Pete: While female IDF soldiers do not do "tip of the spear," frontline combat, all of Israel is essentially the front line. Women "man" risky checkpoints all across Judea and Samaria (sites of many attacks, including deadly attacks against female solidiers), and also serve in high-risk security units and at checkpoints in the Old City of Jerusalem and elsewhere. Plus, look at what happened at the observation posts and bases along the Gaza periphery on October 7, 2024. Many of those women were not armed. Now, women will be armed at their computer terminals in observation centers. I visited one of these centers. Many female soldiers.
Females serving in the IDF is part of the Israeli ethos. Where to "draw the line" (or whether to draw lines) is a matter of heated debate.
Actually, the common-sense place to draw the line is precisely where just about all of us said it should be. The IDF has women under arms in those places out of necessity. But for some (like Murkowsli and Collins and Patsy Schroeder and some senior women Marines) to assert that women should be in combat arms, where their mission is to "locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver, or to repel his assault by fire and close combat" is dangerously absurd. Or absurdly dangerous. As for the other combat arms, those jobs are gut-busting physically, and may involve the requirement to serve as infantry on very little notice.
My problem with women in the Sand Box was unit cohesion. Every girl had a bf but not every guy had a gf. There weren’t enough women and the locals were off limits. I don’t think the senators want to hear my stories.
Until the war fighters are allowed to be war fighters, and go to war fighting schools, and this sort of nonsense is allowed to continue to "civilianize" the military so it isn't so scary this crap will continue. Goldwater Nichols, Joint commands, schools for war fighting that are teaching war fighting, military academies teaching CRT, all designed to weaken the military posture. The Obama bloodless purges of senior military officers in terms of success makes Stalin's bloody purges look tame. American won't get the joke until the wake up call of a sunken fleet, shot down air force and defeated in detail land army are demonstrated to them. That point it is not Pearl Harbor, rather nearly an end. Let's hope the new SecDef and various Secretaries of Army, Air Force and Navy can at least get the services back on track. In the meantime Happy New Year! End the woke!
Sadly, despite the massive rise in China’s military power and calling it our pacing threat to measure our own military capabilities, the Navy clearly doesn’t believe the PLAN is strong enough to act like the PLAN is a threat to our control of the seas.
Having the most gender-balanced sailors drowning at sea should not be the Navy’s goal.
If we got into a real war, I think the people would revolt seeing large numbers of their daughters coming home in body bags. and, it would happen that way because of compromised unit cohesion among numerous other problems.
It's only 10am on NY eve and my head already hurts. There are likely a dozen or more civil service or contractors whose sole responsibility is to coordinate these annual conferences. Fire them all!
Pete: The Wool Act deserves its own thread. But, seriously, I still have my late father's all-wool Eisenhower Jacket and Army blanket from his service in Korea, 1952-53. These two items will last forever.
CDR Sal, IMO, emphasis on the "my": the people who actively promote Gender Studies fall into two types of categories: "true" believers who honestly believe their own personal fantasy is reality, and those who use them as cannon fodder in support of their own agendas. Since the second category is presently in charge of the military / DoD at the highest levels that's a horrible problem. Perhaps a worse one is the reality that those in charge have risen up through the ranks, so the "system" itself is now rotten at the foundations. Anticipate the "system" defending itself vigorously. Can't burn it down and start over, don't have time for that. If an adversary west of the date line "goes big" the cost is probably going to be very, very high. We are not ready, simply put.
I would venture to say if anything to the West goes kinetic, we'd be better off burning everything O-6 or above and E-9, and turning to anyone who's never been to one of these conferences to move forward.
The sieve of war sifts mighty fine, and does so ruthlessly. The services had their dead wood going into WW2, but we had the ability to winnow those and replace them with people already in the system. I'm afraid that if we find our selves in a gut busting shooting war, that the current officer corps will waste much of the human resources we have now. If there are insufficient troops of the needed quality, to step up into the breach and hold the line while we get rid of the idiots, then we are well and truly screwed.
It was a fine institution and can be so again by firing all the PC DEI CRT LGBTQ faculty members and getting back to the basics of Sun Tzu, Clausewitz and Mahan.
I understand. When dad was there in 1967 I loved to go see Dewey's uniform in the case in the (then) lobby, and what was then the library with the steel stairs to get to the upper levels.
