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Photo by Kim Upshaw
AMC Joe Borsodi from PMA-205 shows Andrew, Christopher and Frank Orsini one of the displays inside the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum. Andrew and Christopher Orsini are members of Boy Scout Troop 66 from West Windsor, N.J. The family stopped at the museum on their way home from the Centennial National Boy Scout Jamboree held at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia. |
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Chief Petty Officers (CPOs) routinely handle many demands easily and with assurance. One of the demands CPOs must meet is to indicate what they do each year to increase their knowledge of naval history and heritage in ‘‘Block 39” of their annual performance reports.Chief Petty Officers are the only Navy echelon currently evaluated in this area.
In order to help CPOs meet this requirement the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) which oversees all official Navy museums, has implemented a requirement stating that all museums must execute plans to establish a relationship with their local CPO community.
Retired Lt. Cmdr. Harry R. Errington, the museum’s volunteer Aircraft Manager, has worked in cooperation with Mr. Kim Nielsen, the museum’s director from the NHHC, US Naval Air Systems Command Master Chief (AW⁄SW) Lloyd W. Long, and the Patuxent River Naval Air Station’s Chief Petty Officer Association (CPOA) beginning with the group’s president, Senior Chief Dave Baird, and ATCS Nick Kessel who serves as the CPOA’s lead on the project to do just that.
Positive leadership is a hallmark of Navy Chiefs and this combined group has put together a comprehensive plan that is long-lasting, grassroots, and meets both CPO reporting and NHHC requirements.
The project began earlier this year with training by Errington and the museum’s Chief Docent, Flight Engineer Chuck Kerr.Training is augmented on site with an education guide highlighting museum displays and artifacts.
As part of the program, Chiefs in full uniform staff the museum on Saturdays where they greet, educate, and share Naval heritage and history with museum visitors, using the indoor displays and outside display aircraft, together with personal training and their experiences with the fleet.
Three shifts, through a rotating Chiefs roster, are covered every Saturday, each with flexibility built in to accommodate different guest-traffic levels.Shifts are tailored toward having maximum CPO presence during peak hours, allowing the ability to reduce the number of Chiefs present when guest density does not warrant additional volunteers.
The program has been considered to be very successful by both the CPOA and members of the museum staff creating a mutually beneficial relationship.
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