The White Falcon - 18.07.1986, Blaðsíða 6

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy... an update on v
Washington (NES)—RMCM (SW) William H.
Plackett fills the Navy's highest en-
listed position— Master Chief Pet-
ty Officer of the Navy. Although
he's stationed in Washington, D.C.,
MCPON Plackett knows the con-
cerns of sailors throughout the
Navy and is working for their best
interests.
How does the three-star master
chief find out what's on enlisted
people's minds? For one thing,
Plackett travels extensively, which
gives sailors a chance to bend his
receives correspondence.
But the most effective way for enlisted people to
let Plackett know what they're thinking is through the
Fleet, Force and Command Master Chief Program.
"The program not only gets the seamen's feelings up
to me, but it gets those feelings to the chain of
command at all levels," Plackett said. "And that's
what's encouraging to me about the command, fleet
and force program — the fact that the chain of
command now is much better apprised of how their
people feel than they were before."
ear. He also
An Initiative to Inouate
The Navy reviews its policies and programs on a
regular basis, Plackett said, and he's been
impressed by what he called "an initiative to innovate
— to take a program apart and look at it from every
perspective and every angle, to see if we're doing
things the best that we can possibly be doing them
with the resources and assets that we have.
That tendency to look at all angles means it
sometimes takes the Navy a longer time to solve a
problem, but the solution then becomes better for
the greatest number.
For example, Plackett said the top concerns he
hears from the enlisted force are about housing
shortages, military medical care for dependents,
and the ever-present question of uniforms.
fl bright future for Navy Housing
The Navy expects to solve the housing problem
over the next decade by allocating as much money as
possible toward providing more housing.
The location of Navy bases compounds housing
problems. "We generally are right in a large
metropolitan area," Plackett said. "That has an
upward pressure on the housing costs, and we are
very, very short in those areas. It causes an
extreme hardship on our sailors."
Plackett said the 1,300 family housing units
scheduled to be built this year are "just really a drop
in the bucket when you look at 1,300 units Navy wide
versus the 20,000 units short we are."
Advice on Dependent Medicol Core
Concerning dependent medical care, Plackett said,
"It's a fact
our military
being seen
realizes that
civilian
means money
pockets.
"My advice to
we get this thing
for dependents) all
everyone should
sider looking at some
supplementary health
of life that fewer and fewer of
dependents and retirees are
in our medical facilities." He
every referral to
health care
out of sailors'
sailors is until
(medical care
sorted out,
seriously con-
form of a
insurance cover-
age to offset that difference in the cost of medical
care and what CHAMPUS will pay, "Plackett said. "In
other words, something to insure your deductable."
fln issue thot olivoys comes up
As for uniforms, Plackett said the subject of
uniforms is an issue that always comes up. In an
interview with All Hands (June 1986), Plackett talked
of uniform changes and expressed concern that
sailors be properly compensated for the uniforms
they have to buy. "I say we ought to have at least
half of the cost covered," Plackett told All Hands.
Gromm-Rudmon's impoct on us
"The initiative to innovate is also what’s going to
get us through Gramm-Rudman and make us come out
stronger," Plackett said, “because I think we re going
to learn to use and manage our resources a lot
smarter. “
Plackett said although there are areas that
suffered losses because of Gramm-Rudman- Hoi lings'
impact, any real loss or tangible degrade is difficult
to pinpoint.
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The White Falcon July 18, 1986