CPO-365 Training Session Held at GTMO

By Chief Mass Communication Specialist (SW) Bill Mesta, Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Public Affairs

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba (NNS) -- Members of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba's Chiefs' Mess and First Class Petty Officers' Mess conducted a training session to prepare the first class petty officers for advancement, Oct. 27.

The training session was held in support of the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy's (MCPON) CPO-365 program which is designed to prepare first class petty officers for the transition to chief petty officer.

"The basic idea behind CPO 365 is to get the first class petty officer mess ready to advance to chief," said Navy Counselor 1st Class Abigail Greenleaf, of the naval station's Command Career Counselor's office. "The Initial phase is to identify all the first classes and begin training."

CPO 365 is a three phased program which culminates with the chief petty officer induction season.

"The training session was part of one of the CPO 365 program and included the NS Guantanamo Bay command master chief's expectations of prospective chief petty officers because all of our first class petty officers are geared towards advancing to the chief petty officer ranks," said Chief Navy Counselor Robert Pagtakhan, the naval station's CPO 365 coordinator.

The training sessions are held monthly at the naval station.

"CPO-365 is a combination of training, networking and events that are designed to unite the first class petty officers and the chief petty officers," said Pagtakhan. "We are striving to create an environment that transition into the chief petty officer induction season, once the selection results are released in August."

In addition to monthly training sessions, physical fitness sessions, social events and combined sporting events are held at the naval station.

"The second phase of CPO 365 will begin once the Navywide advancement exam results come out," said Greenleaf. "Those first class petty officers who are determined to be 'board eligible' will continue on in the program during this phase with more preparation to get them ready should we be selected as chiefs.

"This program is providing insight for first class petty officers in terms of knowledge and expectations when we advance to chief," said Greenleaf. "The chiefs are able to identify issues with first class petty officers early and get them steered in the right direction towards advancement."

The CPO 365 also gives the first class petty officers an opportunity to build networking skills.

"By getting to know the chiefs better, we learn who we should turn to for information about different situations we encounter as first class petty officers," said Greenleaf. "Coming up through the Navy, we really aren't taught networking, but the chief's mess runs off of networking so this skill is going to be very helpful."

The training session included a brief about the 'Perform to Serve' (PTS) program which was presented by Greenleaf.

"We provided an overview of what PTS is, how the system works and broke down the different items that are taken into consideration to determine a Sailor's future retention," said Greenleaf. "This information was important for this audience because as chiefs and first class petty officers, we are guiding our Sailors' careers and need to understand the programs and how they affect them."