Chief's Pinning

Its getting cooler in Baghdad. This morning felt like it was in the 70’s which is downright cool when you’re coming out of a 130 degree summer. But the insurgents sent a warm little boom flying over the Tigris to wake us from our fall reveries.
Yesterday was the Chiefs pinning ceremony. The position of Chief Petty Officer (E7) is a special one in the Navy. Its when an enlisted person retires the crow, takes of the crackerjacks and Dixie cup and dons khakis and a combo cover. They join the Chiefs mess on the ship and I think they are given a coffee mug with the admonishment to never wash it…just let that brown stain accrue as a sign of how long they’ve been a chief.
So a Chief’s pinning is a big ceremony. The middle of the desert has a small Navy footprint so we only pinned four Chief’s yesterday. A rear admiral gave the speech. Four retired Chiefs working over here either in government service or contractors stood on the side. After each Chief was pinned him and his Chief sponsor would walk over and stand with the retired chiefs. The Chief read the Chief’s creed…”Ask the Chief has become a household phrase both in and out of the Navy…”
I enjoy these ceremonies. These are the events that make being in the Navy the best job around. This was my fourth one. It was the third I’ve seen while on a deployment and the other one we were out at sea doing work ups. I want to see the next Chief pinning ceremony from homeport.
The event drew the handful of Navy personnel around here out of the wood work. One was an absolutely stunning LN2. She had red hair and green eyes and really is the kind of girl who can stop traffic or launch a thousand ships. A guy walked up to here and asked to have his picture taken. Afterwards I walked over to talk again. “What did that dude want his picture taken for?”
“Sir he said he wanted to have his picture taken with his Marine bodyguard or something.”
“That’s crap…you’re a pretty girl with red hair. That’s why he wanted his picture taken with you. That sort of burns me up.” Of course, I’ve done the exact same thing before.
“Sir, that happens here all the time. I want to tell them to get a life.” She used to be on my old ship, USS SACRAMENTO, but that was before I got there. She’s getting out of the Navy because she has two kids and nobody to take care of them when she’s gone. I wished her luck and walked over to the garbage cans to break up ice for the party we were having later.
Last night we had a going away party for SSgt N (Bob). We presented him his flag then LtCol V sang while I played guitar. It was a good event, laid back. But its pretty dark out by the hedge row of lime trees. The memorable line from last nights top ten list:
You know you’ve been in Baghdad when you go home and stop signs don’t mean a damn thing.