MCPON, departing: Campa to retire - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

MCPON, departing: Campa to retire

The Navy’s top enlisted sailor announced he will step down by the end of the year.

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (SW/FMF) Joe R. Campa Jr. said he will leave office Dec. 13 and retire April 1. The departure will make Campa, at two years and five months in office, the shortest-serving MCPON in the 41-year history of the job.

“I wanted to stay focused and leave in full stride — that’s what I am going to do,” Campa told Navy Times. “I didn’t want to stay too long — there’s a danger in a position like this that the longer you stay, the less connected you are with those on the deck plates where I’ve always been the most comfortable — I did not want that to happen to me.”

But the announcement doesn’t mean Campa’s work is done.

“This is not a farewell — not yet,” he said “I still have some time before retirement and there is still plenty to be done.”

His final weeks will be spent putting the final touches on a few initiatives he’d like to complete. He also wants to leave some ideas for the next MCPON, should his replacement choose to act on them

Campa’s departure after 29 years of service will be strictly business, much as his time in office has been.

“There will be no ceremony when I leave,” Campa said in an e-mail to his leadership mess Monday. “Just as I’ve turned over with reliefs in the past, it will be simple, and it will be short — a handshake in the office with the next MCPON will suffice.

“The memories I’ll take with me of this job will last a lifetime — you are to thank for that,” he said in the message. “We’ve accomplished a lot on behalf of our sailors and I’m confident you’ll continue to do so. I hope you realize the role you’ve played in every decision or recommendation to come out of this office.”

Campa said he will not have a hand in selecting his replacement — a process that is expected to begin now that Campa has signaled his exit. Any current command master chief is eligible to become MCPON.

“That decision will be totally up to [Chief of Naval Operations] Adm. [Gary] Roughead,” Campa said. “But once that person is named, I will do everything I can do to set that person up for success.”

In a personal message sent to all flag officers, Roughead said that the “Navy owes MCPON Campa a great debt of gratitude for what he has accomplished on behalf of our sailors.”

Roughead said he was “deeply indebted” to Campa “for his leadership and extraordinary support for me in my first year as CNO.”

The message noted many of Campa’s accomplishments, but took special notice of the key theme of Campa’s tenure.

“Early in his tour, it was very clear that his intent was to re-set the chiefs’ mess and return its members to the role of deck-plate leaders,” Roughead said in the message. “[Campa] systematically, through numerous deliberate decisions, refocused our navy chiefs on what our navy needed and expected of them. As his tenure comes to a close, the term ‘deck-plate leadership’ has become the watchword of the Navy chief.”

Since the top enlisted position was created in 1967, only one other MCPON has served less than the three years normally allotted for the job: William Plackett, who served two years and 11 months, from October 1985 through September 1988.

Of the 11 MCPONs to date, six have served at least four years in office. One of them, John Hagan, the eighth MCPON, served the longest at five years and seven months. Three others served between three and four years.

How successful has Campa been as MCPON? What do you think of his initiatives, including the overhaul of chiefs’ evals? And what would you like to see the next MCPON do? Discuss here.