US taps Pinoy sailor as CMC of Navy's 7th Fleet

When Filipino US Navy master chief petty officer Marcos Sibal received a call last month from his superior, he knew something was bound to change. “I almost dropped my cell phone," Sibal said. “It’s a little dizzying," he said in an interview that appeared Thursday in Stars and Stripes, a newspaper published for the US military, defense department civilian employees, contractors, and their families. The call came from Vice Admiral Doug Crowder telling him that he will be reassigned to a new post as command master chief of the US Navy’s 7th Fleet. The US Navy 7th Fleet is the largest forward-deployed US fleet. It oversees about 52 million square miles in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans, from the International Date Line to the eastern coast of Africa. The fleet also includes as many as 50 ships, 200 aircraft and 20,000 sailors and Marines. Wikipedia defines a Command Master Chief Petty Officer (CMDCM) as the highest senior enlisted officer in a United States Navy command structure. "In many ways he or she is considered a fountain of knowledge and a parent figure. Being the primary liaison between the officers and enlisted, they are a major resource for the commanding officer, and often are called upon to gauge morale and battle readiness," it said. “There are not a lot of Filipinos in the command master chief program. A very small number. Hopefully, me being a CMC will serve as a role model, not only to people of my national origin, but to other people," Sibal said. The 7th fleet is proud to have participated in several important missions in Maritime history. Including the Battle of Leyte Gulf in World War II, the Korean war, the Vietnam war and the recent war in Iraq. Aside from this, they are also into humanitarian efforts, most recent of which is their deployment in the Bicol region to help out typhoon victims. Sibal shall begin his new task sometime in the middle of August. Upon his assumption, this Pampanga native will be one of a very select few Filipinos who will become a senior enlisted officer of a large Navy command. For more than a century, Filipinos have been serving America’s fleets but only few were able to achieve or even come close to Sibal’s feat. The US Navy began recruiting Filipinos in 1898 shortly before colonizing the Philippines. In the 1970s, about 17,000 Filipinos were serving in US ships mostly as stewards. However, in 1973, several Filipinos began to rise to the ranks. “You’ll see a lot of Filipino- Americans in supply," Sibal said. “But I think they are branching out. I’ve seen more in technical programs. And I want to see them in the command master chief program," he added. E-mails from all over poured into Sibal's account, expressing their heartfelt congratulations. So many were the mails that his e-mail temporarily shut down. “You can call and e-mail with whatever you got," he said, after giving out his contact cards containing his personal cellphone number. Sailing off Sibal was enlisted in September 1983 at the former U.S. Naval Station at Subic Bay, Olongapo City. Enticed by a newspaper advertisement inviting Filipinos to join the US Navy, he left the Philippines in 1983. “My dad pointed it out to me. ‘You want to give this a try'?" he said. After finishing college at the University of the Philippines, Sibal found himself among 1,000 US Navy recruits. After a series of tests, the original number was reduced to only a dozen. Finally, he made it and he was soon sent to San Diego, California for apprenticeship training. In 1987, he finished an Electrician’s Mate A-School at Naval Technical Training Center at Great Lakes, Illinois; and the Navy’s Senior Enlisted Academy at Newport, R.I., 2002. Some of his past assignments include postings at USS Barney, USS Towers, USS Independence, USS Carl Vinson, and Sasebo Naval Base, Japan. Sibal fondly remembers his first few days meeting up with his fellow recruits: “I keep looking at these guys next to me. Our pronunciation wasn’t always (correct). I tried to practice that. I always talk to people. You’ve got to have that." Rising from the ranks Sibal’s first job was far from easy. As one of the newest sailors aboard the USS Barney, he worked as a deck seaman, whose job was it to scrape off rust and put paint on it. Soon after he became an electrician. In his first few months doing ‘chores,’ Sibal remembers being inspired by his first chief petty officer. In 1992, about nine years after he first went to America, Sibal became a US citizen in Guam. Since then, his eyes were on becoming an officer. At Sasebo Naval Base in Japan where he stayed for two years, Sibal initiated a community clean-up plan, thought of Sports Day activities and made better the relationship with the Japanese Marine Self-Defenses Force. “Sibal infused himself into the community and engaged in community relations at all levels," said Capt. Tilghman Payne, the base’s commander. “He would lead sailors into town in uniform who would work side-by-side with the JMSDF on community projects. He walks around and talks to people and always offers his help," he added. New waters It is not only Filipinos who look up to Sibal’s accomplishment. Even American officers laud his leadership. “I’m convinced that Master Chief Sibal is dedicated to ensuring that the sailors of 7th Fleet understand the critical role each of them has serving as ambassadors of the United States in the Asia Pacific region," Vice Admiral Crowder wrote in a statement. Sibal plans to cooperate with other US military branches in Japan to devise more standard rules for sailor’s liberty and curfews. Most US sailors bring “liberty cards" that designate their privileges. Sibal wanted those overnight policies clearly spelled out for all the services. The Filipino Naval chief is set to sail for two days at Yokosuka Naval Base, excited to be representing his country in the US force. “Deep down in them, they are probably proud to see someone like them up in that level," Sibal said referring to his fellow kababayans in the US Navy. “To me, hopefully, that will inspire them. I want them to follow me," he added. - Mark J. Ubalde, GMANews.TV