He probably knows little about anything besides Navy Culture.
The folks keeping the ship running and effective are E-1 - E-6...or rapidly advancing to E-8 and 9.
Exactly. Even E-6s do little hands-on labor. The only thing you are likely to see in a chief’s hand is a coffee mug. It is the young E-1s through E-5s who perform all the maintenance tasks that keep the ships moving and the aircraft flying. The chiefs supervise the running of the shop and may assign specific tasks.