(photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jennifer Villalovos) Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Joe Campa, Jr., introduces the E-7 to E-9 Evaluation and Counseling Record to nearly 100 of the Navy’s most senior master chiefs during a leadership mess meeting.

Vice Adm. Mark Ferguson directed via Naval Message June 27 that commanding officers employ a new E-7 through E-9 Evaluation and Counseling record, starting with the Sept. 15 chief petty officer and senior chief petty officer evaluation cycles.

For the past decade, chiefs, senior chiefs and master chiefs had been evaluated on a fitness report form identical to that used in the officer community. The new evaluation clearly separates the two, incorporating the guiding principles as the performance traits.

‘‘The [new chief evaluation] ensures our chiefs are evaluated based on the expectations we’ve traditionally had of them. The guiding principles reaffirmed those expectations,” said Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (SW⁄FMF) Joe Campa, Jr. ‘‘Incorporating them as performance traits was the next logical step in a process we started almost two years ago.”

Since their introduction to the fleet in September 2006, the guiding principles have been included in chief’s mess training, chief selectee training, selection board precepts for E-7 to E-9, the command master chief instruction and the Senior Enlisted Academy curriculum.

The guiding principles — deckplate leadership, institutional and technical expertise, professionalism, loyalty, character, active communication and a sense of heritage — replace the previous performance traits.

‘‘This bold initiative led by Campa proves again the adage, chiefs run our Navy,” said Navy Personnel Commander Rear Adm. Sonny Masso.

‘‘As a member of the wardroom, who has personally benefited from the leadership of the chief’s mess, I look forward to making the most of this opportunity to align our chiefs’ evals with the guiding principles.”

Masso played an integral role in the transition from the fitness report to the new chiefs’ evaluation, as personnel at Navy Personnel Command have engineered the new form, which will use Adobe as a platform rather than the previous program. Masso said shifting from one software application to another was not difficult due to the fact that much of the language transferred over verbatim.

‘‘The form itself changed little,” Masso said. ‘‘In fact, 75 percent of the language from the [fitness report] was transferred over to the [new form], only now it complements the new performance traits.”

Campa said language used for the first time in the chiefs’ evaluation may technically be new, but the responsibilities and expectations have been around for 115 years.

‘‘The 25 percent of the form that’s different is critical,” Campa said. ‘‘It’s there that we formally introduce phrases like ‘engaged on the deckplate,’ ‘total loyalty to mission,’ ‘driving mission accomplishment through the chiefs’ mess’ and ‘actively uses the chiefs’ mess as an open forum to act on command issues.’”

That language may be new to an evaluation, but not to our chiefs. Those are responsibilities [chiefs] have had for more than a century.”

Campa delivered the new evaluation to Navy Personnel Command in March. Since then, testing has been ongoing and changes were made as Millington, Tenn., personnel worked with Adobe representatives to ensure the new platform was even more user-friendly than the old form.

Once the eval was deemed ready for fleet testing, it was sent to command master chiefs aboard every type of Navy vessel and to commands in every theater. Their feedback was forwarded to Navy Personnel Command to work out user-discovered issues.

‘‘Any problems identified through fleet testing are looked at and we’re determining whether they need to be addressed now or down the line,” said Jim Price, functional owner of the fitness report and evaluation processes. ‘‘It’s a work in progress, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good product now. It most definitely is, and the feedback reflects that.”

The new evaluation will be ready for download from the Navy Personnel Command Web site, www.npc.navy.mil, and for use fleet-wide early this month. Training within the chief community has been ongoing for several months and Campa said it must continue up to and after Sept. 15.

‘‘Nothing is more important than ensuring every chief and every commanding officer across our Navy is fully up to speed on the [new evaluation],” Campa said. ‘‘We can’t leave anyone behind in terms of how to use the form and what’s expected of our mess.”

Personnel downloading the form will also have access to a user reference guide, which will give step-by-step instructions. If questions persist, Commander Naval Personnel Command customer service is available to provide clarification at (901) 874-3313.