Thanks for posting, great story.
Someone help me out, it looks like the gents wearing bow-ties are Chiefs. Is/was that a common uniform item and if so is to limited to Chiefs or can/did Officers wear them too?
Yes, the uniform of Chief Petty Officers used to include a black bow tie.
The lone officer is Lt Jones. The four guys with bowties are Chiefs. The ones with neckties are, I think, Chiefs acting in the capacity of officer positions.