Fellow Mustangs, it is with mixed emotions that I write my final article as an active duty member of our Navy.  I will be retiring on Friday October 24th.  Any of you in the Millington area please stop by. My job will be vacant until the arrival of CWO5 “Liz” Rivera.  Liz was the ideal candidate for this job and will represent our community at the highest level.  
 
As I depart I need to say thanks to many people but based on my words per minute (typing speed), I can’t thank everyone and still meet the posting date.  I do need to thank my family (Ellen, Mitchell and Craig) for their years of support.  I also need to thank our community leadership beginning with RADM Quinn and RADM White.  
 
During my tour, we have needed and certainly have received outstanding Flag representation in the management and shaping of our communities.  As the CWO OCM, I would be negligent not to thank ADM Ferguson, who provided a much needed vote to the law and policy changes that will provide more equitable retirement packages to all Navy CWOs.  I want to thank my bosses, Captain Scot Abel who brought me into this position and allowed me this unique opportunity; to have input on our communities.  To Captain John Jones who inherited me and allowed me the opportunity to fully engage my passion of manpower / manning as we began the implementation of the “sustainability initiative.”  To Captain Len Friddle who continued to provide me latitude in the management of the community.  To CDR Bill Johnson for his continued support of the community as our mission of building viable careers for all LDOs and CWOs continues.  Finally to the rest of the team (during my tenure),  LCDR Shane Walker, LT “Leo” Peterson, and Mr. (LTJG) Dondre Rittman, I am indebted to each of you for your leadership, support and candor.  Each of us has been fortunate to have such a dedicated group of professionals representing our team.  To the entire Mustang community thanks to you and your families for all you do each and every day.

THERE WILL BE NO IMPACT TO INDIVIDUAL PROMOTIONS DUE TO A LOSS OF OPPORTUNITY TO QUALIFY SWO! Now that I have addressed the single item that most were concerned with I am going to dive right in to discuss the rest of the change to the way we have operated for decades, the loss of opportunity for all officer communities outside of 116X (SWO URL) to qualify SWO. I stated to our senior leaders prior to the change coming out and I still feel this way; I am 100% behind removing LDO/CWOs from having to qualify SWO as long as the opportunity is removed for all non 116Xs (SWO URL) so there is no competitive edge for those that can over those that can’t qualify to get a SWO Pin.

Fiscal year (FY) 2018 ended and FY19 began on 1 Oct. This is a noteworthy time frame as your OCM team has started promotion planning for the FY20 promotion cycle with the CAPT board convening in January and ending with the Warrant Officer board in June. The one common thing that we “ALL” care about is promotion, so you should take this time to make sure that your record is up to date. Too many times we receive calls and also hear about Officers in various LDO/CWOs designators that are surprised to know that they are in zone (IZ) when the message is released. That should never occur with all the tools available in determining what your status is for promotion. Rather than assume that all know those means, I will use my editorial space to explain
them.

Congratulations to the FY-20 New Accessions, Welcome to the Wardroom Shipmates! We selected 276 to LDO, 212 to CWO and 3 CWOs to LTJG! 

Congratulations to the New Captains (CDR Brady Drennan (6200), CDR Keith Beck (6410), CDR Kenneth Collins (6430), CDR Keith Tukes (6490), CDR Alan Feenstra (6200), CDR Kenneth Holland (6200), CDR William Edenbeck (6110), CDR Donald Crumpacker (6490), CDR Matthew Beare (6320), CDR Richard Grove (6330), CDR Patrick Sutton (6180) and CDR Terrance Patterson (6130))! Please join me in congratulating CWO5 John Linzer on a job well done during a distinguished and honorable 33-year Naval career. John departs active duty after serving 3 years as Deputy Director and Lead Instructor of our community’s coveted “Mustang Academy” in Newport, Rhode Island. John spearheaded a complete revision of schoolhouse curriculum and processes which provided world-class instruction to 1,305 newly commissioned Limited Duty Officers and Chief Warrant Officers across all designators. BRAVO ZULU, Fair winds and following seas.

Thank you along with Fair Winds and Following Seas goes out to our departing Silver Eagle, CAPT Bill Bindel (6360) as he is heads into retirement after a very successful 38 year career. I want to welcome our new Silver Eagle, CAPT Dan Rossler (6200). It is that time again to let you know what is going on in your community.

