MCPON Steven Giordano faces Navy IG investigation
According to Stars & Stripes, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Steven Giordano, the senior-most enlisted sailor in the entire Navy, is being investigated by the Navy’s Inspector General in regards to unspecified allegations of misconduct;
The probe was initiated following a formal complaint by a sailor working for Giordano, alleging he created a toxic work environment and belittled people who worked for him, often demanding they perform menial tasks, according to a report from Navy Times. The report cites more than a dozen unnamed sailors who worked for Giordano during the last two years.
A spokesman for Giordano did not respond to a request for comment about the allegations.
Giordano, who enlisted in 1989, is the 14th master chief petty officer of the Navy, according to his official biography. He is a native of Baltimore, Md.
I guess someone didn’t like police call and cleaning their room.
Category: Navy
Menial tasks? Since when do Sailors decide which tasks are menial? Scut work might be menial, but someone has to do it. FFS
I Agree.
Word.
This clown might want to join the Infantry.
It probably means he told them to clean up after themselves. HQ types seem to think the rest of the unit exists to clean their toilets, mop their floors, etc.
I remember when President Reagan took office. We went back to emptying our own trash and dusting our desks, which didn’t bother me. What did bother me, was the civilian contractor was still paid the same rate as under President Carter. HQ SQ Admin, first USAF job. Pretty sweet job.
If it weren’t for the shit work, doing it the military way, at the appointed time, how would new boots learn? That was my greatest remembrance of learning discipline and order, by doing the menial, shit work. In the end, it made me a better soldier and helped me learn how to lead, motivate and treat others when I became and NCO.
As an older, wiser Top Sergeant once told me, in a rather encouraging manner, when I asked about doing this kind of work, “The Officers are the head of the Army, BUT…the NCOs are the BACKBONE. And you troops, well, you’re right below us”. I remember feeling sort of proud after he said that, as I went back to trimming hedges and pulling weeds.
Until it dawned on me, just what exactly was below your backbone and why he had that smile on his face as he finished his “encouragement”.
That time that Hack Stone spent shoveling horseshit at the 29 Palms Horse Stables waiting for class to start gave him the intrinsic skills that made him the successful director of media relations at a proud woman owned business that sells software to the federal government that he is today.
And slightly off topic, in the event that Dallas Wittgenfeld is reading this, Hack Stone does not live in Gaithersburg MD. Inquiring minds want to know what kind of shit that you are smoking to make this idiotic conclusion.
And having General Norman Schwarzkopf as the 172’Nd Arctic Light Infantry Brigade stopped all us peeons from having to paint rocks anymore…
That was his pet peeve and many of us PFC’s and below were quite happy he outlawed it.
He kept it up as he led his force to victory in Desert Storm I.
He said something to the effect that if he didn’t outlaw it some stupid 2Lt would have half the people in his platoon painting the damn things instead of training to go to war in Iraq…
Rest Easy Sir, it was an honor to have you for a CO !!!
In before MCPO comes in here and loses his shit…3…2….1…..
posting to hold the space. I want to see/hear this…also IDC SARC might have something I want to see on this too.
First post.
here’s my comments from the last WOT – there’s a link to a story from navy Times about it:
http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=80002&cpage=1#comment-3128691
Could be whiners going blue falcon.
Not sure what the Navy equivalent is. I believe their phrase is “Don’t screw your shipmate,” so that would make them…what? Sable Sqids? Silver Sharks? Saffron Sea Urchins?
Could be? Of course they are a bunch of babies. Cripes. They should be honored to be asked to polish his shoes.
I’m former Navy. But, yeah, I do wish that discipline and duty was a higher priority when I was still in.
In the Navy, we didn’t have a nickname like BF or Blue Falcon for that kind of person. They got called exactly what they were acting like – a Buddy Fucker.
The article in the Navy Times has more information; which, if true, would support the complainers. The very idea he should have a CPO to carry his bags and take notes is incomprehensible.
Here. Read it again. “He is simply obsessed with the idea of being a three-star admiral and believes that he should have a chief petty officer assigned primarily to carry his cover and personal bag and take notes for him,” said one anonymous rat.
What the anonymous rat said is that he claims to know what Giordano believes about a CPO carrying his bags. That’s very different from Giordano having a CPO carry his bags. And, of course, we have to assume that the anonymous rat is correct about what Giordano believes.
I’d like to know who the moronic-looking people are in that Navy Times pic accompanying the article. https://www.navytimes.com
I’ll take a stab at it. Finnish Special Forces?
Menial tasks? As an E-6 while I a deployment in South America I had to clean shitters. Why? We all had to pitch in due to the few of us available. You do what needs to be done without complaint.
“without complaint”
Never! As long as there are Privates there will always be bitching and moaning! 😉
It’s a God-given right. One side of the coin is “Bitch and Moan” and the other is “Hurry Up and Wait.”