But...looking at the cultural rot and decay of the place, I fear it's too far gone to be called a "Naval War College".
I disagree. I'm a graduate of the NWC. The NWC gave me the best education I had in how to think. It was a better education than that I received from a top 50-ranked law school. It was that good. While it is likely that the NWC may have to go "All back full, right 30 degrees rudder" for a year or so, I am confident there remains a solid foundation to build upon in Newport. And for the times we are in, the USN needs institutions like the old NWC
Nothing focuses the mind and brings a new sense of purpose like a change of scenery. Even IF there was value in keeping the NWC - close it down, sell the property and supplies. Maybe keep the written/printed archival assets of the Eccles Library. Take the proceeds from the sale and purchase one of the 16 colleges and universities that shutdown in 2024, choosing one in an area with a much lower cost of living than Newport, RI. Reconstitute staff will locals and recruit professors who are interested in teaching topics that will help us win a naval campaign anywhere on the globe and who don't mind moving to the boondocks.
I recall Nimitz saying that there was not one problem he saw in the Pacific war that was not anticipated at the War College. I think there is a need for it, but it needs, like a lot of other stuff in the service, a thorough cleaning.
Plenty of value to be had here. But to wring that value from the American tax dollar, a whole sh*tload of people at the senior uniformed and civilian levels of the services need to be sent packing post-haste.
All this started in the early 90s under the Clinton administration. The Navy was first because it was closest, Annapolis is an easy day trip from DC.
When I started seeing the USNA alumni magazine featuring mids building homes for Habitat for Humanity rather than old goats war stories I knew we were screwed.
The rot is 30 years on and it's clear what the priorities are for them. I can only hope and pray the West Point and USAFA haven't been as badly injured.
all the service academies are a mess and need to be shut down. I think the British system would be better. Require an officer candidate to have a university degree and then put them in a year or so long school, similar to Sandhurst.
Sal; How about one of our navy personnel experts help the next SECNAV write a memo to BUPERS . Something like: 1 - to meet POTUS intent Effective March 1 all the positions mentioned during this conference are to be eliminated and personnel returned to war fighting positions in the fleet. 2- All positions attending this conference should be examined for appropriateness and positions eliminated if not. Return any impacted personnel to war fighting positions in the fleet. 3- All attendees should have attendance to this and earlier conferences noted in personnel jackets in same manner as tailhook attendance. 4- BUPERS will report back to this office with results no later than March 30. Report will include total number of positions examined, List of positions, number of personnel returned to the fleet and collapsed demographic information of all positions including race and sex to ensure positions reflect makeup of the Navy. 5- Personnel that can not be returned to the fleet should be discharged per normal process.
You need the right person with the right top-cover to be the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Personnel) … Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs). See who goes there, and that will tell you what action will take place.
For reference, I grew up 5 minutes from Gate 10, Granddad was an eye surgeon on the base, Dad engineered torpedoes, had special privileges as a senior in HS to attend selected NWC lectures, son USNA 2013 grad. & Major in the USMC and I am now retired Blue & Gold Officer and devoted to our Navy. I am horrified to read this post. This Marxist woke gender efforts must be destroyed root and branch or soon enough these active participants will no know the difference between Port & Starboard. Pray for Trump and his SECDEF to spike this ideology immediately.
H-1B issue is the rock. The pipeline of foreign low(er)-cost labor to supply hordes of low-level coders, accounting drones, and other Dilberts all over the USA is what is under the rock. It ain't about the Elon Musks, Andy Groves, and other tech business phenoms—it's about why your college grad grandkids are still living with your sons and daughters. Failure to launch or mission scrubbed on the pad?
Need half a dozen of you credentialed (as in O-x Ret,d.) To print this out, including the comments and mail it to SECDEF. He might ignore one missive but will note repeat receipts and will read it.
All hail DOGE. I keep getting mental images of Elon Musk emulating Millei, ripping down tags, yelling Afuera! and laughing like mad.
Talked ourselves hoarse over the last couple of decades to try and keep the woke DEI/CRT zealots from grinding the edge off the spear tip. To be told we are 'obsolete' and 'don't understand' because 'everything is different now.' Along with the racist, sexist, homophobe accusations standard with opposing the far-left secular progressives.