As you know, the last Lariat had several discussion/action items from the LDO/CWO Board of Directors meeting in Pensacola in addition to four other discussion items. Here is where we are in regards to those items. (Updated response in red)

I want to thank and wish Fair Winds and Following Seas to Mr. Mitch Allen, a legend in our community. No one has contributed more to the health and sustainability of our community than Mitch has. Mitch supported our community as the Assistant OCM and CWO OCM for over a decade. In 2008 CWO4 Allen reported aboard and continued to successfully fulfill his duties through his promotion to CWO5, and retirement in 2014. Mitch transitioned to the federal civilian sector, and returned to support our community for another 5 years, until his most recent transfer in September 2019. During his tenure, he and the OCM team were tasked with the Officer Sustainability Initiative (OSI) of 2010. OSI was aimed at properly aligning the entire community to meet the Navy’s mission needs as directed by the Officer Communities that we support. Due to OSI, we made healthy changes within the accession and promotion pyramid structures, while also performing realignment, disestablishment, merging, and off-ramping of several designators. Additionally, our new promotion system, Revised Competitive Categories (RCC) was born out of OSI. After years of hard work, RCC is finally ready for implementation in calendar year 2020. Bottom line: Our community would not be as healthy, or as poised for future sustainability without the efforts of Mr. Mitch Allen. Our entire community owes him a huge debt of gratitude.

Hello from the Mid-South! I’m CAPT Dave Dwyer the new LDO/CWO OCM. It is great to be back in Millington and I am humbled and honored to be provided this enormous opportunity to be your OCM. I would like to thank CAPT Ed Callahan for his leadership and dedication during his tour as our OCM.

Congratulations and welcome to the wardroom for our new selects. The community is excited to have your enthusiasm, drive and talent infused into the wardroom. Each one of you will make us a stronger and better community poised for successfully meeting present and future mission demands.

Hello from Millington! Great fall weather has arrived, FY 21 board season is wrapping up, LDO/CWO Inservice Procurement Board package deadline has passed and over 2,000 packages are being processed, and your OCM shop has started promotion and accession planning for FY 22/23. Our LDO/CWO Community manning remains in great shape. We remain healthy across most of our designators - our overall manning is 3503 LDOs at 100% manned and 1889 CWOs at 91% manned, and we continue to project strong billet growth over the next five years. We must remain relevant!

Congratulations and welcome aboard to all of our FY 22 new accession officers (NAO) selects. We selected 459 conventional NAOs (225 LDOs/234 CWOs), and 48 Nuclear LDOs. The community is excited to have you as part of our wardroom. We are standing by to answer any questions and provide mentorship throughout the process. You are joining a community of strong, proud and dedicated officers. Each one of you will add value to our community, and will make us even stronger and more relevant.

Hello from your OCM Shop in Millington! Bravo Zulu’s: Congratulations to all of our new O6 and O5 selects! As a reminder, we promoted you not only because of your sustained superior performance to date - we promoted you to go excel in your O6 and O5 milestone jobs respectively. As always, there were a lot talented officers who were not selected for promotion. I encourage those who were not selected to seek counsel and mentorship from your detailer (required to provide FOS counseling), and your mentor(s) and senior leadership within your designator. Lastly, our Community Value Slides are available from the FY 22 board season Community Briefs (navy.mil). Make sure you review the slide applicable to your designator within your Competitive Category (CC).

Happy Holidays to you and yours from your OCM Shop in Millington! LDO and CWO Mission: The Limited Duty Officer and Chief Warrant Officer Community supports the war-fighting capability and readiness of Naval Forces through leadership, technical proficiency, and experience. We are the primary manpower source for technically specific billets not best suited for traditional Unrestricted Line, Restricted Line or Staff Corps career path Officers. Using critical enlisted experience, we are committed to the continuous leadership, improvement, training and mentoring of Sailors.

LDO and CWO Mission: The Limited Duty Officer and Chief Warrant Officer Community supports the war-fighting

capability and readiness of Naval Forces through leadership, technical proficiency, and experience. We are the primary

manpower source for technically specific billets not best suited for traditional Unrestricted Line, Restricted Line or Staff

Corps career path Officers. Using critical enlisted experience, we are committed to the continuous leadership, improvement,

training and mentoring of Sailors.

Greetings from Millington! CAPT Pat Sutton here, your LDO/CWO OCM. I am proud and humbled by the opportunity to serve as your OCM in these challenging and rewarding times. We are all thankful for CAPT Dave Dwyer’s leadership and innovation during his tour as our OCM. CAPT Dwyer, CWO5 Hector Sandoval, LCDR Bryan Gill and Mr. Parker Dinwiddie made significant progress in shepherding 51 LDO/CWO designators. Their team initiated multiple improvements to the LDO/CWO accession process, increased our community’s role in supporting the warfare enterprises, and we are a stronger Navy for their efforts. 

Greetings from your OCM team! Spring is always an exciting time of year as we ramp up our LDO/CWO recruiting efforts. Fleet and schoolhouse engagements continue to inspire confidence as I witness firsthand the level of expertise, professionalism, and sense of community within our ranks. Those who are getting involved beyond their own lifelines are having a tremendous positive impact on the community, and I’m well aware that a lot of that work seems to go unnoticed, i.e., our senior Mustangs chairing board after board. I can assure you where it does get noticed is in the quality cut at the ISPB and in the fleet as we continue to select the best of the best for our program.