Recently, a fellow master chief had to retire, somewhat against his will. He had reached his allotted number of years and it was time for him to shift colors and join the ranks of the retired community. He was 47 then and seemed to be in good health. With a birthday right around the corner and my spot on the pay chart, I am not too far behind him. Am I ready to retire? Is 30 years for a master chief the right amount? Are the other mandatory retirement points for the various enlisted ranks correct?
With high-year tenure for petty officers first class back at 20 years, there are a few upset petty officers throughout the fleet. About twice a year, I go to a command master chief conference and listen to one or two master chiefs lamenting their retirements. Chiefs and senior chiefs have echoed the same thoughts. Another issue worth discussing is whether our brothers in arms in the reserves and National Guard should be able to retire and draw retirement pay at age 60 or the proposed age of 55. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who is 70, remarked that he does not understand why anyone would want to retire at 55. The issue of mandatory retirement is made even more poignant with his proposal to increase the mandatory retirement age for three- and four-star officers with an increase in retirement benefits. The fact that this proposal recently was struck down in the House of Representatives does not mean the issue will go away.
The idea is now "in play" and easily could be resubmitted or modified in the future.
Is mandatory retirement a magic point on a calendar or is it an age? For those who joined at age 18, our magic point comes along at 48 with 30 years of service if we can make master chief. On the other hand, if I had joined when I was 25 then I could be a ripe old 55 before I reached mandatory retirement.
What is so special about 30 years of service being the maximum length for a master chief or about any of the high-year tenure points for other enlisted ranks?
Some critics might argue that if a master chief stays past 30 he is preventing people from advancing in rank.
Others may argue we need to have a mandatory retirement at the high-year tenure points to maintain a strong force. While those arguments are reasonable, they ignore reality. Every master chief who has more than two years in grade and is past 20 years of service is keeping six people from advancing. A senior chief who has two years in grade and is past 20 years is keeping five people from advancing, and so on. I believe the fact that we have a healthy force has more to do with physical readiness and good lifestyles than years on an imaginary counter.
Perhaps what we need is a screening process where we evaluate sailors for continued service past a certain point based on a number of factors that could include performance, health, and contribution to mission accomplishment. Every sailor should be evaluated for continued service past 20 years and those who go past that point should get reevaluated at 24 and 28 years, and then every two years thereafter. While the first cut should come from the sailor's commanding officer, the recommendation should go through the first flag officer in the chain of command before going to the Bureau of Personnel for final approval. If anyone in the chain votes against further service then it returns at that point to the member's command to plan for a retirement ceremony. Using such a system also could allow us to modify the advancement system in an interesting way. We would identify most of our senior enlisted vacancies through requested retirements, but our non-requested retirements would produce vacancies to promote sailors to the more senior grades outside of the advancement system, with each selection board providing a slate of candidates who are eligible for advancement but awaiting vacancies. Once the retirement is official, a monthly message would inform those who are awaiting openings.
Mandatory retirement based on years of service may be one way to measure the ability to do a job. Basing it on age, health, contribution to mission effectiveness, fitness, and ability to make a difference in our youngest sailors as they grow into the naval leaders we need is another. At some point, we must choose the better of the two ways.
Master Chief Butler is the command master chief of Fleet Tactical Support Squadron (VRC)40. Previously he was command master chief of the Whidbey Island (LSD-41), Halyburton (FFG-40), and Monongahela (AO-178).