"What an embarrassment. The world is in flames, our fleet is shrinking after falling to #2, what we have isn’t being maintained, we are expending more weapons than we are expending against non-state actors, our cruisers are trying to shoot down our buddy-tanking Super Hornets…yet here we are - storing mohair in caves after the end of the Cold War."
Obviously, our lack of sufficient GenAds and GFPs has led us to this dark future.
National Security is partially about protecting women and children. You know "our beloved homes and war's desolation?"
No civilized country intentionally places women in harm's way.
Tell that to Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.
Both of them are idiots and think the military is just a jobs program.
They certainly blunt the pointy end of the spear.
Pete: And the IDF; a fact about which I am torn.
I don't think the IDF puts women in the front lines. The pictures I saw were of men going into the booby trapped tunnels to flush out the HAMAS trash.
Pete: While female IDF soldiers do not do "tip of the spear," frontline combat, all of Israel is essentially the front line. Women "man" risky checkpoints all across Judea and Samaria (sites of many attacks, including deadly attacks against female solidiers), and also serve in high-risk security units and at checkpoints in the Old City of Jerusalem and elsewhere. Plus, look at what happened at the observation posts and bases along the Gaza periphery on October 7, 2024. Many of those women were not armed. Now, women will be armed at their computer terminals in observation centers. I visited one of these centers. Many female soldiers.
Females serving in the IDF is part of the Israeli ethos. Where to "draw the line" (or whether to draw lines) is a matter of heated debate.
Actually, the common-sense place to draw the line is precisely where just about all of us said it should be. The IDF has women under arms in those places out of necessity. But for some (like Murkowsli and Collins and Patsy Schroeder and some senior women Marines) to assert that women should be in combat arms, where their mission is to "locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver, or to repel his assault by fire and close combat" is dangerously absurd. Or absurdly dangerous. As for the other combat arms, those jobs are gut-busting physically, and may involve the requirement to serve as infantry on very little notice.
My problem with women in the Sand Box was unit cohesion. Every girl had a bf but not every guy had a gf. There weren’t enough women and the locals were off limits. I don’t think the senators want to hear my stories.
Those secular Israeli women have bigger balls than the cowardly ultra-orthodox men.
Bravery or love of country have never been the issues.
Worth noting is that whenever places come under siege, <i>everyone</i> is found on the walls. I think the Israeli situation counts.
Yes.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Div Thur on Tues? well, hells bells then, and a Happy ever-lovin New Year to all!
This has nothing to do with recruiting & retention.
/s
I think it has everything with recruiting (fewer sailors) and retention (of qualified sailors). By design.
Saw the /s but couldn’t help myself. Jan 21 may not solve things but surely it’s a step in the right direction.
Put a clown in the White House, he does not become President: the White House turns into a circus.
We'll soon find out.
Until the war fighters are allowed to be war fighters, and go to war fighting schools, and this sort of nonsense is allowed to continue to "civilianize" the military so it isn't so scary this crap will continue. Goldwater Nichols, Joint commands, schools for war fighting that are teaching war fighting, military academies teaching CRT, all designed to weaken the military posture. The Obama bloodless purges of senior military officers in terms of success makes Stalin's bloody purges look tame. American won't get the joke until the wake up call of a sunken fleet, shot down air force and defeated in detail land army are demonstrated to them. That point it is not Pearl Harbor, rather nearly an end. Let's hope the new SecDef and various Secretaries of Army, Air Force and Navy can at least get the services back on track. In the meantime Happy New Year! End the woke!
Trump has to fire about 3/4 of the flags starting with CJCS and CNO.
And the SECNAV, Under must have a full review/assessment of NWC and Academy. Start to immediately remove this nonesense woke from the curriculums.
Close the service academies.
Of all GOFO.
Current CMC and his FD2030 midwit supporters have to go as close to immediately as possible. So many bad apples so little time…
I think the confusion about whether it's a semi-annual, annual, or biannual conference is because you have women doing the math.
ouch
Love the Norm Macdonald reference. :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thHWvoYfNyo&ab_channel=rustinjaap
I am so glad they didn’t say periodic.
Sadly, despite the massive rise in China’s military power and calling it our pacing threat to measure our own military capabilities, the Navy clearly doesn’t believe the PLAN is strong enough to act like the PLAN is a threat to our control of the seas.
