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;
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.
That, and the glory days were long ago. There were works of literature and history that stayed in society's consciousness for a while, but they aren't there anymore. Where is the Navy communicating to the nation that we are the shield?
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 Admiral tried to reform the hierarchy but couldn't. that had nothing to do with his personnel changes. It is a myopic set of officers who dont have the vision of the one mentioned in prior post. Add Wayne Hughes to the list. His battle tactics will work when the USN stops buying too few dreadnoughts.
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.
I don't like that I share your pessimism, Nick. But I think you are right that we might just stumble on until some final crisis (gobsmack is my preferred word here) destroys the USN. And in trying to keep it memely it'll be set to music. Not my favorite genre, but here:
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.
Hah. I was visiting one of my Chiefs, who'd just been committed to the psych ward at Eglin AFB. The division Senior Chief was with me. As we were passing a dumpster some guy in gray overalls who was about 10-15 years older than me (I was a 41 year LDO LT at the time) popped out of it. We passed by him with no particular interest. We didn't get but a few steps when we heard a shriek, which in Navy-speak would have sounded like "Avast there, you lubberly poltroons!". Turns out the guy was a USAF Major, the only signifier being the outsized gold collar device they wear. Neither I nor the Senior Chief had noticed it. This Major was obviously ex-Enlisted. How did I know that? His advanced age, his purple face with bulging veins, spittle flying out of his mouth, his colorful language. I'd always adhered to the "If in doubt, salute it" motto, a carry over from bootcamp in 1965. Best as I can recall, that was the only time I ever got called out for not saluting. We both apologized to the Major and owned up to all of his accusations of our character flaws and the deficiencies in Navy courtesies and discipline. I was genuinely humbled and embarrassed. And profusely apologetic. My dad was an ex-Enlisted USAF pilot who retired as a Major.
Re salutes. When I was a new CWO2 OpTech I discovered that if I approached some Ensign or LTjg on the pier and turned my left shoulder toward them my OpTech collar device would, at first glance from a distance, display as "Lieutenant Commander". What fun that was, for a while. The Ensigns and LTjg's were always good-natured about it. I never tried it on anyone who looked like they had more than 3 years service. I was sure to salute first if it looked like they hadn't been gulled because courtesies must be observed even in a fun outfit like our Navy.
Today? I dunno. If there was a chance I'd encounter Admiral Levine I might just decide to have some dark glasses and white cane handy. Good thing I am way down the list for recall. And there's that %BF thing that is now in my favor.
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?
sid, while you are right about naval leaders going on to industry jobs. I can tell you the the O-5/6s making decisions about ship rqmts are NOT well informed, and their bosses are mostly myopic. You also failed to mention the 600 lbs gorilla in the Pentagon, an acquisition system which is too complex, too time consuming and yields expensive platforms for results
"I can tell you the the O-5/6s making decisions about ship rqmts are NOT well informed..."
What can you expect from interns in waiting for their ultimate post service Corporate gigs Lee?
What percentage ex-PEOs are, or have, worked at Lockheed in the past 15 years?
That 600 lb gorilla you mention is the fact that the acquisition systems have evolved to serve the Kleptic Empire made up of the megalith Defense Primes.
I did ship procurement, which was re-pleat with bad specs, wrong contract clauses, and bungled KO decisions. Navy acquisition processes lead to bad ships that cost too much and take too long
been busy sid, the acquisition system is driven by a very complex DOD 5000 series instruction. The rqmts come from OPNAV you can draw you own conclusion about that. the specifications and contracts are developed by NAVSEA but as you point out there is Too Much input and coordination with potential bidders. The Navy purses that COA to its own debit. Ship construction packages used to be developed inside NAVSEA and announced to industry. that worked unlike today's GF~
"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.
Japan has seen the writing on the wall and is taking steps to ensure an oil supply that can come along its northern island chain and under the cover of its land-based aircraft. Yes - that would be Russia. Perhaps their own analysis is that the Russia-China ties are not as strong as they appear. Here's the take from India's media perspective. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LupkLZYXCoY
Which is part of the problem. Ships and crews are being rode hard and put away wet. Thank you jointness and theatre commanders, in combination with the five-side pleasure palace that can't seem to fund maintenance and/or crack down on the MIC to deliver on schedule. No one wants to piss off their future employer and risk that six-figure salary plus stock options. The MIC should have a hate/fear relationship with GOFO's to deliver on-time and on-budget. They have neither. For example -
"The accounting office report appeared likely to open a new chapter in a long-running feud between Admiral Rickover, who retired on Jan. 31, 1982, and Navy contractors. Admiral Rickover is still making speeches and writing articles about naval issues that concern him. The admiral has repeatedly charged contractors with inefficiency, poor work and high profits. Many contractors, in turn, have said they found Admiral Rickover arbitrary and unrealistic.
