names of the petty officers as they appeared on muster
rolls could generally be considered an order of precedence. Precedence
of ratings was explicitly spelled out in Navy Regulations approved
on March 12, 1863. At this point it is useful to review the early
Civil War petty officer rating structure just prior to the official
usage of "Chief" with rating titles. Petty officers
were listed under two categories--Petty Officers of the Line and
Petty Officers of the Staff as shown in Table 1.
The 1863 Regulations made the priority of
ratings clear: "Precedence among petty officers of the same
rate, if not established particularly by the commander or the
vessel, will be determined by priority of rating. When two or
more have received the same rate on the same day, and the commander
of the vessel shall not have designated one of that rate to act
as a chief, such as chief boatswain's mate, chief gunner's mate,
or chief or signal quartermaster, their precedence shall be determined
by the order in which their names appear on the ship's books.
And precedence among petty officers of the same relative rank
is to be determined by priority of rating; or in case of ratings
being of the same date, by the order in which their names appear
on the ship's books." That lengthy paragraph was shortened
in the 1865 regulations to read simply, "Precedence among
Petty Officers of the sa me rate shall be established by the Commanding
Officer of the vessel in which they serve."
Precedence by rating was a fact of Navy life for the next
105 years and was substantiated by rating priority and the date
of an individual's promotion. Precedence of ratings remained in
effect until the issue of Change #17 of August 15, 1968, to the
1959 Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) Manual. At that time,
precedence among ratings was eliminated and changed to a single
system for military and non-military matters based on pay grade
and time in grade.
During 27 1/2 years of naval service, the author has been
audience to an appreciable number of boiling point arguments on
the ship's fantail and in the Chiefs' messes concerning seniority
of ratings. As one can determine from the foregoing evidence,
Boatswain's Mates have not always been the senior rating in the
Navy. However, if one tries to enlighten some of them they will
usually get their danders up and argue until red in the face.
Likewise, Aviation Machinist's Mates have not always been the
senior rating within the Aviation Branch. From 1924 to 1933, and
again from 1942 to 1948, the rating of Aviation Pilot topped the
mechs as well as all other aviation ratings.
It is not the intention of this synopsis to
present an extended dissertation on individual ratings. However,
at this point, clarification of a longstanding controversy and
its resultant misconceptions regarding the Chief Boatswain's Mates,
Chief Gunner's Mates, and Chief or Signal Quartermasters of the
1864-93 era is necessary. Those three ratings have at one time
or another been erroneously identified and argued as being Chief
Petty Officers. General Order #36 of May 16, 1864, effective July
1, 1864, listed Navy ratings along with monthly pay for each rating.
Among the ratings included were Chief Boatswain's Mate, Boatswain's
Mate in Charge, Boatswain's Mate, Chief Gunner's Mate, Gunner's
Mate in Charge, Gunner's Mate, Chief Quartermaster and Quartermaster.
Boatswain's Mates and Gunner's Mates received $27.00 monthly and
Quartermasters, $25.00. Chief Boatswain's Mates and Chief Gunners's
M ates were paid $30.00 per month and were listed for service
only on board vessels of the lst and 2nd rates. Chief Quartermasters
were paid the same except for a $2.00 reduction while serving
in ships of the 3rd and 4th rates. Boatswain's Mates in Charge
and Gunner's Mates in Charge were also paid $30.00 per month.
The primary difference between the Chief Boatswain's
Mate and Boatswain's Mate in Charge and the Chief Gunner's Mate
and Gunner's Mate in Charge lay in their assignments. Chief Boatswain's
Mates and Chief Gunner's Mates were permitted on board ships of
the first two classes of vessels (1st and 2nd rates with 100 or
more crewmen). The Boatswain's Mate in Charge and the Gunner's
Mate in Charge could be assigned to any of the four classed vessels
(1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rates) and specifically only when a Warrant
Boatswain or Warrant Gunner was not assigned to the ship. Boatswain's
Mates in Charge and Gunner's Mates in Charge appeared in the rating
structure for only five years. They were last listed in the pay
table included in the Navy Register for July 1, 1869, and were
eliminated from this list with the issue of January 1, 1870. From
that date, according to complements set in 1872, Chief Boatswain's
Mates and Chief Gu nner's Mates were assigned to vessels of all
four classes. Then, five years later, by the allowance list of
1877, they were assigned only to ships without a warranted Boatswain
or Gunner.
