The Chief Officer Academy ( Cpoa )

Becoming a Chief Petty Officer is a significant accomplishment in the life of a Sailor. It is a rank that is honored and respected by officers and junior Sailors. The Navy is the only branch that conducts Chief Petty Officer Initiation training; therefore E-7’s from other branches may elect and benefit from the training. The foundation of the Chief Petty Officer was established on April 1, 1893, and it remains strong due to the past and present chiefs who take pride in their heritage. Being a Chief Petty Officer means assuming greater responsibility as a leader, upholding standards, carrying on a legacy, training, and ensuring junior Sailors promote.

The privilege to command units afloat and ashore provided me with intimate exposure to the challenges experienced by our workforce and their families. Often accompanied by a myriad of ethical dilemmas, these challenges provided a wealth of experience and a better understanding of the impact a leader has on the workforce and their families. Similarly, my experience as the Boatswain’s Mate “A” School Assistant School Chief afforded me vital insight into the Coast Guard’s formal training system, Human Performance Technology and the development of future enlisted leaders. These experiences provided invaluable opportunities for me to interact with our workforce and understand their views, perform thorough assessments of complex situations, and provide accurate, sound, and practical counsel in order to achieve the best outcome for the unit and our Coast

I used to view chief petty officer as nothing more than a rank that I would achieve as I worked my way up the ladder to higher positions within staff. I’ll admit to being a bit puzzled as to why the c/PCPO’s went through such a seemingly strenuous transition when their reward was simply making chief. Lately I’ve come to realize that yes, all you get out of the c/PCPO transition is the rank of chief, but that chief includes much more than the title of being a chief. Being a chief means you are willing to take charge of a higher level of responsibility, and coinciding with that, being able to lead a larger unit of people. Being chief means that you understand how to properly lead those who rely on you. Chiefs’ work together to make up the higher ranks of staff that plan how the unit is to run, but they also lead the individual cadets. A chief, by definition of being a higher rank, is expected to set an example for other cadets to learn by. Chiefs also select chiefs to lead the unit when they have left, accepting both the responsibility of the unit at present, and who will manage it in the future.

The creed of the noncommissioned officer is a baseline for all noncommissioned officers Corporal all the way up to Sergeant Major, on how to conduct oneself in the leading of soldiers. It does not outline every single situation you may come into throughout your military career but if you live this creed then you should be set for success. In this paper we are going to take an in depth look into the creed and how you can apply every aspect of it to leadership.

Leadership development in the military is critical to its mission and objectives. Understanding and embracing leadership will foster an agile culture and facilitate attainment of strategic goals. People desire quality leadership to assist with achieving their goals, albeit personal or professional development. Having a clear vision and the motivation to perform at high-levels influences others to work synergistically together to achieve organizational goals. Insomuch, employees value being treated respectfully, fairly, and ethically. Leaders serve people best when they help them develop their own initiative and good judgment, enable them to grow, and help them become better contributors.

Given the opportunity to take command of a Remotely Piloted Aircraft Attack squadron actively engaged in combat is truly humbling, and standing on the shoulders of giants, now is the chance to test whether training, examples, both good and bad, and a lifelong building of one’s philosophy is enough preparation to meet that test. My leadership philosophy is one of proactive engagement, continual process/self-improvement, honest feedback, and 360-degree accountability. On Col Waddell’s continuum of Leader Behavior, my leadership style trends toward follower-dominant but not as far as TQM. I present ideas and problems, get suggestions and ultimately make the calls.