As long as there are Privates there will always be bitching and moaning!
And a Corporal to remind them why they are bitching and moaning
A bitchin’ troop, is a happy troop.
There wasn’t anybody to bitch to. One just held their nose, tried not to look at the turds, and finish the job.
I never cared too much for the bitchy, moany, groany, complainy jerks that just seemed to make time drag on.
You can do easy time or hard time. Easy time is just doing what has to be done. Hard time is bitching about every day so it consumes your day.
Stories I have read suggest he is a tyrant. This not only from junior enlisted, but very senior enlisted. He demands staff perform functions outside their responsibilities. I’m not talking about Navy duties, but personal functions. If all of what I have read is true, this guy should be out the door. There is a much more detailed posting about him last week on TAH. It’s worth a read to get an idea of how tyrannical is this guy. The Navy Times story also goes into greater detail about him. It’s one thing when junior enlisted say a guy is a slug, it’s quite another when several E-7/8 Sailors say the same thing. Worth the read.
That’s my takeaway from this.
It’s one thing to dismiss one disgruntled sailor, quite another to dismiss most of your Chief’s Mess AND a number of senior officers.
And apparently he thought the “perks” equivalent to that of a 3-star Admiral went straight to his head and he thought he WAS a 3-star Admiral.
Shades of Joe Sestak all over again.
There’s a real cocksucking asshole – Joe Sestak
Ditto that, if the complaints were from E4 and below I’d say it was Bluefalconitis and butthurt, but if they’re coming from E7’s and 8’s IMHO it’s time to take a serious look!
Believe it or not, sometimes E4 and below have legitimate complaints.
Where do you think those E7s and 8s come from, under a cabbage leaf?
“The Navy Times story also goes into greater detail about him.” I read it and put a link to the NT in my comment. Can you tell me who, by name and rank, accused the man of what? Maybe it’s just the Navy, or maybe it’s today’s military but I just don’t get. He is one of one in position. Yeah, if he acted like a prima-dona, I can see why.
Again, if the information about him in the Navy Times is true, something must be done. Everyone has performed details well below their pay-grades simply because there was no one else to do them. There is a line at personal servitude and crossing it should not be tolerated. If he wants a ceremonial guard; perhaps there’s a way to get him one. If he wants an E-7 to carry his hat; I would hope an E-7 has better things to do.
There’s a lot of ifs in there.
As you point out, the man’s accused. I’m in no position to know all the facts, so I will use “if” out of respect for the office. I will definitely disagree that he was in a position of acting as the first lady; he’s in a position of having the CNO’s attention and should use it for the betterment of the fleets not for his personal amusement.
Cripes, man. His, as I said, is a one of one position. One and two star admirals look up to him. As for his being accused, that toxic workplace crap is just that. Some bosses are bastards–and I’m not concluding he is. What I believe is that some people took their sensitivity training too seriously and that some of what LTC Heffington said about West Point and Rapone (different thread. See Another Pat’s links) apply to AD services too.
Well, he probably saw that video of Barrack Obama using the White House Marine Detail as umbrella holders, so he figured that getting someone two paygrades below him to carry his bag isn’t such a big deal.
I think there is a lot missing here, now that being said, I have ran into a couple of MCPON’S and they are all political except one that was MCPON Campa and they got rid of him real quick. He was down for the troops and wanted to help with troop issues as they write policy.
One thing we must remember when he was placed in that position the guy before him fucked him by taking the rates away. This guy wanted them back ASAP and guess what they came back, one problem with that and that is the CNO wanted rates gone,he did not believe in tribalism as he called it. We must also remember they say Sailors in Navy Times, but do not cover there is a lot of civilians in that office and CNO’s office. So when they see something like a Senior leader getting onto someone that they may precede is not the correct way and other type things that are not politically correct to them. Something to think about
Campa was being looked at in some of the same ways, he was a ground guy FMF type. FMF and US have a different leadership style.
I think some may be true but out of context. There is always three sides your, theirs and the truth, but real truth never comes out in he said she said.
Joe Campa was a good leader and a good CPO… the Navy lost a good man when he retired.
The MCPON was giving out trivial tasks and belittling people and someone bitched out and went to the IG? This is even a thing? I thought that was his job description?
I wonder what Mattis would have to say the MCPON.
Probably this: “Wanna join the Marines?”
I don’t know Giordan, but once you get to the “nominative” jobs as an E9, there are a lot of narcissistic ass wipes in those jobs.
They forget that they are senior to the troopers, not superior to them.
One time the Chief sent outside with a huge plastic bag when it was raining and told me to pick up raindrops.
I found a whole bunch of them all together in one pile which I think is called a puddle. I filled my bag up and brought it back inside.
I thought he would be proud of me, but that wasn’t the case.
AAAAAAAA++++++++
That’s GOT DAMN funny there, I don’t care *WHO* you are.
