What does a chief petty officer do?

A chief petty officer is the highest-ranking enlisted leader or leaders seen on deck with the sailors. Working with them side by side, training and advising them at the same time. The chief petty officer is the first rank in the Navy that has much broader powers and responsibilities than those below him. In addition to the functions of his category, a chief petty officer is responsible for training junior officers and for managing his division of sailors and non-commissioned officers.

A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior petty officer in many navies and coast guards. Chief Petty Officers are the true leaders of the Navy (at ground level). The bosses wear the same khaki uniforms as the officers and are given due respect. They are very experienced technical experts and leaders of self-paced sailors.

Good bosses ensure that their sailors are well cared for physically and emotionally and that they are constantly advancing their careers. They supervise and guide first- and second-class non-commissioned officers in the daily operation of the Division, and only take over when the problems they face are new and very complex. In addition to a monthly basic salary, a chief petty officer in the Navy may be entitled to several types of allowances and bonuses, such as payment for hostile fire, personal monetary allowance, and more. The equivalent of a chief non-commissioned officer for a civilian government employee is paid according to the salary scale in the general category.

In the Royal Navy, the rank of chief petty officer is higher than that of petty officer and lower than that of petty officer in class 2.In addition to greater responsibilities, chief petty officers enjoy a wide variety of in-service benefits far superior to those received by non-commissioned officers or enlisted sailors. A chief petty officer can only be promoted after being reviewed by a selection board of acting principal non-commissioned officers, in fact electing his own and, conversely, not others. While the story of the bosses is important, boss is a particularly special title when considering the rank of E-7 to E-9 in the other branches of the military. Bosses constantly face a lot of difficulties during boss season and after the dressing ceremony, in which the selected boss ultimately gets stuck with the main presenter.

Like non-commissioned officers, all chief NCOs have a qualification or position, and their full operational title is determined by their qualification; a chief petty officer who specializes as a fellow gunnery officer, for example, is known by the full title of comrade in chief artillery. In oral references, chief NCOs may be called bosses, but they are never called sir. With so many stressors in their normal working life, bosses need to be able to break down barriers and find ways to overcome their difficulties in order to move on and be the best bosses they can be. Use the slider below to calculate the basic salary and training salary of an E-7 chief petty officer in different years of their military career.

A division officer and a division chief are supposed to be division leaders hand in hand; however, most of this effort during the first few months involves the chief teaching his division officer how to interact with the sailors and do their jobs. Promotion to chief petty officer is an even more rigorous process than promotion to any of the ranks of non-commissioned officers. After being elected chief, first-class NCOs assume the title of “select boss” while undertaking the grueling mental and physical training of the boss season. After a highly competitive selection process, the selected candidates are incorporated into the Chief's community by their new colleagues and commanding officers.