Here is the same two guys cleaned up. Retired both of us. Attended a CPO retirement Ceremony as particpants.
Chief Petty Officer Retirement Creed
You have on this day experienced what comes to all of us who serve on active duty in “OUR NAVY.” I say “OUR NAVY” because your departure from active duty in no way terminates your relationship. By law and by tradition, U.S. Navy retirees are always on the rolls ever ready to lend their service when the need arises. The respect you earned as “The Chief” was based on the same attributes you will now carry into retirement. You should have no regrets and should not view your retirement as an end of an era, but rather as orders to a new and more challenging assignment. Remember you have been, and will always be an accepted member of the most exclusive of all fraternities – the U.S. NAVY CHIEF PETTY OFFICERS. The active duty Chiefs salute you – your retired Chiefs welcome you. I wish you the traditional “FAIR WINDS AND FOLLOWING SEAS.”