😀 😀 😀
Plot Twist:
“What did you do to earn this privilege?!?!”
Probably told you to go back out and get some bulkhead eraser.
That’s a hoot.
In the USAF it was;
Go get me a roll of flight line or a bucket of jet wash
Army Signal Corps privates look for a spool of orderwire or a can of PCM grease. Along with the search for a PRC E7.
I think I might have been the designated PRC E7 in my unit…LOL
What year did the MCPON’S start. I read that he is the 14th. Is it a yearly position??
1947, IIRC.
It’s a 2-year position with the option of two more at the CNO’s discretion.
Correction…1967.
Thanks NH; That was a year after I got off the Okie 3 then into the inactive Reserves.
Worked for a few primadonas over the years but even they had sense enough to take care of those of us best positioned to help them remain primadonas and look good doing it.
That said, there is little any of us can do with instantaneous results when assigned a staff of folks who simply will not do their jobs and/or are whiners. But surely he selected his own staff. Was there no one in the entire US Navy that could work for him? If his staff was ineffective, why hadn’t he fixed it?
Something fishy about this sea story.
Maybe he inherited Mabus’ hand-me-downs…
He could possibly BE a Mabus hand-me-down…
Maybe I’ll hold judgement until the IG releases it’s report…
A bitching sailor is a happy sailor.
USNavy 1951-1982
I must have been the happiest sailor in the fleet
It wasn’t a great movie, but there’s a scene in Exodus: Gods and Kings where a pretentious vizier asks how he can please the pharaoh, and Moses (played by Christian Bale) responds, “You can stop living like a king. You’re not one.”
Seems like the MCPON needs to take the same advice. A personal chef? Private jets and specific seats? Issued china? Get the fuck outta here.
It also seems like a major problem is that he’s not very good at his job. A stud might get away with being a bit high-maintenance, but a guy who doesn’t understand key mission issues cannot, and should not.
That’s pretty much my take on it, too, CPT. You may hold an exalted office but if you ain’t cuttin’ the mustard, there’s always someone eagerly waiting in the wings who can and will.
Apparently this guys behavioral problems go back to previous assignments which makes me wonder just what kind of board the MCPON has to sit for. None of that negative scuttlebutt followed the guy? What about the E-9 network like we had in the Army. I worked for four different sergeants-major and they all were adept at using that network which circled the globe. Sounds like a damned lame screening process for the very top enlisted position in the Navy.
I’m not sure how it works in other services but my experience with MCPON’s in my short 21-year career saw them, starting from ’69 to the end of my career as a Master Chief in ’92, morph from being somewhat a voice for the enlisted to becoming a PR man “explainer” for the Navy, a politically inclined yes-man for the system. MCPON became a figurehead, “Yes, of course sir. I’ll pass that along to the crew and make it happen.”, type position. I submit the crazy uniform changes over the last 40 years and the attempt to change naming of enlisted ratings as evidence – any Navy Master Chief who valued his people would have raised hell and, if not successful in stopping the madness, would have walked – these guys certainly had enough time for full retirement benefits. The perks of the job certainly take the sting out of the arduous PR duties of the MCPON and his spouse (the official Navy OMBUDSMAN-At-Large) being flown around the world on our dime, rather heady stuff for someone who started out cleaning sh*tters onboard ship (if, indeed, he ever went to sea). I can easily see how exposure to the ring-knockers in the 5-sided puzzle palace could possibly turn his pretty head with visions of grandeur as being one with the team – the DC team that is – and encourage him to require the reportedly crazy levels of fealty from the minions assigned to his staff.
Shit, if you eliminated menial, useless tasks, and demeaning lower enlisted you could reduce the size of the Navy by 40% to 50%.
Menial tasks, in the military??
Even burning shit with diesel fuel is an important task and requires certain skills that can only be learned by doing it.
When to stir, when to add fuel and knowledge of METRO conditions come to mind.
The bonding between detail members is also valuable especially when the SHTF.
Know which way the wind blows.
I always found that detail rather peaceful. Nobody bothers you, and as long as you stay upwind and remember which is the mooky end of the stick it ain’t that bad. Certainly better than cleaning the latrine on Monday morning when the toilet paper runs out on Sat. evening.
The sad thing here is this guy just didn’t become this way over night — I’m sure he was a master chief for 8 or 9 solid years before this position, I’m sure he was an A-hole well beforehand … which makes it sad that he was selected for this position in the first place.
The whole Navy” Senior Enlisted Advisor Program” has been a political position for years!
These ARE the Same P. O. S. ‘s that helped Ruined the CPO Initiation and OutLawing of Crossing the Line Ceremonies!, We can see how much they have assisted their Commands by just looking act the news the last few yers. The Navy better get serious and drain their own swap or we lose badly against a peer Enemy.
Chief Petty Officer ret
Ps. ya we saw it coming and told ya so !