Admiral Rickover submitted his charges of excessive profits by Navy contractors in a letter included on June 16, 1981, in the hearing record of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Procurement and Military Nuclear Systems. The subcommittee, headed by Representative Samuel S. Stratton, Democrat of Upstate New York, asked the General Accounting Office to investigate."
"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.
We already know how the tradeoff works with soaring crime rates. Defund civilian law enforcement agencies for the promise that replacement social workers with their pockets full of new giveaway program applications will fix the issue. Clearly 50+% of the voters will believe that foreign enemies can be placated just like criminals. I hold out little hope that any other views would prevail.
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."
In my one full term shore duty assignment in the late 80s I served as DIVO for CTM"A" and EW"A" school. In the two buildings that housed those schools we had maybe a dozen mid-grade civil servants. Nice guys. Most were leftovers from the day when they oversaw sailors writing curriculum and doing QA on the "teachability" of that curriculum. But by that time, curriculum writing had been long since contracted out to civilians. Those guys had a job description and mission statement, but no work. But they were nice guys and always had a large budget. They were happy to pay for things my schools needed that I could not afford, like printing student workbooks and texts or office supplies. Of the dozen or so, only one was productive IMO, my TraSpec at CTM"A" School. The TraSpec at EW"A" School? Not so much. He was a retired E-6 (AE1?) with a Masters Degree who hated anyone in khakis. That guy whined about not having the required amount of square footage for his office. My Master Chief (a sainted man) restrained me from converting one of the heads to a new office for that guy. (God bless you, Nick. RIP) Don't get me started on the bloated staff that was in Millington, TN that oversaw NTTC Corry Station. They'd think nothing of jetting down to Pensacola to berate us for "a too high attrition rate". As if 99.2% of the students should pass either of those two difficult schools instead of 98.6%.
But yeah, Jetcal1...Huzzah! Even if I get triggered.
My S-i-L was a stellar sailor, a Seabee who'd been capped to EO1. His final 7 years were as a homesteaded career recruiter. He had more NCM's and NAM's than you could count on 2 hands. For his whole career, he was the go-to guy for getting things done. He retired an NC1(SCW). Right place, right time, luck of the draw for me, force converted from RD1 to EW1 in year 1 of that tiny new rating. The Navy made 72 of us EW1's Chief in 1974. Sometimes a lot depends on how the stars line up. I knew an East German who'd defected and ended up (pre-DOPMA) an ABF E-9, W-4 and O-6 LDO after 30+ years. For a while, I managed a feed store and cattle ranch after I retired. Yeah, I have palpated cows using an arm's length glove. I want to say that the Navy prepped me for that but I don't want to say how. We are all better men for having served. I am sure of it.
Part of it was the drawdown. Most of it was me not adapting to the new requirements to make Chief. Stellar performance in managing a workcenter with a high reenlistment rates and clean boards, etc. was insufficient compared to other candidates that had average workcenter performance + college.
While there is an abundance of senior civilians in DON, they are also to many flags filling small program offices. Connecting managers/leader to hull numbers is NOT the answer.
You're saying in another thread the CDRs and CAPTS aren't well enough informed to make good decisions, and you'd would think that a proposal to drop the flag by 75% would filter out the ones in the small program offices.
No I am saying train senior naval officers in systems acquisition, assign them to be PM and if they are successful promote them to PEO which they can finish their careers adequately rewarded by transitioning to SES. A big part of the problem with NAVSEA is those officers rotate too damn often. See RADM Wayne Meyer of AEGIS is the example
I agree as long they are also up to speed with at least a fundamental understanding of naval architecture and have a professional support staff who are competent in their area of specialization.
Maybe make it a 5 or six year consolation tour for people who ain't gonna' make O-6 or above.
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.
Nobody is willing to play Dan Gallery.
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.
It used to be that “Sailors have more fun”. That has long since passed.
That, and the glory days were long ago. There were works of literature and history that stayed in society's consciousness for a while, but they aren't there anymore. Where is the Navy communicating to the nation that we are the shield?
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.
Tom Connolly, Ace Lyons and Wayne Meyer
Zumwalt or "Zumwalt's hippies" Fame.
the Admiral tried to reform the hierarchy but couldn't. that had nothing to do with his personnel changes. It is a myopic set of officers who dont have the vision of the one mentioned in prior post. Add Wayne Hughes to the list. His battle tactics will work when the USN stops buying too few dreadnoughts.
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.
