Rear Adm. Masso Takes Over as Head of Personnel Command

Rear Adm. Edward Masso relieved Rear Adm. David A. Gove as commander of Navy Personnel Command (NPC) and deputy chief of Naval Personnel (CNP) in a change of command ceremony May 17. Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. John C. Harvey Jr., Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Manpower, Personnel, Training & Education) was principal speaker at the ceremony.

Gove leaves NPC after nearly two years of service. Under his authority, the command faced challenges ranging from correctly prioritizing limited resources in completing the mission, technical upgrades, and personnel manning issues relating to the Navy’s contribution to the global war on terrorism. “I believe our team here at NPC did an excellent job in mission accomplishment –- to create 21st century leaders. Together, we have refined and stabilized our organization, implemented a world-class strategy to enable our enterprise to deliver the right Sailor for today and in the future, contributed to the development of a supply chain approach to delivering Sailors to the fleet, refined our detailing solution for our Navy individual augmentation (IA) contribution to the war on terror[ism], and tightened and continued to enhance our management of joint assignments and education,” Gove said.

“All this has been going on while we continue to execute our mission to provide Sailors with the right training, at the right time, in the right place for the right cost, while also creating an environment for them to grow and develop and be as successful as they can be both professionally and personally. We have endeavored to deliver the best possible fit -- meaning trained and ready Sailors to the fleet,” he continued. Other highlights included ensuring all critical billets were properly manned with the best qualified Sailors during a critical organizational merger and an overall realignment of the Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education (MPT&E) priorities.

“Our demand signal is constantly changing,” said Gove. “These signals are driven by our need to respond to diverse, networked and dynamic adversaries, as well as fiscal realities facing each of the armed services. We must develop a force that is capable of operating in the 'grey areas' of traditional, irregular, catastrophic and disruptive warfare. ” Gove also assumed a key leadership role in supporting continuous and significant improvements in Navy's individual augmentation processes for those being assigned to the global war on terrorism during his tour. “Many of our Sailors from NPC have served on an IA, including 160 during my watch here in Millington,” said Gove. “Overall for our Navy, we’ve issued more than 13,000 sets of IA orders since this global war on terrorism began; more than 9,000 since I reported aboard in September 2005.” Navy Personnel Command, based at Naval Support Activity (NSA) Mid-South in Millington, employs about 2,000 people and helps manage and execute human resources for the Navy. There are more than 5,000 people total at NSA Mid-South -- 2,059 active duty, 1,762 reservists, 1,611 government service and contractors civilians -– as well as about 58,000 visitors per year to NSA Mid-South. More than 40,000 military retirees and their families make their homes in the area, with the Navy’s total economic impact in the area totaling more than $300 million a year.

By Chief Mass Communication Specialist Teresa J. Frith, Navy Personnel Command Masso is a 1977 graduate of the University of Mississippi, where he received his commission through the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps program. The admiral has various personal decorations, but is most proud of the Meritorious Unit Commendation awarded to the men and women of Navy Command Center 106 for actions during and following the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center.