Building off the theme of yesterday’s post, Blake Herzinger outlines well that - when you back up from the spreadsheets, maintenance schedule, and enlistment numbers - there is a larger area of neglect, both real and intellectual; At the heart of the problem is that the Navy’s leaders have been unable to articulate their needs to policymakers. They have instead provided a range of options of what they might be able to afford within assumed spending limits, but that satisfies no one. Meanwhile, an ongoing battle between Congress and successive presidential administrations of both parties has made matters worse, with the White House proposing budgets that are insufficient to ensure growth and Congress growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of direction that affords, as well as with the Navy’s lack of an articulated vision.
Even as someone whose family has soldiered in our wars since Queen Anne's War, I recognize that at least since the Span-Am fracas we are a naval power, first and foremost. And while I want to tar and feather Austin and Milley, the willingness of the Admirals to ape the Austro-Hungarian Navy terrifies me. We need to maintain our RN heritage, not ape some continental power. Where are the Admirals of the Admiral's Revolt, vice the craven ghost of General Earle Wheeler.
I’ve noticed that since about 2000, the Navy has been very, very bad at PR. Which used to be a strong point of the Navy. Part of this is top-down control from the political leadership, but part is also forgetting that the Navy has to be sold to the public.
Like I have said before, we have not had an effective SECNAV since John Lehman. The last really extraordinary flag was Rickover. No disrespect to many fine senior officers that have served. But, none ready to go to the mat for the Navy. All purple team players since Goldwater Nichols.
The USN will never again top 300 ships. The USG is tired, gridlocked, ineffectual, ossified and corrupt. I hold no hope that reform will happen, I think the status quo will slowly stumble on until some final crisis destroys it.
As an Army retiree with a family history in the Navy, I recognize that the US must, first and foremost, be a naval power. Cdr S and Mr. Herzinger hit the nail on the head. The Army had a similar experience "telling the story" of "why we need an Army" after VN. I recommend that the Navy take a look at the work CSA Abrams did in the 70s to give the Army a voice and a rationale for the future. He established a group of O-6s and others to put together the concepts. They produced a report, commonly called the Astarita Report. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA098700.pdf. This report did not talk about the spreadsheets, equipment, numbers, but laid out American future interests, a strategy for achieving those interests and the Army's role in the strategy. They articulated a vital interest in keeping NATO and Western Europe (and Korea) secure and that war with the Warsaw Pact would be characterized by combined arms formations operating in conjunction with close and interdiction airpower. They briefed this concept around DC scores of times to Congressional and Executive staff, think tanks, etc. The report was well received. Internally, the concepts became the foundation for AirLand Battle and the training and operational revolution that took place in the late 70s and early 80s, with the Training and Doctrine Command, the Combat Training Centers, etc. Continuing to engage with Congress and successive administrations, the Army basically said, "If you bought into our concept for the future Army, then it logically follows that here's what it takes to implement." That buy-in resulted in the Big Five (Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Blackhawk and Apache helicopters, and Patriot Air Defense System). That foundation resulted in the Army rebounding from VN and being the competent joint partner with the other services from Grenada through Iraq and Afghanistan. All the services (and DoD/Joint Staff) could do with a strategic concept review for the future modeled on the Astarita Report.
With a sprinkling of fairy dust and the waving of a wand by our Commander in Chief, an obese White male transvestite with no military experience was made a 4-star admiral. I don't suppose that after being gobsmacked that our Navy’s leaders are able to articulate their needs to policymakers. Anyone who has ever aspirated some pepperoni or swallowed their tongue in a fit of apoplexy could maybe sympathize and make allowances for our current naval leaders. I'm going to give our leaders a mention in my next Novena.
Maybe part of the problem is that what the country needs, what the admirals want, and what the voters are willing to support are 3 radically different things?
"This century our Navy produced a whole parade of CNOs and VCNOs who knew this, but failed to make the argument, or to even make an honest effort to make it."