I don't like that I share your pessimism, Nick. But I think you are right that we might just stumble on until some final crisis (gobsmack is my preferred word here) destroys the USN. And in trying to keep it memely it'll be set to music. Not my favorite genre, but here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2AC41dglnM
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.
To be fair that “admiral” is in the PHS not the US Navy. I never saluted a PHS larper.
Hah. I was visiting one of my Chiefs, who'd just been committed to the psych ward at Eglin AFB. The division Senior Chief was with me. As we were passing a dumpster some guy in gray overalls who was about 10-15 years older than me (I was a 41 year LDO LT at the time) popped out of it. We passed by him with no particular interest. We didn't get but a few steps when we heard a shriek, which in Navy-speak would have sounded like "Avast there, you lubberly poltroons!". Turns out the guy was a USAF Major, the only signifier being the outsized gold collar device they wear. Neither I nor the Senior Chief had noticed it. This Major was obviously ex-Enlisted. How did I know that? His advanced age, his purple face with bulging veins, spittle flying out of his mouth, his colorful language. I'd always adhered to the "If in doubt, salute it" motto, a carry over from bootcamp in 1965. Best as I can recall, that was the only time I ever got called out for not saluting. We both apologized to the Major and owned up to all of his accusations of our character flaws and the deficiencies in Navy courtesies and discipline. I was genuinely humbled and embarrassed. And profusely apologetic. My dad was an ex-Enlisted USAF pilot who retired as a Major.
Re salutes. When I was a new CWO2 OpTech I discovered that if I approached some Ensign or LTjg on the pier and turned my left shoulder toward them my OpTech collar device would, at first glance from a distance, display as "Lieutenant Commander". What fun that was, for a while. The Ensigns and LTjg's were always good-natured about it. I never tried it on anyone who looked like they had more than 3 years service. I was sure to salute first if it looked like they hadn't been gulled because courtesies must be observed even in a fun outfit like our Navy.
Today? I dunno. If there was a chance I'd encounter Admiral Levine I might just decide to have some dark glasses and white cane handy. Good thing I am way down the list for recall. And there's that %BF thing that is now in my favor.
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.uniforms-4u.com%2Fpd%2F9830%2Fbig-u-us-navy-collar-device-gold-operations-technician-11870.png&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=c365a7d30c62cf9fab809a0553f66333ff96d7e0516342b08ac59b5e751b3fad&ipo=images
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?
You mean “Who gets bought determines what gets bought.”
sid, while you are right about naval leaders going on to industry jobs. I can tell you the the O-5/6s making decisions about ship rqmts are NOT well informed, and their bosses are mostly myopic. You also failed to mention the 600 lbs gorilla in the Pentagon, an acquisition system which is too complex, too time consuming and yields expensive platforms for results
"I can tell you the the O-5/6s making decisions about ship rqmts are NOT well informed..."
What can you expect from interns in waiting for their ultimate post service Corporate gigs Lee?
What percentage ex-PEOs are, or have, worked at Lockheed in the past 15 years?
That 600 lb gorilla you mention is the fact that the acquisition systems have evolved to serve the Kleptic Empire made up of the megalith Defense Primes.
I did ship procurement, which was re-pleat with bad specs, wrong contract clauses, and bungled KO decisions. Navy acquisition processes lead to bad ships that cost too much and take too long
So does an acquisition system driven by the companies that profit from it.
been busy sid, the acquisition system is driven by a very complex DOD 5000 series instruction. The rqmts come from OPNAV you can draw you own conclusion about that. the specifications and contracts are developed by NAVSEA but as you point out there is Too Much input and coordination with potential bidders. The Navy purses that COA to its own debit. Ship construction packages used to be developed inside NAVSEA and announced to industry. that worked unlike today's GF~
"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.
Japan has seen the writing on the wall and is taking steps to ensure an oil supply that can come along its northern island chain and under the cover of its land-based aircraft. Yes - that would be Russia. Perhaps their own analysis is that the Russia-China ties are not as strong as they appear. Here's the take from India's media perspective. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LupkLZYXCoY
Fix the broken fleet. Sailor are meant to be on ships. Ships were meant to be at sea...fix the damn fleet!
Which is part of the problem. Ships and crews are being rode hard and put away wet. Thank you jointness and theatre commanders, in combination with the five-side pleasure palace that can't seem to fund maintenance and/or crack down on the MIC to deliver on schedule. No one wants to piss off their future employer and risk that six-figure salary plus stock options. The MIC should have a hate/fear relationship with GOFO's to deliver on-time and on-budget. They have neither. For example -
https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/12/us/rickover-on-navy-contracts.html
"The accounting office report appeared likely to open a new chapter in a long-running feud between Admiral Rickover, who retired on Jan. 31, 1982, and Navy contractors. Admiral Rickover is still making speeches and writing articles about naval issues that concern him. The admiral has repeatedly charged contractors with inefficiency, poor work and high profits. Many contractors, in turn, have said they found Admiral Rickover arbitrary and unrealistic.