Having the most gender-balanced sailors drowning at sea should not be the Navy’s goal.
If we got into a real war, I think the people would revolt seeing large numbers of their daughters coming home in body bags. and, it would happen that way because of compromised unit cohesion among numerous other problems.
It's only 10am on NY eve and my head already hurts. There are likely a dozen or more civil service or contractors whose sole responsibility is to coordinate these annual conferences. Fire them all!
Salt the earth.
Such conferences should be held only where the buildings have a clear space around them to receive the results of said defenestrations.
Concur.
The Woll Act is appropriate for a nation of sheep.
Pete: The Wool Act deserves its own thread. But, seriously, I still have my late father's all-wool Eisenhower Jacket and Army blanket from his service in Korea, 1952-53. These two items will last forever.
Like my bridge coat.
I loved my scratchy haze gray wool blankets. I wish I'd kept one.
My jumpers scratched like crazy .. I had a silk liner installed in the pants down to knees to keep me comfortable ..
CDR Sal, IMO, emphasis on the "my": the people who actively promote Gender Studies fall into two types of categories: "true" believers who honestly believe their own personal fantasy is reality, and those who use them as cannon fodder in support of their own agendas. Since the second category is presently in charge of the military / DoD at the highest levels that's a horrible problem. Perhaps a worse one is the reality that those in charge have risen up through the ranks, so the "system" itself is now rotten at the foundations. Anticipate the "system" defending itself vigorously. Can't burn it down and start over, don't have time for that. If an adversary west of the date line "goes big" the cost is probably going to be very, very high. We are not ready, simply put.
I would venture to say if anything to the West goes kinetic, we'd be better off burning everything O-6 or above and E-9, and turning to anyone who's never been to one of these conferences to move forward.
The sieve of war sifts mighty fine, and does so ruthlessly. The services had their dead wood going into WW2, but we had the ability to winnow those and replace them with people already in the system. I'm afraid that if we find our selves in a gut busting shooting war, that the current officer corps will waste much of the human resources we have now. If there are insufficient troops of the needed quality, to step up into the breach and hold the line while we get rid of the idiots, then we are well and truly screwed.
Close the NWC and sell the property.
It appears the only way to get any value out of the place.
As a graduate, I must disagree.
It was a fine institution and can be so again by firing all the PC DEI CRT LGBTQ faculty members and getting back to the basics of Sun Tzu, Clausewitz and Mahan.
Agree. I understand Sid's frustration. We need to go back to the basics: Naval Science, Strategy, and Leadership Development.
I understand. When dad was there in 1967 I loved to go see Dewey's uniform in the case in the (then) lobby, and what was then the library with the steel stairs to get to the upper levels.
But...looking at the cultural rot and decay of the place, I fear it's too far gone to be called a "Naval War College".
Dewey was canceled.
Don't forget Corbett!!!
I disagree. I'm a graduate of the NWC. The NWC gave me the best education I had in how to think. It was a better education than that I received from a top 50-ranked law school. It was that good. While it is likely that the NWC may have to go "All back full, right 30 degrees rudder" for a year or so, I am confident there remains a solid foundation to build upon in Newport. And for the times we are in, the USN needs institutions like the old NWC
How long ago were you there?
I will submit that it will take far longer than a year to make the place relevant to it's ostensible purpose again.
Nothing focuses the mind and brings a new sense of purpose like a change of scenery. Even IF there was value in keeping the NWC - close it down, sell the property and supplies. Maybe keep the written/printed archival assets of the Eccles Library. Take the proceeds from the sale and purchase one of the 16 colleges and universities that shutdown in 2024, choosing one in an area with a much lower cost of living than Newport, RI. Reconstitute staff will locals and recruit professors who are interested in teaching topics that will help us win a naval campaign anywhere on the globe and who don't mind moving to the boondocks.
I liked Newport when I was in QM 'A' school back in '72, but you are right about leaving Newport.
I could do it in a day.
Fire all the leftist lunatics.
Require every student to read the classics and answer questions at an oral board.
Also SDBs and summer whites.
[turning around to look at the diploma because I can't recall] 1997, so 27 years ago. As an aside, getting old sucks..... ;-)
It may take more than a year to repair NWC. But it is essential for the good of the nation that it get done.
