157 Comments

Ray Mabus was not without his accomplishments. Do you remember how women in the USN (meter maid) and USMC had distinct covers? In the spirit of equality, men and women now wear the same type of combination covers. So, there!

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You do know the Navy just went back to the old cover for women, right?

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No. I am retired and am not up on all the uniform regs.

Given this administration's obsession with transgenderism I am wondering if men can wear the bucket covers, too.

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Call me back to active duty in today's Navy on a Woke ship and you'll have to drag me back kicking and screaming. But I won't ever wear a Dixie Cup again because I have recurring PTSD nightmares about supply chain problems that mean there are no spare Dixie Cups to be had, and I have just only one...to be hand-scrubbed of fingerprints and grime daily. (One of my recurring nightmares is being called back to duty as a fat E-6 with my belly hanging out below my Dress Blue Donald Duck blouse. The dream is real.) Some of that hearkens back to 1981 where, as a former E-8, I spent 4 days as a Midshipman in the same set of wash khakis in OCS in July on the hottest days ever. Something about having to wear sweat-stained, salt infused and stinking wash khaki's took the starch out of me. I quit OCS. Yeah, I know...Grunts had it worse in Vietnam. But to each, his own PTSD. I won't wear a unisex uniform. No heels, no thong, no silk undergarments. No bucket cover unless it's one of those outsize battle helmets made for sound powered telephone talkers. No LCS. No Little Crappy ship. No Lousy Crappy Shi_ for me. Not unless they let me sharpen my sword and wear it 24/7 when they call me back. I won't willingly be part of the Woke.

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Maybe it's time to bring back the cocked hat and frock coat. Frock coats are great for those of us who are Gentlemen of Substance.

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I want badger hats if you call me back to service. The cutlasses for the officers and boarding pikes for enlisted would be a plus, but the hat is a necessity. https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/browse-by-topic/heritage/uniforms-and-personal-equipment/uniforms-1815/_jcr_content/body/image.img.jpg/1485283450692.jpg

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Not gonna lie...I kinda like that idea LOL

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OOOHHRRaaa!

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With so many pictures of sailors wearing camo, and outfits I cant even identify...i literally have no clue what the hell the uniform of the day is?? Being from the days of dungarees and flight deck boots, and coveralls on most serious work days, I dont think Id fit in today!!

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Were I recalled the only real question would be would I be court-martialed within days or would it take an entire month.

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Most of us are safe from recall. Some of us safer than others. But were we recalled the length of time to be court-martialed might depend how steadfastly we stayed true to our oath and the traditional values we were raised with. I never found it difficult to stay out of trouble. But these modern times...I doubt I'd recognize a gender land mine, a feminista fragging, a pronoun punji stick or an Aitch Ar ambush until I was already face down in the dirt being cuffed after an MP/NIS joint gang tackle. Nah. Metformin side effects alone would keep me off Active Duty. Occasional unpredictable hot lava explosive volcanic gastric distress makes me 4-F.

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Ahhh, so THAT is how the leftists FOGOs know what a woman is! Ponytails and covers!

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At least one Supreme Court judge doesn't even know the definition of a woman even by that standard.

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She/He? Who could tell? Also is worried the First Amendment (the thing the framers put, um, FIRST) might impede the government's ability to censor the population. Might they want to? Don't we think they should? Ya know, for our own protection. DC politicians are all ab out the love and the help!

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She rightfully identified the fatal flaw in the First Amendment; it infringes upon the right of the government to oppress it's citizens in several ways

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I did a little research and discovered that the Navy permits women to wear the old bucket covers, but no one is actually producing them. I expect that kind of logic from Navy weapons procurement, but not covers.

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I'd guess that some women may have kept their old ones. Very few of them liked the fit of the round men's cover. I'd guess it will take awhile for them to spin up to produce the old style again since that change to uniform regs was just announced a short while ago.

Have a good week.

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I was told that used covers are available on eBay at ridiculous prices.

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Also, he named a ship for sex predator Harvey Milk. Because diversity is our strength.

