The career aspirations of 3,794 first class petty officers were given a huge shot in the arm today as the Navy released the names of the sailors chosen to become chiefs by the 2015 selection board.
The announcement marks the beginning of the annual chief petty officer season Navy-wide. Phase II of CPO-365 now begins as this year's chief selects start carrying around their traditional charge books and begin the final training push to become the newest members of their command's chiefs mess. The season ends Sept. 16 with pinning ceremonies around the fleet.
The selection board reviewed the records of 16,283 eligible E-6s, with the option of filling up to 3,923 available quotas. But the board had the option of giving back quotas if it couldn't find enough "best and fully qualified" candidates. This year's panel did just that, handing big Navy back 129 sets of anchors.
This year's eligible sailors had about a 1 in 4 chance — 24.1 percent — to reach goat locker. The opportunity to earn chiefs' anchors dipped slightly from fiscal 2014, when there were spaces available for 26.7 percent of the eligible sailors. Still, the fiscal 2015 opportunity was the second best since 2007.
Navy Times is publishing the names of all chief selects in the Aug. 18 issue, on newsstands Monday.
Click the link below to see if you made it.
Fiscal 2015 chief board results
Mark D. Faram is a former reporter for Navy Times. He was a senior writer covering personnel, cultural and historical issues. A nine-year active duty Navy veteran, Faram served from 1978 to 1987 as a Navy Diver and photographer.
