Re: Are these USS Kitty Hawk uniforms worth buying off eBay?

user <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]: 

> Absolutely Right Dave, thanks for clarifying and expounding on that.
> Not everyone can make Chief. We don't all possess those desired
> leadership qualities we look for in advancing a sailor to Chief. Being
> just technically competent won't get you selected. If you don't
> possess those needed leadership skills, the only other way to make it
> is to "suck up" as you stated and slip through the cracks, and wind up
> as an E-7, kinda like the other services. You never did get the fact
> that the "brass" that writes your evals are the Chiefs? (whom in your
> words are incompetent)

Nope, never said that. Many of my evals were modified by officers who 
couldn't write, and refused to change them because they thought they were 
legends in their own minds. There were also those who were wired into 
believing that all the marks had to be within a bracket, say 3.4 to 3.8, 
or 3.6 to 4.0, or even more extreme, only one mark apart - 3.6 or 3.8, 
and nothing outside. I worked for more than one DO who thought you 
absolutely couldn't give someone a 4.0 and a 3.2 on the same eval. (The 
guy I did that for had a poster-grade uniform and a short-timers 
attitude, and fully deserved both marks.) Those evals that were written 
by Chiefs and sent thru the system as written usually came out pretty 
well.

>  I suppose if you woulda made it you would have
> been the only competent one? 

Nope, never said that either. But I did give basic writing classes at a 
couple of commands, as a first class.

> See, they all sit around in the mess,
> recognize who has those needed leadership skills, then proceed to
> groom and write the future leaders the good evals and rankings. They
> don't want an E7 technician in thier mess that can't lead. They want a
> Chief in their mess. 

Agree 100%! That's why i didn't get there, but my wife did. I'm a better 
technician, but she's a better leader. There were those whose 
"friendliness" could do a lot for them, though.

> OBTW all of us CWO's/LDO's (thousands) all
> "sucked up" to promote from E1 to where we are now. Glad you
> enlightened us all. Thanks ;)

Well, the suck-up thing might have been a bit harsh, now that I've had an 
opportunity to back off for a bit. "Aw shits" seem to count a lot worse 
now than they used to, and even one can be the kiss of death these days, 
instead of being the learning opportunity it could be made into 20 yrs 
ago. Getting beyond those "aw shits" can be an area where that 
friendliness I spoke of above could give an unfair advantage for some.

I retired in 1989, so my personal participation in the great eval game 
ended then. I saw what happened in my wife's various divisions until 
2000, when she retired. I got to see the system from an outsider's 
viewpoint during those 11 years, and noticed a significant change between 
my retirement and hers. Some changes were good, some not so good. I still 
think the system is flawed despite all the changes I've seen in 30+ 
years, and will continue to hamper some folks who deserve promotion but 
can't get it because they don't fit someone's mold. 

I do accept that at least part of your response may have been tongue-in-
cheek, but I thought the original comment about the 16-year first class 
was out of line and felt compelled to reply.

Dave in San Diego
-- 
-
"For once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes 
turned skyward; 
For there you have been, and there you long to return." 
Leonardo da Vinci