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CDR Sal, you highlight a very important point. Between DDX / DD 1000 and LCS, we have literally squandered 20 years plus of ship building and fleet modernization. I'm almost surprised someone didn't try to shut down the Arleigh Burke lines to continue to fund LCS. Even the Navy couldn't be that lacking judgement, right? Right?.....

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No, they shut it down to fund 7 billion dollar destroyers without ammo or air search radars.

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DDG 1000 could have had an air search radar. The software-defined system had all of the hardware in place, but the software wasn’t optimized for that role. And the *really* sad part? The software wasn’t designed to use those very capable AGS in a surface combatant role either. A destroyer simply not designed to take out other surface combatants with guns simply boggles the mind.

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author

If you understand the deep dysfunction at OPNAV, it all makes sense.

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I had two roles in the design of DDG 1000. First, coordinating the activities of John J. McMullen Associates as the navarch support to Blue Team. Then, as the Ingalls Shipbuilding design integration manager during preliminary design. It was in the latter role that I realized Raytheon’s contract didn’t include the relatively simple software needed to dump a whole pile of 155mm rounds onto a moving target. You have used the phrase “deep dysfunction” before, but this approaches Challenger Deep levels. It does, however, fit with the massive surface combat memory hole discussed in a string of recent posts here.

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and squandered all their credibility across multiple areas, and destroyed trust up and down the CoC

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Mar 25·edited Mar 25

As we learned earlier this month, The first of the Constellation-class is on track to be at least 15 months late. https://insidedefense.com/daily-news/navy-budget-reflects-delays-constellation-class-frigate-program

Yesterday, Brandon Weichert fisked the Connie program over at The National Interest. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/us-navy%E2%80%99s-new-constellation-class-frigate-still-misses-mark-210208

Twenty years of squandering may not be enough.

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Good thing Boeing isn't building them. They'd be on track to be seven years delayed

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"...on track to be at least 15 months late." No, I am not shooting the messenger, Sicinnus. But ON TRACK...to be LATE" Wow. Sign of the times. Maybe Blinken and State can negotiate us a 15-month delay in the next war. 16 to be on the safe side.

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Blinken is good when it comes to getting 51 intel officials to lie about Hunter’s laptop. He’s useless when it comes to defending the national interest.

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Has anything bad happened to Iran? So how can you say he isn't defending the national interest?

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We have learned nothing.

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Mar 25Liked by CDR Salamander

Those within the USN who dared to criticize LCS got hammered. Anyone since 2006 who criticized the LCS in print or testimony should be given a parade. The SWO community really owns this one, and it needs to forced to make public amends.

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They hand off "little crappy ships" to CO's which are horrible, then fire the CO's because they aren't maintainable. How about we recall to active duty those Flag officer advocates and bust them back to 05? We keep preaching accountability to the rank and file, but there is no accountability for the Flags who demand it from everyone else.

As long as the CNO continues to select and detail fellow Flag officers to their jobs, we will continue to generate yes men/women in those slots. Time to take that process away from the CNO and make records stand on their own, without regard to Flag sponsorship, DEI quotas, or any other outside influence.

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We can't even hold the flags who took bribes from Fat Leonard accountable..

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Well, you see, when a flag officer does this it isn't taking a bribe. It's just maintaining a relationship with an important vendor. Like when Biden got millions from a Putin flunky.

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Of all the loss of confidence command reliefs we see, I can't think of too many from the LCS community.

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They don't have a chance to get a DUI. That's what the last three were.

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Because then we wouldn’t have anyone left to command them.

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DEI = Didn’t Earn It.

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Mar 25Liked by CDR Salamander

three words: "Soviet level dysfunction" Full Stop!

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But the Soviets had a method for dealing with grave, embarrassing dysfunction. If I recall correctly, they called if "The Vertical Stroke". I think they used that when that German teenager, Mathias Rust, flew a light aircraft into Russia and landed in Red Square in Moscow in 1987. The Minister of Defense, the CINC of Soviet Air Defense Forces, many other senior officers down to enlisted radar operators were fired.

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-story-of-mathias-rust-the-german-teenager-who-humiliated-the-soviet-war-machine-by-landing-his-cessna-172-in-moscows-red-square/

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Yes, Stupid Pilot Tricks!

