Chief Petty Officer Hat Patch

Chiefs live in the goat locker, a name that goes back to wooden ships, when a goat kept aboard ate the refuse, gave milk for the crew and was quartered with the chiefs' mess. That is why the face in the middle of this patch is a goat wearing a chief's combination cover, gold fouled anchor and all. The chief petty officer rate dates to 1 April 1893, when the Navy changed petty officer first class to chief petty officer. Since then the chiefs' mess has run the deckplates, trained the junior sailors and told new division officers what they needed to hear. This patch is for the sailors who wore the anchors.

Making chief takes three steps, and the three words stitched across this patch name them in order: tested, selected, initiated. A first class sits the exam, goes before the selection board, and then spends the initiation season earning the right to pin on anchors. In 1958 an amendment to the Career Compensation Act added senior chief (E-8) and master chief (E-9), so the mess now holds three grades under one set of anchors. The goat locker still means any place chiefs gather on their own, aboard ship or ashore. Boatswain's mates, machinist's mates, corpsmen and yeomen all end up at the same table once they make E-7.

The patch is cut in the classic hat-patch shape, wide and flat with curved top and bottom edges, in navy blue and gold. U.S. NAVY runs across the top band with a small American flag stitched between the two words, and CHIEF PETTY OFFICER fills the bottom band in navy lettering on gold. In the center field the goat glares straight out, horns curled back and chin beard hanging below a scowl any chief will recognize. On either side sits a white chief's chevron set with the eagle perched above the rocker. TESTED, SELECTED and INITIATED run in white just above the bottom band, separated by small dots.

It measures 4.5 inches wide by 3.25 inches tall, the size and shape made for the front of a ball cap. The border is a merrowed edge, a raised rolled stitch in navy blue thread that frames the gold bands. The backing is sew-on, so it goes on with a needle and thread or a machine stitch. Sewn to a ball cap, it stays put through years of wear. The colors are stitched in solid thread, gold, navy, white, gray and khaki, with no printed detail.

A chief remembers the night he was pinned and the goat locker that took him in. Put this patch on the ball cap he wears to the chiefs' mess reunion, sew it on a jacket, or mount it in a shadow box beside his anchors and his last set of orders. It is also a fitting gift for a first class who just made the list, or for a retired chief who still answers to the title. Tested, selected, initiated, and chief for life.