WASHINGTON – Marathon, Wisconsin, native Senior Chief Musician Gunnar Brunning advanced to the rank of master chief petty officer in the United States Navy May 25, during a promotion ceremony among friends, family and shipmates. As one of two senior chiefs in the United States Navy Band selected for advancement to master chief, the highest enlisted paygrade, Brunning joins a prestigious list of less than 1% of Sailors that will reach the rank of E-9 throughout their career in a total force that exceeds 330,000 personnel.
“I could not be more proud of those selected for promotion. These individuals represent the best our command has to offer and the future of the Navy Band looks bright with these folks moving into more senior leadership positions” said Captain Kenneth Collins, commanding officer of the U.S. Navy’s premier band. Keeping with tradition, family members ceremoniously removed Brunning’s senior chief collar insignia and replaced them with his newly earned master chief devices.
Brunning joined the Navy Band in 2001 as a trumpet instrumentalist. Prior to joining the Navy, he earned a Bachelor of Music in trumpet performance from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and a Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. Bruning has appeared with national and international ensembles outside the Navy Band, and has performed “Taps” for numerous high-profile funerals including the internment of President Gerald Ford in Grand Rapids, Mich., in January 2007. He has also served as a faculty member at the Washington Conservatory of Music in Bethesda, Maryland.
The United States Navy Band is the premier musical organization of the U.S. Navy. Comprised of six primary performing groups as well as a host of smaller ensembles, “The World’s Finest” is capable of playing any style of music in any setting.
Since its inception in 1925, the Navy Band has been entertaining audiences and supporting the Navy with some of the best musicians in the country. From national concert tours to presidential inaugurals to memorial services at Arlington National Cemetery, the Navy Band proudly represents the men and women of the largest, most versatile, most capable naval force on the planet today: America’s Navy.