As an officer in the United States Army, it has been imperative for me to understand every facet of leadership and why it remains important to be an effective leader. During this course, I have learned some valuable lessons about myself as a leader and how I can improve on my leadership ability in the future. The journal entries along with the understanding of available leadership theories have been an integral part of my learning during this course. For all of the journals and assessments that I completed, I feel it has given me a good understanding of my current leadership status and my future potential as a leader. All of the specific assessments looked at several areas in regards to leadership; these assessments covered several

Selfishness, overblown sense of worth, and indecisiveness are certain traits that seem to appear more frequently in today’s leadership due to an ineffectual advancement process. The Navy’s advancement process consist of a standardized test, Navy wide rating quotas, and evaluations which may or may not accurately reflect the person’s being. Certain aspects of these rolls and processes need to be changed to more accurately reflect those qualities that are required to be an effective leader in today’s Navy.

There were many valuable topics covered during my time at the Chief Petty Officer Academy (CPOA), however three of them have and will continue to help shape me as a leader and be useful to assist those I work with at my upcoming duty assignment. There were many take-backs from my five weeks at CPOA; however the three I found the most valuable are wellness/fitness, facilitating meetings, and team building. These three very simple techniques can be quiet challenging for some and do create greater challenges if not used at all.

The purpose of this paper is to identify how CPL Pat Tillman’s attributes and competencies impacted the U.S. Army and my leadership philosophy. The U.S. Army defines attributes of a leader as having impeccable character, presence, and intellect; with competencies described as leads, develops, and achieves (Headquarters Department of the Army [HQDA], 2015). The U.S. Army leadership requirements model defines the expectations and standards asked of leaders in the Army. CPL Tillman instilled in himself all these attributes and competencies, which I strive to emulate daily in my leadership style. CPL Tillman’s attributes and competencies positively impacted the Army and the community, which ultimately contributed to my personal

Throughout my time at CPO Academy I have been personally struck by the depth of knowledge, professionalism, and character of all the staff and for the first time felt a real palpable sense of being involved in something special with a real sense of purpose and a very long and special history. The CPO Academy brings the idea to the surface what most members only think about in passing, and that is how important the rank of the Chief Petty Officer is in the Coast Guard both now and into the future. The most important lessons that I have learned from and will take back to my unit from the CPO Academy include the lessons learned from The Leadership Challenge, a more dedicated sense and commitment to my health and physical fitness, as well as the value in the lessons learned from Sexual Assault Prevention & Response.

Every uniformed Army professional knows the Soldier’s Creed. The tenth line of the Soldier’s Creed - “I am an expert and I am a professional,” is a powerful statement recited during significant occasions including enlistments, graduations, first formations, promotion boards, change of command ceremonies, and deployment ceremonies. The NCO Creed even includes the bold statement, “No one is more professional than I,” in the opening line. For these words to ring true, the Army must deliver training sufficient to certify professional Soldiers and leaders at all levels. The Army’s ability to recognize this need and adapt its methods speaks volumes for the Profession of Arms. The three components of the Army’s leadership model -

As a leader, my attitude can be damaging or beneficial to my team. I have identified a need for a change in my performance and leadership qualities while attending Chief Petty Officer Academy. To be an effective leader, I must be motivated to work out, improve my attitude for myself and others and be attentive to personality types.

“Keep Calm and Ask the Chief”, this phrase, which is a play off the British motivational poster from World War Two, did more than bring a smile to my face. That phrase helped me understand that a Chief is more than a title more than an anchor on one’s collar a Chief is a mentor and leader. I want to be a Cadet Chief because they represent what I strive to be, however, at this moment I do not deserve to be a Cadet Chief Petty Officer.

Beginning in boot camp and continuing throughout my career, I’ve seen the Coast Guard promote the leadership model to be: “You” influencing “Others” to achieve a “Goal”. With all the different ways leadership can be defined, this simplistic model which has been permanently engrained in my thinking definition still rings true for me. As such, when defining my own personal definition of leadership, I align it to this same model. More specifically, while I support the fact that leadership involves influencing others to achieve a common end I propose that is not the whole story. Leaders must not be stagnant in their vision and must lend themselves to the possibility they may have to adjust their leadership styles depending on the goal. The best leaders are the ones that understand their own personality traits as well as those traits of the people they are trying to lead.