Bottom line is that "Force Design" and "Requirements" are set by the marketing departments of the Defense Contractors.
There is no discussion of Strategy, Operational Doctrine, Platform Requirements, etc., unless its couched in the context of which expensive baubles are going to get bought.
Lets look at where CNOs in recent times have ended up after the band played for them the last time:
Johnson - CEO General Dynamics
Clark - CEO Rolls Royce North America (maker of the MT-30s in the Freedom which he brought to life), Director Raytheon, Advisor Booz Allen...
Mullen - Board General Motors, Sprint Nextel, Afiniti
Roughead - Board NorthropGrumman
Greenert - Board BAE Systems
Richardson - Board Boeing, BWX Technologies
Gilday - ?
Is there any wonder why the arguments ...such as they are... made over the last decade plus have revolved solely around the stuff that was going to get bought ...And not the Why?
"The Navy's problems are fixable". 20 years ago I would have agreed. Today- notsomuch. We have the lowest manufacturing rate in a decade which continues to decline. An educational system that is failing nationwide at producing competent STEM graduates (not from China) that can work and produce without DEI, "micro-aggressions", mis-used pronouns, and supporting gender dysphoria. The 3 month to 10 year T bill yield curve is deeply inverted at negative 155.8 basis points, which indicates a coming recession - and a deep one at that. The US dollar is eroding as the world reserve currency (Russia, China, India, Brazil, Turkey, South Africa, etc all moving away from the dollar). And when you have the Saudis and Iranians sit down to talk in CHINA (!!) you realize how badly the prestige of the US has been eroded. In 3 years we went from Trump and the efforts to normalize Arab relations with Israel to the US being kicked out of a large swath of the geo-political realm. Duh, wonder why?
The Navy will never get to 300 or 355 ships or whatever fairy dust number the CNO decides unless 75% are un-manned drone ships. The younger generation no longer want to be part of the military Cultural Revolution. Can't say I blame them.
The front of the house is burning down while we are in the backyard enjoying a barbecue with conversations on Bragg, Hunter, Kanye, Kamala, Trump and Soros the MOST important topic of the day.
Cynical Old White Man heading to the mountain cabin with a bottle of Angel Envy in the War Lance.
"About 20 Americans graduated with a master’s degree or Ph.D. in geodesy in the last decade; in some adversarial nations such as China, that number is roughly 1,500..."
To sum up the Navy's leaders are not leading. The USS George Washington, USS Bonhomme Richard, unable to come up with a good working uniform, ship collision, ship building etc. are all evidence that the Navy is not producing /promoting leaders but mangers, politicians and wannabe statesmen. with a eye on that post retirement career on the board for directors of some defense contractor or "Think Tank". They view their Navy career is a mere stepping stone. This is just not just the flag ranks but the senior enlisted as well. The CPOs should be the most vocal about this problem but they to are just along for the ride-ROAD
The FOGO ranks don’t lead. They await the wishes and fancies of the elected with regard to what are expected to be their priorities, ie. DEI, Green projects, Climate Change, etc. While there is supposed to be civilian control of the military, those chosen to lead the military have a professional and moral duty to ensure that their focus is on bringing to the table the strategies, equipment, and manpower needed to project naval power. Alas, they seem to be focused on politics and social engineering with a big dose of failure to do their duty. Ship, shipmates, self.
And we still have to find a way to pay for them even if we can man them. GDP is a thing. In a recession, we will need to trade social programs for warfighting and we know how that is going to go down.
Let's start by eliminating bureaucratic roadblocks by reducing the US Navy civilian workforce by 40%. (With 60% of those cuts in the senior workforce. Don't kill the actual worker bees. Just the drones.)
Reduce Flag to 25% of the number of ships in commission.
And if we can find someone smart enough to keep paint on our ships? Promote them to CNO because they're obviously smarter than the ones who brought us the Zumwalt, LCS, and the current "strategy."