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The LCS' do have use in the Red Sea...They'd make nifty reefs

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Hey, we need more divable wrecks off Texas.

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SCS reefs

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I'll say it again trying to make lemonade out of aluminum cans shaped like little ships.

We should give the Philippines a couple of LCS for their reef-squatting missions

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Well, at 45 knots the Chinese would have a hard time stopping them with firehoses, but would they break apart when they hit the reef?

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I'm talking about replacing a couple of those rusting PI Navy LSTs that they resupply, not using LCS as the resupply vessels

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founding

These turkeys can't make 45 knots...

It was always a charade.

And why saddled the Phillipines with these money sinks?

The only proper place for the LCSs is in some pictures alongside an article about how not to rund a Defense program.

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After reading this and the many other citations, if I'm a PI defense official, why would I even want to consider accepting these ship? They can't get underway, at the very least a diesel powered fishing trawler is more capable than LCS.

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Well, it only has to make one trip to the reef...

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What they have is an 80 y/o LST with major holes in the hull. no engines, no kitchen, no water, no power and no sewage handling. A new LCS would be better in all those areas, till it rots of course

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I think the only benefit those LCS's would achieve is their flight deck would make resupply an easier evolution.

Latest ship retirement proposal, the Expeditionary Fast Transports are on the chopping block, those would be a better option for the PI ...or, use them for the harebrained Gaza supply-mission.

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having water, possible power, toilets, dry bunks and a kitchen would seem a plus as well

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founding

Why would we do that to an ally?

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An LCS for what in the littorals??? There was never a strategy developed for the thing. Foolish -most of us said at the USNWC back in the early 2000s when Clark came to the College for a visit... But the "powers-to-be" must have seen somthing us O-6s couldn't get our arms around. Further, at the same time, Mike Mullen was running thru the halls of the College and NWDC dumping all over LCS in support of the money grab that big ship construction brings Navy. Again, Foolish.

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Manned target?

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The idea of a mass-production common hull able to do different missions based on their specific equipment is an excellent idea. The LCS was NEVER it though.

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If we wanted Absalon, we should have tested Absolon, improved Absalon, and built it, understanding the caps and lims that modularity brought. Speed != modularity. And using the GWOT manning limitations or whatever ex post facto excuse the LCS defenders created isn't a replacement for the JCIDS process they willfully subverted.

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You could even build some sort of large ship that has cranes and stuff on it and stores the modules. And maybe has spare parts and machine shops and other useful things you might need to sustain them on-station. Not sure what we could call this kind of unique new concept.

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Maybe a Mobile Supply Depot Ship, or MSDS?

Can't call it a tender.

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Mar 26·edited Mar 26

Yes! Build two of them and base them both in Guam! Along with all the modules and spares. #profits

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We can have circle of buoys around them. The first at 2km and then every 100 meters. This way the PLA Rocket force can register their missiles on the first salvo and make the second one on-target.

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At least ABSALON has a five inches, like a proper warship.

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I’d be happy with a 76 mm and a working air defense armament.

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The way I see it, 57mm is a replacement for 40mm. Funnily enough that's how bofors saw it when they invented it. 76mm is the minimum for offensive armament IMO but preferably with a better field of fire than on FFG-7 OHPs.

While I'm stating my preferences, 360* arc for phalanx - if your 1 phalanx is masked by superstructure then you need 2, obviously. Obviously?

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I read this ProPublica report back in September when it came out... nice to see the level of selective accountability in all of this... Back in the day, I had two close friends (JO's) who did their 20 and ended up not making the rank they richly deserved... because they wouldn't compromise their ethics for the sake of doing something a senior officer insisted on that was illegal.

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Mar 25·edited Mar 25

This contributes to why the Navy today has lost its credibility to convince the President and Congress of what is needed to defend our country. The don't believe our leaders - this gives them ample justification. Career in the Navy - read the article and ProPublica - you'll understand why our JOs and Sailors don't want to be part of system that rewards failure and sidelines those who know what needs to be done. Why would you want to commit to 30 years of shoveling uphill? Only if your belief in our country was strong enough to overcome the stank from this sort of thing - and how many believe that strongly today. This is an opportunity for the CNO to clear the decks - surround herself with real talent, find the North Star and navigate there as quickly as possible. I'm not optimistic.

