Joe R. Campa Jr. is a retired

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

sailor who served as the 11th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy.

Early life and education

Campa was born in Lynwood, California and grew up in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. Campa is a distinguished honor graduate of the

United States Navy Senior Enlisted Academy The United States Navy Senior Enlisted Academy provides education and training for senior and master chief petty officers. Most of the students are active-duty U.S. Navy personnel. The remaining students are from the Navy Reserve, Air Force, Army ...

. He also graduated from the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy in May 2003 and completed the Command Sergeants Major course. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Excelsior College. In March 2006 he graduated from the Naval War College with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in National Security and Strategic Studies.

Naval career

Campa enlisted in the United States Navy on 2 June 1980. He completed Recruit Training and Hospital Corpsman "A" School in San Diego, California. Campa's duty assignments include , San Diego; Naval Medical Center, San Diego, California; Seventh Marine Regiment, First Marine Division,

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by Oc ...

; Naval Hospital,

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;

Third Force Service Support Group The 3rd Marine Logistics Group (3rd MLG) is the Logistics Combat Element (LCE) for III Marine Expeditionary Force currently headquartered on Camp Kinser, Marine Corps Base Smedley D. Butler, Okinawa, Japan. 3rd MLG provides combat service supp ...

, Fleet Marine Force,

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, Japan; Naval Hospital

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerto ...

;

First Force Service Support Group The 1st Marine Logistics Group (1st MLG) is a logistics unit of the United States Marine Corps and is headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, with several subordinate elements also located at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma a ...

during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

; San Diego, California; and Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois. Campa was selected to the command master chief program in May 1999. He reported to in Yokosuka, Japan as command master chief in November 1999 and served until June 2002. During his tour aboard ''Curtis Wilbur'', the ship deployed to the

North Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

in support of

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

. From June 2003 to February 2005, Campa served as the command master chief for , homeported in

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. He was then the command master chief at Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was sworn in as Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) 11 in July 2006. As MCPON, Campa will be best remembered for "resetting" the Chief Petty Officers' Mess, changing the role of the chiefs from the perceived Naval Officer duties and functions they were carrying out, to more a role of "Deckplate Leadership," where chiefs are expected to "be on deck with their Sailors, directly leading & mentoring them and being the technical expert of their equipment." He created the chiefs' "Mission, Vision and Guiding Principles," a written set of expectations and guidance on how to conduct themselves as chiefs, which led to a change of the chiefs' evaluation system, using those seven "Guiding Principles" as benchmarks for grading criteria in chiefs' performance.

Retirement

On 7 November 2008, Campa announced his plans to step down as MCPON on 12 December 2008 and to retire on 1 April 2009. On 5 December 2008, Fleet Master Chief

Rick D. West Rick D. West (born 1963) is a retired United States Navy sailor who served as the 12th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy. Early life and education West was born in 1963 in Rising Fawn, Georgia, and graduated from Northwest Georgia High Sc ...

was announced as the 12th MCPON. Campa received the

Navy Distinguished Service Medal The Navy Distinguished Service Medal is a military decoration of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps which was first created in 1919 and is presented to sailors and Marines to recognize distinguished and exceptionally meritoriou ...

during his retirement ceremony.

Awards and decorations

* Campa earned 7 service stripes.

External links

*
''MCPON, departing: Campa to retir''e
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campa, Joe Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Lynwood, California People from the San Fernando Valley Master Chief Petty Officers of the United States Navy Excelsior College alumni Naval War College alumni Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal

Early life and education

Naval career

Retirement

Awards and decorations

See also

External links