How do two Master Chiefs of the Navy live together for thirty years? Which is the super, super Master Chief? The Answer: “we consider each other equals in and out of the Navy. We each have our own areas of expertise. Our Motto is: “Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming, “Wow, what a ride!”

Charlie and Heather realized that when they met for the first time at U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay, located in Zambales, Philippines, they had many things in common.

• Both were career Navy, Charlie had twenty-five years in the Navy and Heather had 16 years in the Navy. They both were determined to become Master Chiefs and they did.
• Both found the other to be just perfect for a long term friendship, and marriage.
• Both were from California.

Charlie’s hometown was Calipatria, California, at the southern end of the Saltan Sea in Imperial Valley California. After moving several times to and from Chicago, Charlie graduated from Antelope Valley Joint Union High School in Lancaster, California. Charlie, looking for an opportunity to advance, was promised by his Navy recruiter a life time of adventure and an opportunity to realize all of his dreams. So off to the Navy Aviation School he went to become a mechanic.

Instead he was sent to be a Career Counselor and during that time the new Navy Counselor rating was established. He applied and was accepted as a new Navy Counselor and a life time of travel. In the Navy his dreams were realized and became a Chief in less than 10 years. Unusual but not impossible.

Heather’s grew up also in Southern California at Hermosa Beach, a beachfront city in Los Angeles County, California. After graduating from Leuzinger High School, Lawndale, California, in 1965, motivated by her foster brother who was in the Navy, a summer of fun with him and his friends, Heather thought the Navy was going to be a “Bowl of Cherries,” not quite a “Bowl of Cherries” but a wonderful career opportunity. Like Charlie, Heather went on to make Chief in 10 years and retired as a Master Chief in 1993.

Heather was an Administrator or Yeoman and during her time women were not on ships. Heather’s assignments including working as a Yeoman in the Secretary of the Navy Office at the Pentagon; she when on to various assignments until she went to Subic Bay and met Charlie.