More on CPO Selectees Aboard USS Constitution

This article came up in my Google news alert for "USS Constitution".
It's from The Dolphin.

Selectees hit the deck of Old Ironsides during Chiefs' Indoctrination Training
By: MCC(SW/AW) Evelyn Haywood
08/27/2009
BOSTON, Mass. - USS Constitution made history 197 years ago as the first U.S. Navy warship to defeat a British warship, HMS Guerriere, in battle, and "Old Ironsides," as Constitution came to be known, continues to impact the Navy's future. Each year the USS Constitution hosts over 300 Chief Petty Officer Selectees and about 50 Mentor Chiefs for the Chief Petty Officer Heritage Weeks, a step in the indoctrination process into the largest fraternity in the world, U.S. Navy Chiefs. They come from all over the world to participate in a once in a lifetime experience, having been chosen from thousands of applicants.

Once a Sailor reaches the rank of Chief Petty Officer, their role changes and there are new depths of responsibilities and expectations demanded of him or her. A Chief Petty Officer is the first of the senior enlisted ranks, where they spend more time leading junior Sailors to accomplish the Navy's mission and helping them to achieve the same success that they have attained. Sailors that are selected to the rank of Chief come with beneficial experience and lessons learned, but those that have already made it to that rung of the ladder provide special training to guide them to even more success.

Welcome to Induction Training

Once any Sailor in the Navy learns he or she has been selected for Chief, they enter a six-week, intensive training cycle geared toward developing advanced leadership and teamwork techniques within one of the Navy's most talented cores. In a process resembling the basic training they received at the start of their careers, these senior Sailors train alongside established Chief Petty Officer mentors using teambuilding challenges, complex problem solving and, for a lucky few, immersion into naval heritage in order to transition from a bluejacket to a Chief.
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Read the rest here.

This pic is from the Facebook page "2009 USS Constitution CPO Heritage Week 2"