Photo By Chief Petty Officer Stephen Oleksiak | Chief petty officers, past and present, salute Master Chief Jay Wood Jr. and his wife,...... read more read more
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NAPLES, Italy – Master Chief Jay R. Wood Jr., command master chief, U.S. 6th Fleet, concluded 30 years of active duty service during his retirement ceremony on Naval Support Activity Naples, Aug. 12.
The ceremony was attended by numerous shipmates, friends and family and highlighted Wood’s extensive military career.
“Thirty years ago today, I was in an airplane for the first time, going to boot camp, ready for a brand new life,” said Wood.
Wood, a native of Webb City, Mo., continued talking as he read a passage from a tattered 20-year old charge book from when he was selected as a chief petty officer.
“I would like to read a little passage from this, but it is a little difficult to read because it’s got some holes in it, thankfully we don’t treat our charge books this way anymore,” said Wood with a little laugh. “This entry talks about how a naval officer got a hold of a chief petty officer’s charge book. He got a hold of it because I left it lying around. It says something about all CPO’s have to be nice to me because I am a corpsman [laughter]. ‘We ask for your forgiveness King Neptune, CPO selection board, fellow chiefs … guide him, stand by him and watch him closely,’ signed R. Valentine, Lt. United States Navy [laughter].”
Capt. Richard Valentine, deputy assistant chief of staff for commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/commander, U.S. 6th Fleet, and one of the many guest speakers at the ceremony spoke highly of the contributions Wood made throughout his naval career.
“I’ve had the distinct pleasure of serving with Master Chief Wood on a previous occasion, during a special period in both our careers that I am certain we will both never forget,” said Valentine. “We served together as members of an elite team of Navy saturation divers tasked with executing high priority, chief of naval operation missions that were vital to national security.”
Valentine continued saying that each member of the dive team was hand picked from the “best-of-the-best” in Navy diving, and while he was not allowed to say much about what they did, he assured everyone that Wood’s contributions were significant.
The second guest speaker and Wood’s long time friend, Rear Adm. Christine S. Hunter, deputy director for TRICARE Management Activity, talked about the time when she first met him.
“I first met [Wood] when he served as my command master chief at Navy Medicine West, in January 2007. The commanding officer prior to me retired from the job, and this huge command, which included Naval Medical Center San Diego and the nine hospitals on the West Coast and in the Pacific, was somewhat adrift,” said Hunter. “Three weeks after the change of command, the Washington Post exploded with detailed stories about the neglect of wounded warriors being cared for at Walter Reed. Our fledgling rehab program for combat casualties in San Diego and the old hospital building serving as their barracks became the center of attention for media, senior military leaders and members of Congress.”
Hunter continued talking about how Wood energized the chief’s mess, charging them to help the staff and our patients put their best foot forward immediately.
“Even the Marine detachment deferred to the CMC, sprucing up rooms and digging into the background of each injured Lance Cpl. to be sure there were no neglected issues. [Wood] empowered another Master Chief with a government credit card, and habitability improved overnight. From that moment on, we were an inseparable team,” said Hunter.
During the ceremony, Wood was awarded the Legion of Merit by Vice Adm. Harry B. Harris, Jr., commander of the U.S. 6th Fleet, for his contributions to the command.
“I am heart broken that I can pay respect to the hundreds of people who have touched my life and made me a better person,” said Wood, then he took time out to thank people for their support, mentorship and guidance.
Out of all the people Wood thanked, he thanked his wife and three children the most.
“My wife Josephine, our children: Jay; Andrea; Amber and Chloe our grandchild - you inspire me. You reminded me that this life I chose was not about me. You took the pain of eleven deployments; work-ups; a knock on your door to inform you I had been killed in the 9/11 attack; dropping me off at A216 and McDonalds, never asking a question even when I returned four to five-months later. You, my love, are an incredible woman,” said Wood.
Before concluding the ceremony, Valentine quoted a passage from the movie ‘Men of Honor,’ ‘The Navy diver is not a fighting man, he is a salvage expert ... If it’s lost under water, he finds it … If it’s sunk, he brings it up … If it’s in the way, he moves it … If he is lucky, he will die young, 200 feet beneath the waves for that is the closest he will ever get to being a hero … Hell, I don’t know why anybody’d want to be a Navy diver …’
“Now, you report to the side Woody,” said Valentine!
Wood enlisted in the Navy in 1981 and completed recruit training and Hospital Corps "A" school in Great Lakes, Ill., and Fleet medical service school in Camp Pendleton, Calif. He has served with the 2nd Marine Reconnaissance Battalion; graduated from Medical Deep-Sea Diving School, Deep-Sea Diving Independent Duty Corpsman School and Saturation Dive School in Panama City, Fla. He also served at Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Strike Fighter Squadron NINE SEVEN and aboard USS Canopus.
Master Chief Wood is qualified Aviation Warfare, Submarine Warfare, Surface Warfare, Fleet Marine Force, diver and Naval parachutist. His personnel awards include the Legion of Merit with two Gold Star, Meritorious Service Medal with three Gold Stars, Navy Commendation Medal with a Gold Star, and a Combat Action Ribbon. He has numerous unit and campaign awards including two Presidential Unit Citations, five Battle “E”’s, and eleven Sea Service Deployment awards.
| Date Taken: | 08.12.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 08.15.2011 10:35 |
| Story ID: | 75371 |
| Location: | NAPLES, IT |
| Web Views: | 541 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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