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Chief of Naval Personnel Visits Ronald Reagan

FOR RELEASE: 7/19/2007

From USS Ronald Reagan Public Affairs

USS RONALD REAGAN, Coronado, CA -- Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. John C. Harvey Jr. met with the senior leadership of “America’s Flagship,” USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), July 18 during a visit to the San Diego area.

The meetings took place at Naval Air Station North Island on a berthing barge moored near Ronald Reagan, which is currently undergoing a scheduled pier-side maintenance period.

Harvey and Capt. Terry B. Kraft, Ronald Reagan’s commanding officer, hosted a discussion session with all Ronald Reagan department heads. Senior and master chief petty officers from Ronald Reagan then met with Harvey to discuss current issues in the enlisted community.

“The most important reason why I’m here is to hear directly from you,” Harvey told Ronald Reagan’s leadership. “I want to hear some of your ideas and your input.”

During the two meetings, Harvey described his vision to improve total readiness by sizing, shaping, and stabilizing the current force.

“We are going to a sea-centric force,” said Harvey. “There is going to be more time at sea, the billet structure is shifting from 70 [percent] of our billets ashore and 30 at sea to 50-50.”

Harvey stressed the changing demographics of the United States and the need for Reagan and other fleet leadership to send only their very best Sailors to recruiting duty, as the Navy is engaged in a very competitive battle for talented high school graduates needed to man the fleet in the years ahead.

“We have to broaden our recruiting efforts,” said Harvey. “We’ve had a tougher recruiting environment in this country than we’ve had in the past few years.”

According to Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman (SW/AW) Tonya Carlson, the chance to visit with Harvey and discuss current issues meant a lot to senior enlisted leadership.

“I was excited that the Chief of Naval Personnel came in and addressed that the chief’s board is in session right now,” said Carlson. “He is committed to the quality of the chief selection process, and not hindering that process with the timelines of the board, so that the quality of chiefs is not affected.”

“Our ship is recognized for its performance of excellence, and it was important for the admiral to come here to get the word from some of the best sailors in the fleet,” added Carlson.

Harvey also spoke on rating mergers, manpower, individual augmentees (IA) and the need for commands to support both IA missions and the families of Sailors filling IA billets.

Senior Chief Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) (AW/SW) Timothy Goode said the meeting was a good place to compare the future needs of the Navy with what is currently happening in the fleet.

“It means he cares, it means he’s willing to come out here and take a look and see what we have to say, from the deckplates and from the front line,” said Goode.

Ronald Reagan is currently undergoing a planned incremental availability in her homeport of San Diego following a three-month surge deployment in support of operations in the Western Pacific.

For related news, visit the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/cvn76/.