Even as someone whose family has soldiered in our wars since Queen Anne's War, I recognize that at least since the Span-Am fracas we are a naval power, first and foremost. And while I want to tar and feather Austin and Milley, the willingness of the Admirals to ape the Austro-Hungarian Navy terrifies me. We need to maintain our RN heritage, not ape some continental power. Where are the Admirals of the Admiral's Revolt, vice the craven ghost of General Earle Wheeler.
I’ve noticed that since about 2000, the Navy has been very, very bad at PR. Which used to be a strong point of the Navy. Part of this is top-down control from the political leadership, but part is also forgetting that the Navy has to be sold to the public.
Like I have said before, we have not had an effective SECNAV since John Lehman. The last really extraordinary flag was Rickover. No disrespect to many fine senior officers that have served. But, none ready to go to the mat for the Navy. All purple team players since Goldwater Nichols.
The USN will never again top 300 ships. The USG is tired, gridlocked, ineffectual, ossified and corrupt. I hold no hope that reform will happen, I think the status quo will slowly stumble on until some final crisis destroys it.
As an Army retiree with a family history in the Navy, I recognize that the US must, first and foremost, be a naval power. Cdr S and Mr. Herzinger hit the nail on the head. The Army had a similar experience "telling the story" of "why we need an Army" after VN. I recommend that the Navy take a look at the work CSA Abrams did in the 70s to give the Army a voice and a rationale for the future. He established a group of O-6s and others to put together the concepts. They produced a report, commonly called the Astarita Report. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA098700.pdf. This report did not talk about the spreadsheets, equipment, numbers, but laid out American future interests, a strategy for achieving those interests and the Army's role in the strategy. They articulated a vital interest in keeping NATO and Western Europe (and Korea) secure and that war with the Warsaw Pact would be characterized by combined arms formations operating in conjunction with close and interdiction airpower. They briefed this concept around DC scores of times to Congressional and Executive staff, think tanks, etc. The report was well received. Internally, the concepts became the foundation for AirLand Battle and the training and operational revolution that took place in the late 70s and early 80s, with the Training and Doctrine Command, the Combat Training Centers, etc. Continuing to engage with Congress and successive administrations, the Army basically said, "If you bought into our concept for the future Army, then it logically follows that here's what it takes to implement." That buy-in resulted in the Big Five (Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Blackhawk and Apache helicopters, and Patriot Air Defense System). That foundation resulted in the Army rebounding from VN and being the competent joint partner with the other services from Grenada through Iraq and Afghanistan. All the services (and DoD/Joint Staff) could do with a strategic concept review for the future modeled on the Astarita Report.
With a sprinkling of fairy dust and the waving of a wand by our Commander in Chief, an obese White male transvestite with no military experience was made a 4-star admiral. I don't suppose that after being gobsmacked that our Navy’s leaders are able to articulate their needs to policymakers. Anyone who has ever aspirated some pepperoni or swallowed their tongue in a fit of apoplexy could maybe sympathize and make allowances for our current naval leaders. I'm going to give our leaders a mention in my next Novena.
Maybe part of the problem is that what the country needs, what the admirals want, and what the voters are willing to support are 3 radically different things?
"This century our Navy produced a whole parade of CNOs and VCNOs who knew this, but failed to make the argument, or to even make an honest effort to make it."
Bottom line is that "Force Design" and "Requirements" are set by the marketing departments of the Defense Contractors.
There is no discussion of Strategy, Operational Doctrine, Platform Requirements, etc., unless its couched in the context of which expensive baubles are going to get bought.
Lets look at where CNOs in recent times have ended up after the band played for them the last time:
Johnson - CEO General Dynamics
Clark - CEO Rolls Royce North America (maker of the MT-30s in the Freedom which he brought to life), Director Raytheon, Advisor Booz Allen...
