Why would you want to be like the Chief?

by

BMC John Phillips III

    Chief is mean, nasty, heartless and cold. Chief will yell at you, bark out orders, and doesn’t care about hurting your feelings. Chief's not very nice. No matter how much you do, Chief will find the one thing you didn’t. No matter how well a job you did, Chief can find a flaw. Chief comes in pretty much when he/she wants and does pretty much what he/she wants and nobody seems to care. Then Chief has the nerve to get angry when he/she has to wait on us. Chief's so old fashioned, he/she cares about stuff nobody cares about anymore-- stupid stuff like polishing boots and shaving! Even underway sometimes he gives you a hard time about it! Chief's seen it all and done it all before. He/she is flat out cocky! I can’t understand why anyone would want to be like Chief.

Why I want to be like Chief.

    Chief sees everything.  Chief cares about me, and he/she wants me to do a good job. Chief would hate more than anything to see me get hurt.  Ok, maybe not my feelings, but after Chief yells at me, I realize why, or Chief explains it to me. I know when Chief is critiquing my work or being hard on me, it’s only because I can do better. Chief wants what’s best for the Coast Guard and me. I have noticed that when were doing good, Chief sometimes shows up a little later than normal. I guess Chief trusts that we can get things going without him/her. Other times, when we are working on something difficult and it doesn't seem like it can be done, Chief is there to show us exactly how to do it. Chief pays attention to details and tries to get us to do the same.  Whenever something goes wrong, Chief can almost always guess exactly what happened, even without us telling him. Chief knows that he/she won’t always be around and Chief knows it’s up to us to take his/her place. You know, Chief once told me, the thing he/she enjoys the most about work is when Chief sees someone teaching someone else something he/she taught them. Whenever I have a problem and I need to talk, Chief is always there to listen or to offer me some great advice.  It’s like Chief knows exactly where I am coming from. You know, I bet Chief used to be just like me.