NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY NAPLES –
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and raised in Puerto Rico, Master Chief Jordan Rosado, Command Master Chief of Commander, Submarine Group 8, and Commander, Task Force 69, was no stranger to military life growing up. Many of the men in his family served in the military including his father who is a Vietnam Veteran and his step-father who served as an officer in the Army National Guard.
His father and step-father’s experiences had a lasting impact on Rosado, but it was ultimately saying goodbye to his younger brother when he joined the Navy that ignited Rosado’s desire to join the Navy at the age of 25.
“My goal was to do four years as an enlisted, and then I was going to go into what we called the enlisted commissioning program,” said Rosado. “I already had a degree, so I wanted to spend some time on the enlisted side and get that experience.”
While Rosado initially joined with the goal of pursuing a path as an officer, his decision was persuaded after meeting a few influential leaders on the enlisted side.
“In A-school, I had a very good Senior Chief who inspired me,” said Rosado. “His role was completely different from what I saw and experienced with the Army growing up. I fell in love with the influence of what a Chief does, so I said ‘I want to be a Chief Petty Officer.’ A little over a year later when I was on the USS Saipan, my first ship, I had a CMC who was almost 30 years in the Navy… Some things that he did just inspired me. That was when I decided ‘I wanted to be a Command Master Chief.’ A little over a year in the Navy, and that was my goal. I had found what would be my passion.”
Having a greater understanding of Sailors around him has always been a big factor in leadership for Rosado and play into his leadership philosophy.
“I have three pillars of leadership philosophy. Number one is respect,” Rosado explained. “My belief is when you treat everyone with respect, it doesn’t matter what rank you are or if you are a subordinate or superior, they will respect you not because of your rank, but because of you as a person.
Rosado said that when you do that people will resonate with what you stand for. Respecting others continues to be an important topic to Rosado, both in leadership and fostering a better command climate.
“We’re not all built the same,” Rosado said. “But treating everyone with respect builds an environment that people feel safe to come to work in, as well as feeling more eager. Start with respect, and you’re on the path to success.”
Along with being an important factor in Rosado’s philosophy of leadership, respect takes the number one place among the 10 Signature Behaviors developed by the Chief of Naval Operations as examples of the basic cornerstones to a successful Navy-wide Culture of Excellence.
“Our core values are very straightforward,” Rosado believes. “Honor, Courage, and Commitment. Every person is different with a different background and different upbringing, so even though you have the definitions there, their interpretations might be a little bit different.”
Rosado said that Signature Behaviors breaks it down into more simplistic language for a day to day basis. For one person, five or six signature behaviors could fall under ‘honor’ and for someone else those same five or six could fall under ‘commitment.’
“The way they place them are different, but the most important thing is how they apply it in their day-to-day lives,” said Rosado.
Rosado derives some of these Signature Behaviors into his aforementioned pillars of leadership.
“Number two is commitment,” said Rosado. “Commitment to organization - the Navy is not one person. It is a team effort, a team sport.”
For Rosado, as long as you are committed to the organization he believes you will make decisions that will accomplish the mission.
“As long as you keep that on the forefront of your mind, we will get things right,” said Rosado.
The third pillar of Rosado’s leadership is leaving behind a legacy.
“Wherever I go, when I leave the command at any pay grade - 1st class, 2nd class, Chief, Master Chief… I have something that I’ve always done,” said Rosado. “Walking off the brow or walking out of the building I look over my shoulder every single time and ask ‘Are they going to be OK?”
Rosado said that if the answer is yes, he can continue moving forward with a clear conscious.
“The command will continue to grow, the division will continue to get better,” said Rosado. “And I did my job as a leader.”
U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.