Cape native ranks master chief in Navy

Cape Girardeau native Scott Enderle gives the credit for his recent promotion to master chief petty officer in the U.S. Navy to the sailors under his charge.

"To get from petty officer, you know, just joining out of high school, to master chief, it's basically just taking care of people and that's where that comes in -- taking care of your sailors, because ultimately, they take care of you," Enderle said.

Master chief petty officer is the highest rank for an enlisted member, one that less than 1% of Navy personnel receive.

He said he finds particular inspiration for his work in a quote from President Ronald Reagan: "There is no limit to the amount of good you can do when you don't care who gets the credit."

Billy Hieb, Enderle's mentor and command master chief petty officer at the first naval construction regiment in Port Hueneme, California, confirmed this leadership style.

"You know, [Enderle] doesn't do his job looking for all the accolades. And that kind of shows through on his performance reviews every year, where he cares more about the people under him than his own career," Hieb said. "And, you know, that's kind of who we're looking for, to make master chief, because it's not about you, it's about the people underneath ya and he gets it."

According to military-ranks.org, master chief petty officer is the ninth rank in the U.S. Navy. To achieve the rank, a special advancement board has to approve a candidate.

According to Enderle, he never had master chief as an ultimate goal when he enlisted after graduating Cape Girardeau Central High School in 1995. With time and experience in the Navy, he found pride and satisfaction in his work as a leader, which helped him gain rank, and helped others gain rank, too.

Enderle said he initially joined the military because he wanted to serve his country, but also wanted to do something different. From those intentions, he narrowed it down to the Navy, specifically the engineering corps known as the Seabees, because of his interest in design and engineering. The cherry on top was also finding out one of his great uncles had been a Seabee.

"So I decided to raise my right hand and swear an oath to defend this country," Enderle said.

And he said he wouldn't have been able to serve or achieve high rank without his wife, Sarah, two daughters and God.

Enderle said he will work at the "Seabee base" in Port Hueneme, where he has regularly served and will continue to do so as a master chief.