Career cryptologic tech tapped to be Navy's top enlisted

The Navy has tapped a career cryptologic sailor to lead the enlisted force as the service presses ahead with its information warfare capabilities.

Fleet Master Chief (IDW/SG/SW) Steven Giordano is Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson’s pick to be the 14th master chief petty officer of the Navy from a field that included five fleet-level master chiefs.

Giordano joined the service 27 years ago and rose rapidly through the cryptologic technical technical ranks and became a command senior chief — the first MCPON to have done so.
"As we encounter increased competition around the globe, the nation needs a capable and ready Navy today more than ever. Master Chief Giordano will play a central role in leading our team through the challenges and opportunities of today and tomorrow," Richardson said.

Richardson said that in his travels he's seen other navies model their senior enlisted roles on the U.S. Navy's chief's mess, including that of the MCPON.

"This was a very hard decision, perhaps the hardest I have made since becoming CNO," he said in a phone interview. "After spending some time with our fleet master chiefs, it's crystal clear why — each is superb in their own unique way. They really are the perfect blend of experience and professionalism, with little difference in their impressive resumes."

Richardson called Giordano on Wednesday to tell him he had been picked for MCPON 14, surprising the seasoned master chief.

"Following a pause, as I attempted to grasp the gravity of the moment, I was immediately overwhelmed with deep humbleness," Giordano said in an email. "I feel extremely blessed and honored and fully embrace the opportunity to continue to serve our great Navy as the 14th master chief petty officer of the Navy."


Giordano, the fleet master chief at the Naples, Italy-based Naval Forces Europe-Africa, has accumulated a lot of experience aboard ships and submarines and in squadrons. He earned his first warfare pin, enlisted submarine warfare specialist, is a rare accomplishment for a sailor in a non-submarine rating, netting him silver dolphins and the non-submarine rating warfare designator of SG.

His first command was a fleet reconnaissance squadron; he later qualified as a surface warfare specialist during a tour aboard a frigate.
Giordano will replace MCPON (AW/NAC) Mike Stevens, who ushered in new tattoo rules and controversially ended chief's induction during his four-year tenure as the Navy's top enlisted. Stevens, who was not involved in the selection process, said CNO's task had been hard.

"I can't imagine any chief of naval operations having to make a more difficult selection," Stevens said in an interview at the Pentagon. "Each one of the candidates have all served at the most senior levels and have taken on very difficult jobs over their careers — their track records are just eye-watering ."

Stevens said the MCPON job has grown over the years, giving each successive office holder a tougher time than the last. Still, he said Giordano is more than up to the task.

"Gio epitomizes what I like to refer to as a quiet, humble servant leader," Stevens said using the nickname Giordano has picked up over the years. "He lets his actions speak for his words and has had a very good career, but you'd never know it by talking to him."

"He'll never tall you because he understands that humility isn't thinking less of yourself, but more of others," he added.

In a phone call congratulating Giordano, Stevens joked with his successor.

"I told him that he's got no authority, no money and nobody works for him, but he's going to be asked to do everything," Stevens said. "Everything he'll get done will be due to trust, influence and persuasion."

Rising through the ranks

Giordano enlisted in June 1989, completed boot camp in Orlando, Florida and trained as a CTT at Cory Station in Pensacola, Florida.

He cut his teeth in the fleet with Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 1, a signals intelligence and reconnaissance squadron that flies EP-3E Aries aircraft; then forward-deployed to Naval Air Station Agana, Guam. He reported there in June 1990, two months before Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's forces invaded Kuwait. Giordano deployed during Desert Storm to Naval Security Group Activity Bahrain.

Staying in the Pacific, Giordano attended submarine school in Pearl Harbor and reported to Naval Security Group Activity Pearl Harbor, where he completed "numerous operational deployments,” according to his official bio, mostly aboard submarines.
While serving aboard subs, Giordano found the time to work towards becoming earning his dolphins.

Normally, to qualify to wear dolphins, sailors must be in a submarine source rating and assigned permanently to a boat. But Navy rules allow non-sub ratings to qualify while assigned to subs for temporary duty, as was the case for Giordano. Wearing this warfare pin requires the recommendation of the sub's commanding officer and Navy Personnel Command.

Giordano put on a first-class crow at the 11-year mark in April 2000, while assigned to NSGA Rota, Spain, according to his service records. He deployed to ships around the region, including aboard an allied combatant.

Three-years later, his rise through the ranks started to gain momentum. He was selected for chief petty office in 2003 by the fiscal 2004 E-7 board. Just three years later, in 2006, he earned his senior chief’s star while serving as Fleet Cryptologic Augmentation Center's division chief at Navy Information Operations Command, Fort Gordon, Ga.

He attended the Senior Enlisted Academy in 2007 and became a member of the academy’s faculty by that fall.

Giordano was chosen to be a command senior chief and headed in June 2009 to the San Diego-based frigate Mcclusky. While aboard, the ship participated in the Rim of the Pacific exercises and sailed on a six-month Eastern Pacific independent deployment to counter drug traffickers.

During this tour, Giordano advanced to master chief — completing a six-year rise from E-6 to E-9. He converted into the command master chief program.

Giordano was CMC of the Navy Information Operations Center Colorado in July 2012, when Cryptologic Technician (Collection) 3rd Class John Larimer was killed in the shooting rampage at the Aurora movie theater that shocked the nation.
Another sailor was injured and two others escaped unharmed.

Before his current assignment, Giordano served as the force master chief for the Virginia Beach-based Navy Information Dominance Forces.