As part of Chief Petty Officer Initiation, Sailors memorize several readings, each teaching some lesson related to their impending promotion. One of these is a comparison of a Chief and an E-7. There is no difference to the untrained, but most of us know better. The first line of the comparison provides a basic explanation: the E-7 is always part of the problem; the Chief is always part of the solution.
Some may wonder what relegates one to life as a number instead of as a Chief. This is not easily explained, but there are some examples. Choosing not to participate in Initiation certainly results in designation as an E-7. Less commonly, Sailors who completed training but who fail to earn their anchors daily through performance and devotion to the Core Values can be known by pay grade. Betraying the Chiefs' Mess in some other way can also result is losing the respect of the Mess and the proper title, albeit unofficially. Similarly, the moniker of E-8 and E-9 can be assigned to those who don't meet muster relative to expected performance in those grades.
Rank is an earned and important designation no matter what one's position is in the chain-of-command. No military professional, regardless of status, wants to be referred to by pay grade, and it can be a particularly lonely existence for Chiefs throughout a career. This discussion is important because the use of pay grade in place of rank has become too commonplace; sadly, many Sailors refer to themselves as serving in or competing for selection to the next pay grade, instead of the next rank. While few of us would allow others to refer to us in that way, we allow it to happen to each other. It's time this practice ended.
In the July 2009 issue of Proceedings, retired Rear Admiral William Holland wrote about the pervasiveness of this habit in the Pentagon. The admiral was mostly correct, but he misjudged the problem by saying "this diminution of rank does not seem to carry down into the enlisted ranks." Not only does it happen in the enlisted ranks, we allow our leaders to do it to us in a particularly significant area: our senior enlisted promotion system.
The Navy annually convenes the E-7, E-8, and E-9 Selection Boards. Messages announcing these boards typically include references to the selection of "Master Chief and Senior Chief Petty Officers," followed by references to the "E-8/E-9 selection boards" (see NAVADMIN 214/08 for an example). Are these boards selecting senior enlisted leaders or people to serve in some pay grade
The distinction may seem like splitting hairs, but considering the negative connotations of grade over rank, it is unacceptable, and inaccurate.Most Sailors selected for promotion are frocked, meaning they serve in their new rank without additional pay or benefits for some period of time. This can last nearly a year, during which newly promoted Sailors are not advanced in grade, but wear the rank and carry the associated title. Clearly, a Sailor selected for advancement to E-8 is, in reality, selected to serve as a Senior Chief Petty Officer. Pay grade is nothing more than a means for determining the monetary value of that service.
Navy Chiefs place great importance on the obvious implication of references to grade rather than rank, but this distinction is important regardless of service, and we should all avoid references to military professionals by income. True professionals earned their rank, and continue to earn their title through sustained superior performance. Referring to a military member by anything other than rank is disrespectful. Some earn that disrespect, but those instances are few and far between, and should be used sparingly.
To paraphrase Admiral Holland, can you imagine the response if someone referred to the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps as an E-10
Besides the non-existence of the E-10 grade, it's unprofessional and improper. The same goes for the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy who, as the Navy's top Chief, should demand that all selection boards reflect the true nature of their purpose to select military leaders for service in the next higher rank, not grade.