Navy Chief Petty Officer charge book is fundamentally a book or just a simple record obtained from inspiration or guidelines given or passed by Chief Petty Officers. Teamwork is encouraged, but individuals’ effort/creativity is paramount in this charge book. Notably, its history traces back to World War 2, a fact that is worthwhile, noting that some entries in the books included what can be termed as directives. Leadership, accountability, and other professional subjects are among the things that Chief Petty Officers talked about to first class aspirants.
Initiations to introduce new Chiefs to Chieftaincy were common in 1960s and 1950s. Newly selected chiefs were advised to make sure that the charge books signified or displayed pride. Creativity and craftsmanship were some reflections expected in the charge books as a result of encouragement and words of wisdom from the Chiefs. However, in the late 1960s, it was rare to find Chiefs and junior officers keeping records and schedules of events using notepads. This, however, changed in the mid-1970s, as chiefs used small green pads to keep records. As time passed, the ‘respect’ accorded to charge books faded, and by the 1980s, the charge book was not highly respected as before. This led to extensive scrutiny of how initiations of chiefs were conducted. Interestingly, to keep alive the initiation process, MCPON Jim Herdt made the charge book’s preparation mandatory for initiation processes in 1998. This turn of events led to the writing down of the history of charge books in 1999. By this time, chiefs’ interest to keep this ‘sweet’ tradition influenced their agreement with this rule, and by the following year (2000), majority of chiefs maintained the charge books.