So, a SAPR Rep Who Did a 2-Week Harvard Seminar Had Some 1990s Nostalgia While Responsible for Changing FITREPs?

The Longhouse takes over fitness reports, it appears

Thanks for a nudge from Brent on X, I got to peek back in to my manpower world … and LOL is there all sorts of fun-but-not-fun things going on.

1998 Was a Good Year

The first thing I saw was a confirmation that, yes, in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty Five: we are still using NAVFIT98A…as in 1998 in the Clinton Era Navy…but only with a kludge.

It appears that Not Mission Capable Internet is even sick of the program.

The tech bros at DOGE would find this infuriating…but as I no longer have to suffer with it, I just find it funny.

Who Gave This to the SAPR Rep?

Next, it appears that we have a new BUPERSINST 1610.10G out, effective 28JAN2025, just a week after the new President was onboard. A final shot across the bow from the Biden Navy, it appears. Para 4.b for everyone!

More Up With People Thinking Will Help

The next little bit, well, I’m not sure if it generates more cringe than sighs—but it is as pathetically Up With People based leadership as I’ve always seen since “Get Real, Get Better” was foisted on the fleet.

I mean, really.

Go to Enclosure (1) of the instruction and in para 9 on page 5 starts two and a half pages of trying to explain the new age gobbledegook that is “Get Real, Get Better.”

We Need Crying Room, Therapeutic Hugs, & Probably Patchouli Oil in the Wardroom

To add to the fun, in the name of all that is holy, will we please stop sending people to 2-week Harvard seminars or worse, the Harvard School of Government? I’ve never seen anything of use come out of these things but to make those who go there even more insufferable than before they went. It benefits their personal CV, but does nothing to prepare the fleet for war.

Please will someone explain how the Navy will operationalize the highlighted to me from para 9.d.(3).(a)?

Yes, I know what “psychological safety” means in the Care Bear sector of the civilian world. One of the priestesses of this theory Amy C. Edmondson—very popular with those who have done a couple of weeks at Harvard—defines it in an introduction to her book, The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth,

The traditional culture of “fitting in” and “going along” spells doom in the knowledge economy. Success requires a continuous influx of new ideas, new challenges, and critical thought, and the interpersonal climate must not suppress, silence, ridicule or intimidate. Not every idea is good, and yes there are stupid questions, and yes dissent can slow things down, but talking through these things is an essential part of the creative process. People must be allowed to voice half-finished thoughts, ask questions from left field, and brainstorm out loud; it creates a culture in which a minor flub or momentary lapse is no big deal, and where actual mistakes are owned and corrected, and where the next left-field idea could be the next big thing. This book explores this culture of psychological safety, and provides a blueprint for bringing it to life. The road is sometimes bumpy, but succinct and informative scenario-based explanations provide a clear path forward to constant learning and healthy innovation.

Back to the USNR Future

Yes, I too am feeling the sprinkles from the same type of Good Idea Fairy that brought us TQL…but, hey, if we are back in the late 1990s, at least we’re Making TARs Great Again.!

If memory serves me right, we switched to FTS from TAR over 20 years ago. I always liked “TAR” over “FTS” anyway, as it is vaguely nautical and it is easier to say, “Damn TARs. They quit once, they’ll quit again. Don’t trust them.” than it is, “Damn FTS. They quit once, they’ll quit again. Don’t trust them.” in para 4.d:

Oh man…this stuff is a hoot.

If anyone needs Windows 95 to run your NAVFIT98A, I think my in-laws have an old IBM clone in the back room you can borrow.

Clearly, whatever direction and guidance is coming out of OPNAV and Millington, it isn’t, “Modernize, simplify. Reduce administrative burden. Focus on warfighting.” was not it.

UPDATE: If you don’t see the connection to the Senior Senator from Hawaii, I’m not sure I can help you.