DATE: Wednesday, September 3, 1997          TAG: 9709030460

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   31 lines

FORMER ROOSEVELT MASTER CHIEF WILL MOVE TO TOP ENLISTED SPOT

Master Chief Petty Officer James L. Herdt, a machinist's mate who is a former command master chief of the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, will become master chief petty officer of the Navy, early next year, officials confirmed Tuesday.

Adm. Jay L. Johnson, chief of naval operations, selected Herdt, 50, on Friday, though the appointment has not been formally announced. Herdt will succeed John Hagan, who has held the job for six years, a record.

The master chief petty officer of the Navy, the service's top enlisted man, serves as an adviser to Johnson and other Navy leaders. Hagan has used his tenure to lobby for better housing, medical benefits and other of quality-of-life improvements for enlisted sailors.

Herdt, a native of Casper, Wyo., joined the Navy in 1966. He has served aboard cruisers, aircraft carriers and submarines and holds a bachelor's degree in liberal studies from the State University of New York college system and an M.B.A. degree from the Florida Institute of Technology. He also is a graduate of the Navy's Senior Enlisted Academy and the Army's Sergeants Major Academy.

Herdt now is master chief of the Naval Education and Training Force, based in Pensacola, Fla. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Master Chief James L. Herdt

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