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The same CNO who has a degree in journalism?

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She studies the ways of her adversary.

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Kinda fitting since both the President and the Congress lack the credibility to convince the other branch of government of what is needed to defend or country, or even who to defend against.

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Mar 25·edited Mar 25Liked by CDR Salamander

Pain!!!

The failure of the LCS was simply put a failure of our leadership. It laid bare the ugly truth of going along to go along. Why is it a problem of moral courage to speak the truth to a senior officer? I thought that was our duty.

The flags made this mess. They perpetuated it. And they wonder why recruitment is down. Lol.

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LCS was a bad idea that was driven firmly on the rocks by senior flag officers who refused to admit that physics never lies. While at NAVSEA in the early 1980s, I proved the fallacy of trying to fit 10 gallons of operational capability into a 40+ knot 5 gallon hat. My senior leadership understood that, but the PC-1 class stayed in the budget anyway. The PC-1 class was a bad idea, but has still lasted longer than LCS.

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PC-1 still was a PC even after the why behind it wasn't the right idea. Another advantage of starting with a borrowed seaframe. With some lessons learned we now have FRC. Also grown off an existing seaframe. When we get serious about loitering munitions and UAVs we might try for a useful, small ship again.

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The Turks just commissioned TCG Anadolu, which they say is intended to operate drones. For reference, Anadolu is about 60% the displacement of our LHAs. My guess is that between the Navy’s nuke union and its aviator union, this sort of idea won’t get traction here until after a couple of CVNs are sunk.

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Dude, the word is “hull.” Don’t use a long word when a short one fits.

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founding

For alot of them, it was the path to a cushy post-retirement gig.

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If they built a dozen or fewer it would be OK but this? Get a courts martial convened yesterday.

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Try re-reading the article. One ID'ed there.

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Mar 25·edited Mar 25

From here on forward, naming and shamming needs to be the standard when speaking of LCS-

Vern Clark

Ray Mabus

Robert Work

Jonathan Greenert

Their names need to be held in contempt and derision for the mess they created.

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As a nuke, Greenert should have known better. Admiral Rickover hated automation as he felt it meant that no one was responsible.

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The rumor I heard was the entire reason Greenert was plucked from NR to CNO was to ensure that Big Navy didn't mess up the Columbia program that much.

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It also has the negative effect of being slower in a crisis and possibly causing operators to be less engaged. This is for any system. I'm no nuke, just an old crusty.

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founding

You forgot Mullen and Roughead...

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Mar 26·edited Mar 26

Mullen...you mean Ward Carroll's golfing partner, that Mullen?

As for Roughhead, he joined Fincantieri as board chairman straight from retirement. Coincidence....?

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founding

Yeah...

Mentioned this on another thread yesterday...

Seems that in the DC NatSec World, that when referring to someone, the almost obligatory first descriptor that gets used is, "He's a really smart guy..."

Like: 'I worked with so and so on such and such...Really smart guy!...[conversation continues]'

The folks on the list you compiled are all .... in DC parlance ... Really Smart Guys!

And look what they presided over:

Ford

LCS

DDG-1000

Collapse of SSN maintenance

USN ships turning into rustbuckets

The list is lengthy and rarely positive.

Puts a context on that "Really Smart Guy!" phrase. No?

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"Especially in unmanned systems and directed energy - the desire to manifest what you want by tightening the blinkers even closer to the head, stuffing more wax in the ears, firing alternative voices … it still exists."

This. It's a major problem with unmanned systems, in particular. Much of the problem comes from the fact that the handful of people with real expertise in unmanned systems find it VERY hard to get promoted.

Pro tip: If you don't have BAMS-D operational experience, you do not get promoted to command PMA-263, be the MQ-4 Class Desk...and I'd be wary of PEO U&W. For one damned time, let Scars Earn Stars.

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In the wake of the double-barreled disasters of A-12 and Tailhook, Naval Aviation went on the Big Navy Excrement List. Budgets got cut, opportunities for promotion beyond Rear Admiral evaporated. NAVAIR straightened itself out, at least in part.

The surface community needs the same treatment.

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