***Warning – profanity ahead***
If you’re sensitive to that kind of thing, it’s probably best for you keep moving forward.
What follows is my account of how I was “asked” to leave the US Navy. It is a real story from my point of view about real people that I had to work with. I have left off the names of the culprits, however, anyone using their “little grey cells” will be able to figure out who the guilty parties are.
I got fired.
Well, I was asked to retire.
You see what happened was…
It was over a year ago. I was serving as the Command Master Chief (CMC) at Surface Combat Systems Center, Wallops Island, VA. We were doing our best as a Command Leadership team to deal with the impact of this new thing called COVID-19. We were all hoping it was going to be a gut it out for two week thing but just starting to realize we were in for a long haul.
As the CMC, it was my job to make recommendations to the Commanding Officer (CO) about the enlisted workforce. It’s not a job that you can train for, sure there are schools the Navy will send you to where you learn to drink the Kool-Aid, but I’d never attended. I was just doing the best that I could with what I had available to me. The biggest thing I was doing during this time was staying on top of the hourly changes to instruction and guidance that was coming out and ensuring everyone was aware and following the rules.
Big Navy had put out guidance that “Sailors were not to go out in town unless it was essential”. That meant gyms were closed, eating out was off-limits, even barbershops and nail salons were forbidden. I’d even seen reports of a CMC in the Hampton Roads area who was caught at the gym by another patron who had snapped a picture of him getting his workout on and turned him in. He was summarily relieved from his position and forced to retire.
This was all very exhausting work, and I decided to take a stay-cation at home and use a few days of leave to just chill out and collect my wits.
During that vacation, the Navy decided to make all Sailors sign a page 13. A page 13 is an administrative comment in the service record. It can be a bad thing, or it can be something that the Navy told you, you signed it, therefore you were trained and if you broke the rules, the Navy had its ass covered. Anyway, big Navy decided to make all the Sailors sign a page 13 on what they could and could not do. I got a call from the Executive Officer at home saying I needed to sign the page 13 and return it to the admin office while I was on leave. This page 13 specifically stated that no Sailors were allowed to get their haircut because barbershops were off-limits.
Now, I was usually not a rule breaker, but I had signed up to get my haircut later that week. Upon being bothered at home with the ridiculousness of having to sign a page 13 while on leave saying I wouldn’t get my hair cut, I cancelled my appointment, signed the page 13, sent it to admin, and went back to work the next day.
The CO and XO had been joking around with me about when I was going to get my haircut. I could see on the XO’s face that morning that he was not happy about the fact I didn’t have my haircut. Before he could say anything to me about it, I said, “Well sir, I was going to get my haircut this week, but you made me sign a page 13 while I was on leave saying I couldn’t do it, so I cancelled my appointment.”
He simply replied, “you need to leave…now.”
So I left and went back to work.
He didn’t speak to me for the rest of the week except to bawl me out in front of the admin officer like the complete unprofessional asshole that he is.
It was the most productive week I’d ever had not having to babysit his ass.
Then, I got called into the CO’s office.
I was told under no uncertain terms that I needed to get my haircut, even though it went against the page 13 I had signed and set a better example for the sailors at the command.
“I am setting a good example for the sailors. We made them sign page 13’s saying they wouldn’t go to a barbershop and get their haircuts and that’s what I’m doing”, I said.
I was told that sailors could go out and purchase a shaver and cut their own hair or get one of their buddies to cut their hair for them.
This was total bullshit. Some people cut their own hair, I’m not one of those people. I did it once and would up having to shave my head. I didn’t used to trust the girl at the barbershop with purple hair, then I realized, that’s the girl who know’s what’s up. I want her to cut my hair every time. Not to mention, that girl with the purple hair has a license from the state saying she has met the minimum requirements for cutting people’s hair. I don’t have one of those, so I’m not qualified. In the Navy, we qualify people to do things and don’t let unqualified people do things. There’s a reason for that. Ever see a dude with the back of his head all messed up looking like he was in a fire or something? Yeah, more likely he went to his buddy’s house and got a trim and guess what? His buddy isn’t licensed by the state. He didn’t meet the safety and cleanliness standards that barbershops have to obtain and he got an infected blade on his neck that led to a skin condition. Not to mention, who are we to tell the sailors what to do with their own money?
None of my arguments mattered. I was told to get my haircut, figure it out, and that every sailor needed to have their haircut by next Monday. I was also told that I needed to reevaluate my position as CMC and decide whether I was better suited to be the CMC or better to go back to the island and work in OPS department. So fuck it, I went out and got my haircut…at the barbershop…where I wasn’t supposed to go.
Before illegal haircut 
After illegal haircut
One week later, I was asked to gather the Chiefs in the headquarters building. I wasn’t told anything other than that the CO wanted to speak with them. The Chiefs arrived, I went to get the CO and XO, I was told they weren’t ready yet, so I went back to the conference room. Then, I was pulled out of the conference room by the XO and marched to the CO’s office where I was stripped of my title as CMC. Then, I was replaced by the next highest ranking individual from the mess.
In front of the entire mess, I was relieved and replaced. This does not happen in the military. We praise in public and punish in private. But that’s not what happened to me. Usually, if a CMC or someone higher ranking is relieved, he just disappears and everyone wonders what the hell happened. I was publicly humiliated.
You know what? FUCK THOSE GUYS!! I didn’t say anything to anyone about what happened for the longest time. They kept a close watch on me even though they thought I didn’t know what they were doing. I kept my mouth shut and decided it was time to get the fuck out of this man’s navy. Besides, they could have made my life a lot harder than they did. In a way, they did me the biggest favor ever. It was the match that lit the fire under my ass and motivated me to put in my walking papers. Thanks assholes! I dropped my papers that weekend, cleaned out my office, and turned over with the new guy on Monday. Time for someone else to take a crack at babysitting grown ass adults.
Now I’m retired and I can tell everyone what really happened. I got fired because I wouldn’t back down to a couple of bullies and I stood up for what I knew was the right thing. I didn’t say anything at the time because I didn’t want to seem like I was bitching and complaining. I had set my sails and I was steering the course I decided, not what someone decided for me.
When I checked out with the CO, he asked me, “did you support the sailors and make a difference to them?”
“Yes sir,” I answered without hesitation. “I stood up for the sailors and did what was right without question and made a difference to the sailors that needed it the most.”
Besides, who fucking cares. I’m retired now and it’s all a bunch of bullshit when I look back on it. Just some ass-wipe with a small dick trying to prove to everyone (including himself) that he has all the power, but everyone really knows the truth; he’s just an ass-wipe with a little dick.
Someone once said, “When the shit hits the fan, you have only moments to prove what you’re worth.”
Ace, you were right. The shit had hit the fan, I had only moments, and I proved what I was worth. More than anyone ever knew, including me.
“When the shit hits the fan, you have only moments to prove what you’re worth.”
OSCM Larry “Ace” Knowles, USN Ret.
Eric’s Blog 
Leave a reply to Dave Weeks Cancel reply