The title of Chief or Signal Quartermaster was mentioned in
the 1863 Regulations and requires explanation. The term Signal
Quartermaster was utilized from at least the early 1800s. That
title identified those Quartermasters who were principally involved
with signaling and the care of flags, halyards, markers, lanterns
and other paraphernalia as opposed to Quartermasters who were
mainly concerned with navigational and steering duties.
From 1863 to 1865, the rating titles of Chief
Quartermaster and Signal Quartermaster were virtually synonymous.
Furthermore, the 1863 Navy Regulations and the 1864 pay order
did not present a distinction between those two titles. In 1865,
however, by U.S. Navy Regulations approved April 18, 1865, a distinction
was made between Quartermaster (not Chief Quartermaster, which
was never listed) and Signal Quartermaster listed under Petty
Officers of the Line. Signal Quartermaster was listed as third
in precedence (after Gunner's Mate), whereas Quartermaster was
sixth (after Coxswain to Commander in Chief of a Squadron or Fleet).
Those two ratings continued to be carried in successive issues
of Navy Regulations until 1885. It is of note that Signal Quartermaster
was never listed as a separate rate from Chief Quartermaster in
the pay tables covering those twenty years. Therefore, the title
of Signal Quartermaster, instead of Chief Quartermaster, can be
considered as the official title from April 18, 1865, to January
8, 1885. The title of Chief Quartermaster, primarily found in
Navy pay tables for that same period, can be judged to be an alternate
or common-use title for Signal Quartermaster. In other directives
and correspondence these two titles were often used interchangeably.
It is necessary to reflect back to Chief Boatswain's Mates
and Chief Gunner's Mates to define their exact status. Navy Regulations
of 1865, 1870, and 1876 fail to show Chief Boatswain's Mate and
Chief Gunner's Mate as different rates or levels from Boatswain's
Mate and Gunner's Mate respectively. It therefore follows that
to justify calling the Chief Boatswain's Mate and the Chief Gunner's
Mate additional rates one has to depend upon General Order 36
of May 16, 1864 (effective July 1, 1864), and Tables of Allowances
for the 1870s which list them as rates or ratings along with Boatswain's
Mate and Gunner's Mate. To answer the question of whether the
Chief Boatswain's Mate, Chief Gunner's Mate, and Chief Quartermaster
or Signal Quartermaster of the 1863-93 era were or were not actually
Chief Petty Officers is elementary. They were not Chief Petty
Officers due to the fact that the grade had not yet been created.
On January 1, 1884, when the new pay rates became effective,
there existed the three aforementioned rates carrying the word
Chief--Boatswain's Mate, Gunner's Mate, and Quartermaster--all
paid $35.00 per month. Several other rates were paid higher amounts,
ranging from $40.00 to $70.00 per month.
Fifty-three weeks later, on January 8, 1885,
the Navy classed all enlisted personnel as first, second, or third
class for petty officers, and as Seaman first, second, or third
class for non-petty officers. Chief Boatswain's Mates, Chief Quartermasters
and Chief Gunner's Mates were positioned at the Petty Officer
First Class level within the Seaman Class; Masters- at-Arms, Apothecaries,
Yeomen (Equipment, Paymasters, and Engineers), Ships Writers,
Schoolmasters and Band Masters were also First Class Petty Officers
but came under the Special Branch; finally, Machinists were carried
at the top grade within the Artificer Branch. Included under the
Special Branch at the second class petty officer level was the
rate of Chief Musician who was junior to the Band Master. That
rate was changed to First Musician under the 1893 realignment
of ratings was and carried as a petty officer first class until
1943.
On April 1, 1893, two important steps were taken. First, the
grade of Chief Petty Officer was established; secondly, most enlisted
men received a pay raise. The question is often asked, "Who
was the first Chief Petty Officer?" The answer is flatly:
"There was no first Chief Petty Officer due to the fact that
nearly all ratings carried as Petty Officers First Class from
1885 were automatically shifted to the Chief Petty Officer level."
