“We worked off two lists,” said NPC Force Master Chief Chris Detje. “One showed us the gaps and the other showed us the leaders we’d draw from to fill those gaps. It was aggressive and deliberate.”
The group considered 299 master chiefs and 1,582 senior chief petty officers currently assigned to jobs below their paygrades. Detailers briefed the symposium on each misaligned Sailor and considered every individual circumstance before taking action on 509 SCPOs and 119 MCPOs, 32% and 40% respectively.
Those 628 senior enlisted leaders identified for movement will be cross-decked to gapped at-sea or critical shore billets, diverted if already ordered to a misaligned billet or had their projected rotation date (PRD) adjusted to minimum activity time to place them in their orders negotiation window sooner than previously anticipated.
“We had a large group of people come together with the common goal of making our Navy better prepared to fight, to place our most experienced leaders where we need them the most,” said Detje. “At the same time, it was gratifying to see them consider each individual’s personal situation before moving them.”
Sailors with critical NECs, assignment to overseas DoD tours, pending or approved fleet reserve requests were largely left where they are currently assigned. Family situations such as spouse co-location, and the exceptional family member program were also factors that prevented movement.
“The Navy got stronger last week,” said NPC Career Management Department (PERS-4) Command Master Chief Bill Houlihan. “Sailors across the fleet will be led well by senior enlisted leaders we’ve entrusted with specific jobs, at their assigned paygrade. At the same time, I’m proud of the fact that we were able to keep family in mind as we looked at each leader.”
Previous re-distribution cycles resulted in an annual adjustment of approximately 20% across chief, senior and master chief paygrades. The optimization symposium increased that total by 14% and it won’t stop there. “Chiefs are next,” said Detje. “We’ll get a similar group together once CPO Initiation is complete and we’ll examine any gaps created by SCPO and MCPO optimization. We’ll fill those, too.”
Sailors selected for adjustment will be contacted immediately by their detailers to inform them of the changes to projected rotation dates, diversions, and other changes agreed by the group. Sailors can expect the move process to begin as soon as January 2022, which will provide 90 days to prepare for the transfer.