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Navy seeks new servicewide ‘ethos’

The Navy has a creed, knows what being a “shipmate” means and now is looking for an “ethos.”

A Navy-wide message sent Monday invited sailors and civilians throughout the service to comment on a draft statement and submit suggestions to help define the “distinguishing character, culture, or guiding beliefs” of the sea service. The message was signed by Vice Adm. John Harvey, director of the Navy Staff.

“The purpose of the Navy ethos statement is to communicate and emphasize the fundamental principles and values we would expect to be shared by all who serve within the Navy team, military and civilian alike, no matter what community, command, specialty, or position each of us are associated with,” Harvey wrote.

He wrote that Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead directed the development of an ethos in his 2007-08 guidance “as an underpinning to mission success Navy-wide.”

The Navy has posted a sample statement at http://www.ethos.navy.mil, where visitors from military computers can leave their ethos suggestions or comments on what other people have posted. There is also an online survey.

The Navy will also convene official visits and town hall meetings to discuss an ethos “in the coming weeks,” Harvey wrote.

The search for a Navy ethos comes two months after the Navy announced that Chief Aviation Electronics Technician (AW) Todd Brown, of the carrier Carl Vinson, had won the servicewide essay contest to re-define the word “shipmate.”

“Shipmate is a term with inherent connotations of teamwork, camaraderie and belonging,” Brown wrote.

And the ethos search comes more than three years after the Navy ordered all sailors and officers in training to recite the sailor’s creed each day. The creed was originally drafted in 1993.

DEFINE: The “distinguishing character, culture, or guiding beliefs” of the sea service