Admiral Rickover submitted his charges of excessive profits by Navy contractors in a letter included on June 16, 1981, in the hearing record of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Procurement and Military Nuclear Systems. The subcommittee, headed by Representative Samuel S. Stratton, Democrat of Upstate New York, asked the General Accounting Office to investigate."
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.
We already know how the tradeoff works with soaring crime rates. Defund civilian law enforcement agencies for the promise that replacement social workers with their pockets full of new giveaway program applications will fix the issue. Clearly 50+% of the voters will believe that foreign enemies can be placated just like criminals. I hold out little hope that any other views would prevail.
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."
In my one full term shore duty assignment in the late 80s I served as DIVO for CTM"A" and EW"A" school. In the two buildings that housed those schools we had maybe a dozen mid-grade civil servants. Nice guys. Most were leftovers from the day when they oversaw sailors writing curriculum and doing QA on the "teachability" of that curriculum. But by that time, curriculum writing had been long since contracted out to civilians. Those guys had a job description and mission statement, but no work. But they were nice guys and always had a large budget. They were happy to pay for things my schools needed that I could not afford, like printing student workbooks and texts or office supplies. Of the dozen or so, only one was productive IMO, my TraSpec at CTM"A" School. The TraSpec at EW"A" School? Not so much. He was a retired E-6 (AE1?) with a Masters Degree who hated anyone in khakis. That guy whined about not having the required amount of square footage for his office. My Master Chief (a sainted man) restrained me from converting one of the heads to a new office for that guy. (God bless you, Nick. RIP) Don't get me started on the bloated staff that was in Millington, TN that oversaw NTTC Corry Station. They'd think nothing of jetting down to Pensacola to berate us for "a too high attrition rate". As if 99.2% of the students should pass either of those two difficult schools instead of 98.6%.
But yeah, Jetcal1...Huzzah! Even if I get triggered.
"In my one full term shore duty assignment in the late 80s I served as DIVO for CTM"A" and EW"A" school"
Bet you bellied up to the bar at Boomerzz...
Sober since 19 September 1978. But I was there in spirit.
If my comments or questions don't trigger you, I ain't asking the right questions....
And now you know why I didn't make Chief and had to find the right post-retirement company for employment.
My S-i-L was a stellar sailor, a Seabee who'd been capped to EO1. His final 7 years were as a homesteaded career recruiter. He had more NCM's and NAM's than you could count on 2 hands. For his whole career, he was the go-to guy for getting things done. He retired an NC1(SCW). Right place, right time, luck of the draw for me, force converted from RD1 to EW1 in year 1 of that tiny new rating. The Navy made 72 of us EW1's Chief in 1974. Sometimes a lot depends on how the stars line up. I knew an East German who'd defected and ended up (pre-DOPMA) an ABF E-9, W-4 and O-6 LDO after 30+ years. For a while, I managed a feed store and cattle ranch after I retired. Yeah, I have palpated cows using an arm's length glove. I want to say that the Navy prepped me for that but I don't want to say how. We are all better men for having served. I am sure of it.
Part of it was the drawdown. Most of it was me not adapting to the new requirements to make Chief. Stellar performance in managing a workcenter with a high reenlistment rates and clean boards, etc. was insufficient compared to other candidates that had average workcenter performance + college.
Something in gCaptain; close to 2x the people in NAVSEA as the entire Coast Guard.
40,558 active duty, 7,724 reserve as of 2020.
+ another 21K auxiliary members.
And they can keep their ships rust free with less 9000 civilian employees.
While there is an abundance of senior civilians in DON, they are also to many flags filling small program offices. Connecting managers/leader to hull numbers is NOT the answer.
I don't know Lee.
You're saying in another thread the CDRs and CAPTS aren't well enough informed to make good decisions, and you'd would think that a proposal to drop the flag by 75% would filter out the ones in the small program offices.
No I am saying train senior naval officers in systems acquisition, assign them to be PM and if they are successful promote them to PEO which they can finish their careers adequately rewarded by transitioning to SES. A big part of the problem with NAVSEA is those officers rotate too damn often. See RADM Wayne Meyer of AEGIS is the example
I agree as long they are also up to speed with at least a fundamental understanding of naval architecture and have a professional support staff who are competent in their area of specialization.
Maybe make it a 5 or six year consolation tour for people who ain't gonna' make O-6 or above.