Exceptions were Schoolmasters, who stayed at first class; Ship's
Writers, who stayed the same but expanded to include second and
third class; and Carpenter's Mates, who had been carried as second
class petty officers but were extended to include chief, first,
second, and third classes. Therefore, the Chief Petty Officer
grade on April 1, 1893, encompassed the nine rates shown in Table
2.
Prior to the establishment of the Chief Petty Officer grade,
and for many years thereafter, commanding officers could promote
petty officers to acting appointments in order to fill vacancies
in ships' complements. Men served various lengths of time under
acting appointments, generally six months to a year. If service
was satisfactory, the captain recommended to the Bureau of Navigation
(called the Bureau of Personnel, BUPERS, after October 1, 1942)
that an individual be given a permanent appointment for the rate
in which he served. Otherwise the commanding officer could reduce
an individual to the grade or rate held prior to promotion if
he served under an acting appointment. The change in status from
acting to permanent appointment was always a "breathe-easier"
occurrence. This meant that the commanding officer could not reduce
a Chief Petty Officer in rate if he messed up. It took a court-martial
and the Bureau's approval to reduce a Chief serving under a permanent
appointment.
The letters "PA" and "AA"
were written alongside rate titles and their abbreviations. Those
letters stood for permanent appointment and acting appointment,
and were used to signify a Chief Petty Officer's status. After
March 8, 1946, the letter "A" (for acting appointment)
was used integrally with the rate abbreviation. For example, Chief
Boatswain's Mate with an acting appointment was abbreviated CBMA.
Pay grade 1-A no longer signified acting appointment for Chief
Petty Officers after October 1, 1949, as affected by the Career
Compensation Act of October 12, 1949. From that time, CPOs received
the same pay regardless of whether they held permanent or acting
appointments. On November 1, 1965, acting appointments were dropped
from use.
A pay differential existed between permanent and acting appointments
until 1949. Pay for Chief Petty Officers, in 1902, ranged from
$50.00 to $70.00 depending upon the specialty held. General Order
134 of June 26, 1903 (which became effective on July 1, 1903),
ordered that "Chief Petty Officer Officers whose pay is not
fixed by law and who shall receive permanent appointments after
qualifying therefore by passing such examination as the Secretary
of the Navy may prescribe shall be paid at the rate of $70.00
per month."
CPOs holding permanent appointments dated prior to July 1,
1903, were required to requalify by standing an examination before
a board of three officers. If they passed, they were issued permanent
appointments by the Bureau of Navigation. Those who did not requalify
remained in their pay and grade level instead of increasing to
the $70.00 level.
Pay levels for enlisted men at that time were established
by executive order until July 1, 1908. An act of May 13, 1908,
established that the U.S. Congress would set pay for enlisted
men. However, during the Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt,
by executive order alone, temporarily decreased the pay of all
Armed Forces personnel by 15 percent from April 1, 1933, to June
30, 1934, and 5 percent from July 1, 1934, to June 30, 1935.
|
Chief Petty Officer Ratings on April
1, 1893 |
Seaman Branch
Chief Master-at-Arms
Chief Boatswain's Mate
Chief Quartermaster
Chief Gunner's Mate |
Artificer Branch
Chief Machinist
Chief Carpenter's Mate |
Special Branch
Chief Yeoman
Apothecary
Band Masters |
The act of May 18, 1920, effective January 1, 1920, standardized
pay at all levels from the lowest non-rated grade, which was Apprentice
Seaman, through Chief Petty Officer. Base pay for Permanent Appointment
Chiefs was $126.00 per month, and for Acting Appointments, $99.00.
These pay rates remained effective until June 1, 1942. Under the
act of June 16, 1942, pay was increased to $138.00 and $126.00
for CPOs with permanent and acting appointments, respectively.
