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BLACKHAWK U. – CPO 365 Case Study #1
You are very excited about checking into the squadron. This is so much different than
your last duty station at the Military Entrance Processing Station HQ. There, you worked
with only a few Navy personnel and following advancement to First Class Petty Officer,
you were the only PO1 at Head Quarters during the last year. You are excited to finally
come back to an operational squadron and getting to be a division LPO. You pause at the
hangar entrance and think back on your 12 years of service and the pride you have in
wearing the uniform of a United States Sailor, the same uniform your grandfather proudly
wore so long ago.
As you enter the hanger, you notice coffee cups and candy wrappers on the deck. You go
into Maintenance Control to inform the Maintenance Desk Chief and you find him
watching some video on the computer. You correct the problems on the spot.
You stop by the FCPOA Mess where you meet AM1 Jonah and AD1 Cartosi. They are
very friendly and welcome you aboard. You have a lively discussion about the command
and their opinions. You notice AD1 Cartosi seems a little bitter his Physical Fitness
Assessment (PFA) failures. AM1 Jonah seems a little puzzled by how discipline is being
administered across the squadron. He said, “Ops seems to be more lenient on Sailors
before using a report chit as opposed to Airframes, who has little tolerance.” You tell
AM1 Jonah that you were impressed with the professional manner in which your
reporting urinalysis was conducted.
As you work your way to the shop spaces, you pass a former shipmate, AZ2 Beckett,
who you remember as a squared away Sailor from a previous command. You exchange
words and she closes by saying, “Stop by some time and see our Fitness Enhancement
Program (FEP) workout, it’s better than our last command.” You make a note of the FEP
workout because you really like helping Sailors with their fitness. You make it to your
spaces and your Chief, Chief Collins, is waiting for you.
Chief Collins has the Division Officer Records ready to discuss personnel. You have 15
Sailors in your shop and the discussion lasts about 2 hours. You make notes on a few
Sailors where you believe action is warranted. The one that really bothers you is PO3
Skyler – Chief Collins said that he wasn’t approved for his first PTS look, but you
noticed that PO3 Skyler only has 7 months left to his EAOS. The rest of the morning is
filled with reviewing the maintenance status board, CDB’s, and tool log and talking to
Sailors about the upcoming MCI inspection. After lunch you spend time inspecting shop
spaces. You find that most of the deficiencies from the last zone inspection have not
been corrected.
You stop by to talk to your Division Officer, LTJG Franklin. LTJG Franklin mentions
that he is a little worried about the Maintenance inspection - he is not sure the shop is
ready. He even expressed concerns that preparations haven’t been done (in accordance

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with the XO plan). Right before you leave, LTjg Franklin says, “It’s good to have you
onboard. I look forward to you working to helping make the division better.”
During lunch you eat with AT1 Grant and AD1 Brown. The discussion varies but the
upcoming MCI inspection has AD1 Brown worried. He thinks his division is weak in the
monitoring area because his Sailors get nervous. You offer to conduct a spot-check and
he accepts. You make arrangements to conduct the monitor at 0800 tomorrow morning.
He thanks you and you head back to your shop.
You meet with your Shop Training Petty Officer to discuss qualifications. She shows
you the Training Report and highlights the fact that no one is currently delinquent. Her
biggest concern is that PO3 Riley is about to take the EAWS exam. The last two division
members failed their first EAWS exam. She mentions to you that the AO’s always do
well on the exams. She finishes with in-rate qualifications, mentioning that three Sailors
have been waiting on the MO for quite a while for final interviews. You look at your
watch and remember the FEP session.
You stop by to observe the FEP session already in progress. When the FEP session is
over, you give the fitness leader, AZ2 Beckett, a BZ for leading a great workout session.
You noticed that AD1 Cartosi was not in attendance, so you ask AZ2 Beckett and she
tells you that AD1 Cartosi hasn’t been to a session in weeks.
The day was exhausting, but before you head home you review the results of the last MCI
to prepare for the spot-check you have tomorrow morning. You also see an email from
the Command Master Chief (CMC) with a subject of “Follow-up Check-In Interview.”
The CMC’s email is a reminder of an appointment with him on Thursday at 1400.
Wednesday
You arrive at work early to check emails and get things in order before your spot-check.
You notice that the CFL, AWS1 Switch, has sent out the weekly FEP monitor report.
You review it and notice that AD1 Cartosi was marked as attending yesterday’s session
and that he is marked as attending three sessions each week for the past three weeks.
You arrive in Maintenance Control for your spot-check at 0800 and they are ready. You
will be inspecting Zone 1 and 2 of aircraft 200 today. You, AD1 Brown, and one of the
maintenance techs head out to the aircraft. You start documenting several hits. Most of
them are CAT 1 (light corrosion) with a couple of NFC (non flight critical) hits. You then
come across a Flight Critical hit due to a piece of equipment that is not properly installed.
The maintenance tech says that he has never mounted that particular equipment and was
told to just place it there and get on with other maintenance work. You and AD1 Brown
approach the current Maintenance Desk Chief and explain the issue in reference to the
equipment not being installed. Maintenance Desk Chief pulls you aside and says that he
doesn’t have time right now to have the equipment installed and that he will get it taken
care of sometime tomorrow. You remember though that aircraft 200 is not listed as being

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down on the maintenance status board and address that with the Maintenance Desk Chief.
You tell him that you will have to document this and report your findings to the
Maintenance Master Chief. He starts to go off on you – and says, “Look boot, I’ve been
doing this longer than you’ve probably been in the Navy. I knew you shouldn’t have
been allowed to monitor.”
At 1400 you attend the PO1 meeting. The PO1 Association president discusses
command support of duty and watchstanding to help with Maintenance Inspection
preparations. Additionally, the dates for the Summer Picnic come up, and find out that
shops need to get their inputs into MWR Committee President asap. One PO1 in the
corner (who you don’t know) yelled, “He shouldn’t have been put in charge of the picnic
to begin with.” One other PO1 noted that Sailors need to continue to work on cleanliness
throughout the command (particularly common areas). As everyone waited for the CMC
to arrive as scheduled for the meeting, you overhear, “Yep, those damn Airmen don’t
know how to stand watch, last night one of them was found sleeping as the Flight Line
Integrity watch.” The CMC arrives and says, “Shipmates, thanks for all the hard work, I
need you to stay focused on upcoming deployment forward. I know we have a lot of
plates spinning but deployment preps is critical to our Sailors’ success – so don’t lose the
ball on this.”
Thursday
At morning quarters you notice AN Jackson looks detached and upset. You take him
aside afterwards and learn that he just reported onboard 4 days before you (less than 2
weeks ago). He mentions that his wife just arrived this past weekend, and that they need
to find a place to live. She is stressing over him deploying so soon and you tell him you
will find him later.
You have lunch with AZ1 Osborne and AM1 Brunch. You mention to AZ1 Osborne that
you served with AZ2 Beckett years ago and that you were impressed by her
professionalism during the FEP workout. The discussion moves on and leads to
programs. AZ1 seems frustrated as to why some divisions and departments seem to do
better on the warfare and advancement exams than others. AM1 comments that his
division officer (LT Bobenreith) is clueless and doesn’t understand anything about the
Navy. Then AD1 Cartosi sits down and the conversations stop.
After lunch you stop by your office and pull out your copy of the POW.
Your appointment with the CMC is now an hour away. You pull out a notepad and
decide what you are going to discuss with the CMC. You look back on the week you’ve
had and you begin to write……

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Issues Concerns Actions Outcome References