I recall Nimitz saying that there was not one problem he saw in the Pacific war that was not anticipated at the War College. I think there is a need for it, but it needs, like a lot of other stuff in the service, a thorough cleaning.
Plenty of value to be had here. But to wring that value from the American tax dollar, a whole sh*tload of people at the senior uniformed and civilian levels of the services need to be sent packing post-haste.
All this started in the early 90s under the Clinton administration. The Navy was first because it was closest, Annapolis is an easy day trip from DC.
When I started seeing the USNA alumni magazine featuring mids building homes for Habitat for Humanity rather than old goats war stories I knew we were screwed.
The rot is 30 years on and it's clear what the priorities are for them. I can only hope and pray the West Point and USAFA haven't been as badly injured.
They are in worse shape than Annapolis
It's all the civilian grad school
Concur, except it stated at USNA even earlier. It was clearly evident in the late 80s in nascent form.
Some would claim it started in '76 with the admission of women.
I'm not sure that's wrong. Though I'm not sure it's *entirely* correct either.
It was just one of the factors, not the only one. Doing away with the Women's Auxiliaries was a serious mistake.
I agree. That when the words Give Me Men was removed from the arch at USAFA.
Yes.
Tailhook 91 was an excuse to destroy the military
One among many.
all the service academies are a mess and need to be shut down. I think the British system would be better. Require an officer candidate to have a university degree and then put them in a year or so long school, similar to Sandhurst.
Sal; How about one of our navy personnel experts help the next SECNAV write a memo to BUPERS . Something like: 1 - to meet POTUS intent Effective March 1 all the positions mentioned during this conference are to be eliminated and personnel returned to war fighting positions in the fleet. 2- All positions attending this conference should be examined for appropriateness and positions eliminated if not. Return any impacted personnel to war fighting positions in the fleet. 3- All attendees should have attendance to this and earlier conferences noted in personnel jackets in same manner as tailhook attendance. 4- BUPERS will report back to this office with results no later than March 30. Report will include total number of positions examined, List of positions, number of personnel returned to the fleet and collapsed demographic information of all positions including race and sex to ensure positions reflect makeup of the Navy. 5- Personnel that can not be returned to the fleet should be discharged per normal process.
You need the right person with the right top-cover to be the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Personnel) … Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs). See who goes there, and that will tell you what action will take place.
For reference, I grew up 5 minutes from Gate 10, Granddad was an eye surgeon on the base, Dad engineered torpedoes, had special privileges as a senior in HS to attend selected NWC lectures, son USNA 2013 grad. & Major in the USMC and I am now retired Blue & Gold Officer and devoted to our Navy. I am horrified to read this post. This Marxist woke gender efforts must be destroyed root and branch or soon enough these active participants will no know the difference between Port & Starboard. Pray for Trump and his SECDEF to spike this ideology immediately.
Under every rock. Gonna be a long road.
H-1B issue is the rock. The pipeline of foreign low(er)-cost labor to supply hordes of low-level coders, accounting drones, and other Dilberts all over the USA is what is under the rock. It ain't about the Elon Musks, Andy Groves, and other tech business phenoms—it's about why your college grad grandkids are still living with your sons and daughters. Failure to launch or mission scrubbed on the pad?
Do you know if Hegseth reads your blog?
IDK.
Need half a dozen of you credentialed (as in O-x Ret,d.) To print this out, including the comments and mail it to SECDEF. He might ignore one missive but will note repeat receipts and will read it.
All hail DOGE. I keep getting mental images of Elon Musk emulating Millei, ripping down tags, yelling Afuera! and laughing like mad.
Talked ourselves hoarse over the last couple of decades to try and keep the woke DEI/CRT zealots from grinding the edge off the spear tip. To be told we are 'obsolete' and 'don't understand' because 'everything is different now.' Along with the racist, sexist, homophobe accusations standard with opposing the far-left secular progressives.
"What an embarrassment. The world is in flames, our fleet is shrinking after falling to #2, what we have isn’t being maintained, we are expending more weapons than we are expending against non-state actors, our cruisers are trying to shoot down our buddy-tanking Super Hornets…yet here we are - storing mohair in caves after the end of the Cold War."
Obviously, our lack of sufficient GenAds and GFPs has led us to this dark future.