By an act of June 10, 1922, which became effective July 1, 1922,
the pay grades of 1 and 1-A to 7 were established. CPOs (PA) and
Mates were carried in pay grade 1 whereas Chiefs with Acting Appointments
were listed in pay grade 1-A. On October 1, 1949, by the Career
Compensation Act of October 12, 1949, pay grades were reversed
and the letter E, for enlisted, was added setting all Chief Petty
Officers at E-7 vice pay grades 1 and 1-A.
The pay grades of E-8 and E-9, Senior Chief and Master Chief,
were created effective June 1, 1958, under a 1958 Amendment to
the Career Compensation Act of 1949. Eligibility for promotion
to E-8, the Senior Chief level, was restricted to Chiefs (Permanent
Appointment) with a minimum of four years in grade and a total
of ten years of service. For elevation from E- 7 to Master Chief,
E-9, a minimum of six years service as a Chief Petty Officer with
a total of 13 years service was required. The E-5 through E-9
levels included all ratings except Teleman and Printer which at
the time were being phased out of the naval rating structure.
People holding those ratings were absorbed or converted to Yeoman
or Radioman from Teleman and primarily to Lithographer from Printer.
Service-wide examinations for outstanding Chiefs were held on
August 5, 1958, with the first promotions becoming effective on
November 16, 1958. A few months later, a second group of Chiefs
from the February 1959 exam inations were elevated to E-8 and
E-9 effective on May 16, 1959. The names of the first two groups
of selectees are listed in Bureau of Naval Personnel Notices 1430
of October 17, 1958, and May 20, 1959. It is noted that after
the May 1959 elevations, promotions to E-9 were through Senior
Chief only.
On July 1, 1965, compression of several ratings at the two
top grades was enforced. Six new rating titles were created: Master
Chief Steam Propulsionman, Master Chief Aircraft Maintenanceman,
Master Chief Avionics Technician, Master Chief Precision Instrumentman,
Master Chief Constructionman, and Master Chief Equipmentman.
Conversely, about four years later, on February 15, 1969,
some expansion at the Senior and Master Chief grades eliminated
Master Chief Steam Propulsionman. Expanded rates included Master
and Senior Chief Torpedoman's Mate, Quartermaster, and Storekeeper.
Seven ratings were reestablished at the E-8 and E-9 grades, presenting
the opportunity for Chiefs to again advance within their specialty
to E-9. The seven affected ratings were Signalman, Mineman, Aircrew
Survival Equipmentman, Aviation Storekeeper, Aviation Maintenance
Administrationman, and Boiler Technician.
The only recent rating change that has had a substantial effect
on the Chief Petty Officer community occurred on January 1, 1991,
when three ratings were merged into one. Antisubmarine Warfare
Technician, Aviation Fire Control Technician, and Aviation Electronics
Technician ratings at the E-3 (apprenticeship) and E-4 through
the E-8 petty officer grades were merged into the single rating
of Aviation Electronics Technician. At the same time, the rating
of Avionics Maintenance Technician (E-9 only) remained as the
normal path of advancement from the rates of Senior Chief Aviation
Electronics Technician and Senior Chief Aviation Electrician's
Mate.
The current number of ratings of Chief Petty Officers falls
far short of the number listed at the end of World War II, which
then totaled 207 different rating titles. At the present time
there are 81 rating titles that apply to Chief Petty Officers,
80 titles for Senior Chiefs, and 69 rating titles for Master Chiefs.
Only two ratings have remained in continuous use since 1797--Boatswain's
Mate and Gunner's Mate. The service of all senior enlisted personnel,
past, present and future, are recognized in their centennial year,
aptly marked by the theme, "One Hundred Years of Leadership."
CWO-4 Lester B. Tucker, USN (Retired), enlisted in the
Navy in 1939; for the next 27 years he served as Gunner's Mate
Third Class, Aviation Ordnanceman Third Class, Aviation Chief
Ordnanceman, and Warrant Gunner (Aviation). Since 1974, he has
conducted extensive research on the history of U.S. Navy ratings
from the Revolutionary War to the present for a multi- volume
series on that topic.
Sources: Information contained in this article was collected over several years from Navy Regulations,
General Orders, NAVEDTRA, BUPERS Manuals and Notices, ALNAV Bulletins and other sources.
08 January 2008