Good conduct gold for all sailors

The Navy is about to end the tradition of requiring sailors to have 12 years of good conduct to rate gold stripes, according to a Navy message March 25 signed by the Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Robert Burke. On June 1, sailors with less-than-perfect records will no longer be required to wear red service stripes and rating badges on uniforms instead of gold ones for the Good Conduct Medal, the Navy-wide administrative message (075/19) stated. Senior-enlisted feedback prompted the Uniform Matters Office to look at revising the rules for gold rating badges and service stripes, said Lt. j.g. Stuart Phillips, a spokesman for Burke's office. Fleet feedback indicated the desire for there to be a single criterion that encompasses the achieved milestone of all enlisted sailors with 12 years of service, he continued. In 2017, Chief Musician Jessica Privler called for a change to the policy. Sailors who receive non-judicial punishment can lose pay, rank or face other punishment, she wrote in the U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings magazine. "Ultimately, we must ask ourselves what the goal of this regulation is and what it achieves," Privler wrote. "If the answer is public shaming, then the Navy is successful. ... By leaving this tradition behind, we would allow sailors to move on from their past mistakes." In June, all sailors with 12 years of active or drilling Reserve time in the Navy, Marine Corps or Navy and Marine Corps Reserves will qualify for gold stripes and badges. (Source: Military.com 03/25/19)