NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain (Sept. 18, 2026) – In a formation of sailors wearing khaki, three Airmen in Air Force blue service dress stood out as they marched toward their pinning ceremony onboard Naval Station (NAVSTA) Rota, Sept. 16, 2026.

After six weeks of grueling training alongside Navy chief selectees, they had reached the end of an experience that tested their leadership and pinned them with one of the Navy’s most revered titles “chief petty officer,” joining a family they never knew they’d have.

Master Sgt. Clarissa Grant, Master Sgt. Eric Larmay and Tech. Sgt. Kevin Tuskey, all assigned to the 725th Air Mobility Squadron, completed the initiation. The six-week training brought them into the heart of the chiefs’ mess, the collective of chief petty officers on the installation, and challenged them to reflect on how they lead and care for their Airmen.

“I got very comfortable… with the ‘come to work, get your tasks done, and go home,’” Tuskey said. “I think what the initiation drilled home for me was embracing being that next tier, being that senior [non-commissioned officer], seeking out opportunities to lead and Airmen who may need help.”

The U.S. Navy’s chief petty officer rank was introduced on April 1, 1893. Since then, generations of leaders have learned what it means to wear the rank and the increased responsibility to not only be a technical expert in their field but an expert in their people.

“You see the pride the Navy takes in developing their leaders,” said Master Sgt. Brandon King, 521st Air Mobility Operations Group unit deployment manager and 2025 NAVSTA chief petty officer initiation graduate. “Through chief petty officer initiation, you hold yourself to a higher standard. You find out how hard you can push yourself not just physically but mentally.”

The Navy’s chiefs’ mess is similar to a fraternal order or a family. You must be accepted, but once you are, the bonds are unbreakable.

“It’s a family,” King said. “They’ll bend over backwards to help you out.”

During the six-week period, previous graduates from both the Navy and Air Force mentored and guided the initiates.

“We always had somebody that was there to help us through whatever we may have needed at the time,” King said. “There was always somebody from the chiefs’ mess to help us out.”

Pinned with the same anchors as their Navy counterparts, the three Airmen plan to apply the lessons and connections from the initiation in leadership roles within their units.

“Building that network of connections with all the other chiefs for moments when I need to work with the Navy… to take care of our Airmen,” said Larmay. “That was the primary driver for me to go through initiation.”

It is not uncommon to see Navy chief petty officer initiations include joint-service partners, but what is extraordinary is taking part in one of the most significant ceremonies held at NAVSTA Rota in more than a decade. The chief selectees were engaged to assist and the three Airmen took a leading role in Naval Station Rota’s commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. A sitting head of state had not directly visited NAVSTA Rota or any of its supported commands since former President Obama’s visit to the installation in July 2016. King Felipe VI, then Prince of Asturias, visited NAVSTA Rota on Sept. 16, 2001, merely five days after the terrorist attacks, to grieve alongside the American community. Nearly 25 years later, King Felipe VI of Spain returned to preside over the installation’s commemoration ceremony.

Tuskey took the lead to create an interactive digital timeline for the event. Using touchscreens, he developed an interactive display with audio and visual components to ensure guests could hear and feel the stories from those who can’t share them anymore. The monarch moved through the display, stopping to embrace each element.

“It drew a lot of emotions out being able to not just tell the story of what happened but tie in the personal interviews and videos,” Tuskey said. “It meant a lot… having the trust put in us that the product would reach that level.”

In addition to their work on the ceremony, the chief initiates passed out 343 unique pamphlets, each representing a member of the New York Fire Department that perished while responding to the attacks, during a memorial run earlier in the day. Working with the installation’s firefighters during the commemoration brought back Larmay’s memories of watching the attacks unfold.

“I remember going home from school that day and watching everything unfold on TV and being like ‘if I could, I’d be there to help out,” Larmay said. “Working as closely as I did with firefighters on the day of the ceremony, there was a lot more emotion behind [the event].”

Six days after that commemoration, the three Airmen were accepted into the chiefs’ mess with a handshake and a challenge coin alongside their Navy peers. The pinning ceremony marked what they had completed together, but the relationships they formed and the lessons they learned gave them something to carry forward for life.