Master Chief Petty Officer

Effectively running and fighting a warship relies on bridging the gap between officers and enlisted personnel. It was from this need that the rank of Chief Petty Officer was created.

The rank of Chief Petty Officer was established on 1 April 1893, in the United States Navy. Navy chief petty officers serve a dual role as both technical experts and as leaders, with an increasing emphasis on leadership as they progress through the CPO pay grades. 

Like petty officers, every chief petty officer has both a rate and a rating. Thus, a chief petty officer who has the rating of master-at-arms would be referred to as a Chief Master-at-Arms.  Each rating has an official abbreviation, such as MA for master-at-arms. When combined with the Petty Officer level, this gives the short-hand for the Chief's rate, such as MAC for Chief Master-at-Arms. Usually, Chief Petty Officers are referred to in conversation as "Chief", regardless of their rating.

Enlisted personnel in the Navy consist of nine paygrades (E-1 thru E-9). These paygrades are divided into three subdivisions or levels:

• The lowest level consists of non-rated members (E-1 thru E-3:

  • E-1: Seaman Recruit (SR), your rank while in boot camp.

  • E-2: Seaman Apprentice (SA), your rank after competing boot camp.

  • E-3: Seaman (SN), your rank when you are striking (working for) a designated rating (occupation), such as master-at-arms (MA). Becoming a rated sailor and advancing to E-4 is dependent on graduating from a specialty school required for the rating.

• The middle level consists of rated sailors (E-4 thru E-6) who are Petty Officers (PO) who are also called NCOs or non-commissioned officers. These are sailors who have been trained for a specific occupation and are working and progressing to higher paygrades depending on their expertise and job performance.

  • E-4 (PO3): Petty Officer Third Class

  • E-5 (PO2): Petty Officer Second Class

  • E-6 (PO1): Petty Officer First Class

•  The third level are the Chief Petty Officers (CPO) (E-7 through E-9) who are SNCOs or senior non-commissioned officers that are considered extremely knowledgeable in their rating.

  • E-7 (CPO): Chief Petty Officer

  • E-8 (SCPO): Senior Chief Petty Officer

  • E-9 (MCPO): Master Chief Petty Officer, the highest enlisted rank. By Congressional law, only 1.25% of active duty enlisted forces can hold the rank of master chief. This percentage carries over into the individual ratings. 

MACM: When I served as a master chief during the 1980s and 90s, there were only about 13 master-at-arms master chiefs in the Navy; now there are over 100.

Master chief petty officer (MCPO) highest enlisted rank in the Navy. Master chief petty officers are addressed as "Master Chief (last name)." Prior to 1958, chief petty officer was the highest enlisted rate in both the Navy and Coast Guard. This changed on 20 May 1958 with the passage of Public Law 85-422, the Military Pay Act of 1958, which established two new enlisted pay grades of E-8 and E-9 in all five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. In the Navy and Coast Guard, the new E-8 pay grade was titled Senior Chief Petty Officer and the new E-9 pay grade as Master Chief Petty Officer, with the first selectees promoting to their respective grades in 1959 and 1960.

Advancement

In the US Navy, advancement to master chief petty officer is similar to that of chief petty officer and senior chief petty officer. It carries requirements of time in service, superior evaluation scores, and selection by a board of master chiefs. The board ranks all eligible senior chiefs using their career records. Master chief petty officers are then selected monthly from this prioritization list as positions become available.

Petty officers of all grades possess both a rate (the enlisted term for rank) and rating (job, similar to a military occupational specialty (MOS) in other branches). The full title (most commonly used) is a combination of the two. Thus, a master chief petty officer with the rating of Master-at-Arms would properly be called a Master Chief Master-at-Arms.

Higher Positions

Although Master Chief is the highest enlisted rank, there are positions that hold positional authority over other Master Chiefs. These positions are Senior Enlisted Advisor, Command Master Chief, Force Master Chief, Fleet Master Chief, and Master Chief Petty Officer Of The Navy.

The Master Chief Petty Officer Of The Navy (MCPON) is an E-9 chosen to be the Senior Enlisted Advisor of the Navy. The holder of this position is considered the most senior enlisted member of the U.S. Navy with positional authority over all enlisted ranks. 

Origin

In 1966, the opportunity was given to sailors in the U.S. Navy's two largest areas of concentration, Hampton Roads, Virginia, and San Diego County, California, to voice their concerns, complaints, and recommendations to the top levels of the U.S. Navy. The response was overwhelming; naval leaders realized that they were out of touch with the desires of enlisted sailors. To provide a permanent channel for input from the enlisted force to their senior leadership, the Navy acted on a suggestion to create a "Leading Chief Petty Officer of the Navy" who would have a direct dialogue channel with all enlisted sailors and represent their interests. Initially, the post was known as the senior enlisted advisor of the Navy, and on 13 January 1967 GMCM Delbert Black was selected to serve a four-year term in that capacity. On 28 April of the same year, Black's title was changed to Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy to bring the Navy in line with the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army, which had created equivalent positions in 1957 and July 1966 respectively. MCPON Black's duties were to the Chief of Naval Personnel. All subsequent MCPONs have reported to both the CNO and CNP.

MCPON Rate Insignia

MCPON Delbert Black altered his Chief Gunner's Mate insignia and added a third silver star to the rating badge. Black's wife suggested adding the third star not only on the rating badge, but also the cap and collar insignia, and the uniform board agreed. In 1971, the MCPON's rating specialty mark was replaced by a single inverted gold star as well as the stars being changed to gold. Thomas S. Crow was the first MCPON to wear the MCPON identification badge.