Mullen - Board General Motors, Sprint Nextel, Afiniti
Roughead - Board NorthropGrumman
Greenert - Board BAE Systems
Richardson - Board Boeing, BWX Technologies
Gilday - ?
Is there any wonder why the arguments ...such as they are... made over the last decade plus have revolved solely around the stuff that was going to get bought ...And not the Why?
"The Navy's problems are fixable". 20 years ago I would have agreed. Today- notsomuch. We have the lowest manufacturing rate in a decade which continues to decline. An educational system that is failing nationwide at producing competent STEM graduates (not from China) that can work and produce without DEI, "micro-aggressions", mis-used pronouns, and supporting gender dysphoria. The 3 month to 10 year T bill yield curve is deeply inverted at negative 155.8 basis points, which indicates a coming recession - and a deep one at that. The US dollar is eroding as the world reserve currency (Russia, China, India, Brazil, Turkey, South Africa, etc all moving away from the dollar). And when you have the Saudis and Iranians sit down to talk in CHINA (!!) you realize how badly the prestige of the US has been eroded. In 3 years we went from Trump and the efforts to normalize Arab relations with Israel to the US being kicked out of a large swath of the geo-political realm. Duh, wonder why?
The Navy will never get to 300 or 355 ships or whatever fairy dust number the CNO decides unless 75% are un-manned drone ships. The younger generation no longer want to be part of the military Cultural Revolution. Can't say I blame them.
The front of the house is burning down while we are in the backyard enjoying a barbecue with conversations on Bragg, Hunter, Kanye, Kamala, Trump and Soros the MOST important topic of the day.
Cynical Old White Man heading to the mountain cabin with a bottle of Angel Envy in the War Lance.
Fix the broken fleet. Sailor are meant to be on ships. Ships were meant to be at sea...fix the damn fleet!
IRT STEM education
"About 20 Americans graduated with a master’s degree or Ph.D. in geodesy in the last decade; in some adversarial nations such as China, that number is roughly 1,500..."
20:1,500
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/new-apollo-program-sought-to-fend-off-china-in-gps-space-race
Same as always, Coming back from WesPac to CLNC I was greeted with 782 gear that was issued to John Wayne on Iwo Jima and Chesty Puller In Korea.
Where there had been M-72 LAAWS we got 3.5" Rocket Launchers.
How ever the LPD/LSD were top shape as were the LCM and landing boats with the exception of Vieques PR where the old Higgins boats were used.
To sum up the Navy's leaders are not leading. The USS George Washington, USS Bonhomme Richard, unable to come up with a good working uniform, ship collision, ship building etc. are all evidence that the Navy is not producing /promoting leaders but mangers, politicians and wannabe statesmen. with a eye on that post retirement career on the board for directors of some defense contractor or "Think Tank". They view their Navy career is a mere stepping stone. This is just not just the flag ranks but the senior enlisted as well. The CPOs should be the most vocal about this problem but they to are just along for the ride-ROAD
The FOGO ranks don’t lead. They await the wishes and fancies of the elected with regard to what are expected to be their priorities, ie. DEI, Green projects, Climate Change, etc. While there is supposed to be civilian control of the military, those chosen to lead the military have a professional and moral duty to ensure that their focus is on bringing to the table the strategies, equipment, and manpower needed to project naval power. Alas, they seem to be focused on politics and social engineering with a big dose of failure to do their duty. Ship, shipmates, self.
And we still have to find a way to pay for them even if we can man them. GDP is a thing. In a recession, we will need to trade social programs for warfighting and we know how that is going to go down.
Let's start by eliminating bureaucratic roadblocks by reducing the US Navy civilian workforce by 40%. (With 60% of those cuts in the senior workforce. Don't kill the actual worker bees. Just the drones.)
Reduce Flag to 25% of the number of ships in commission.
And if we can find someone smart enough to keep paint on our ships? Promote them to CNO because they're obviously smarter than the ones who brought us the Zumwalt, LCS, and the current "strategy."