"Warfighters" sounds like it came from the mind of an illiterate, for the consumption of illiterates. Nothing will change my mind, even though I hear this childish babble word every single day.
Wow. I’m really pleasantly surprised. It sounds like a focused document, and that it’s focused on what we need and have been worried about. It’s a step.
Now for implementing! Won’t be so easy for anyone for at least two reasons. Money and politics. Personnel is by far the largest portion of any agency budget. Recruit and retain? How will we convince young Americans to join? I remember getting my draft notice. What’s wrong with another draft? I chose the Navy instead of Army and the trip to Vietnam. Became a River Rat anyway and later OCS and spent 37 years in. The draft was my initial motivation. Now the politics! 435 House members and 100 Senators equal “mob” rule. Then there is the “iron triangle.” Morale to the story? Implementation is much, much harder than this report will ever be.
I can't get behind a draft for action overseas (I could to defend our own borders, but there seems precious little interest in that within our government).
If we can't get people interested in doing it, then I think we shouldn't be doing it.
That said, I agree it gives some people a push in a direction to turns out to be a calling. One of my best friends and mentors when I was in was on the "go to war or go to jail" plan in 1970 and enlisted, then stayed on, became a mustang, and did 35 or so.
There is precious little interest, but, that doesn’t erase the fact that personnel cost are the largest part of any agency budget and when you spend to attract and retain that means less for modernization of the Navy ability to engage multiple enemies on multiple fronts. That poses the question of where is the money going to come from? And, what are we willing to sacrifice? We have become an entitlement society. Those entitlements are going to make the available monies less and less. I didn’t particularly agree with the draft, but I didn’t dodge it either. Just chose the Navy instead of the Army. Probably the wisest decision I ever made as a 18 year old.
No doubt better but too late and not enough, even if (some of) that action takes place (per your good summation in the last sentence Sal). Just as we silently watched the Phillipines get thrown off their territory, we can do little to stop this train now. We have to build for the coming fight unless it comes to us first. We need political leadership that values a Navy but it does not appear that shouldering that burden is in the cards. We have no Reagan nor Lehman so we rationalize that as long as we can trade and make money let's spend elsewhere. And we don't have the money anymore. What Navy money we've had has not been spent effectively. We talk about logistics yet we are recalling expeditionary support from around the world (17 ships). I hope our back pockets are full of good stuff to pull out.
CDR Sal: Full disclosure, didn't read the actual document, relying on your executive summary for my...response. IMO: A necessary, and long overdue first step (admitting you have a problem!) in dealing with ONE service's deficiencies with respect to their primary mission: defense of the nation. A 50,000 foot overview of deficiencies that must be addressed to fulfill that mission (big hand / small map level of detail). A very bare bones roadmap. The devil's in the details with regards to the surely classified implementation plan, whose suspense timeline will determine if this is a "serious" document meant to actually solve problems at the required rate of need or a coffee table pamphlet meant to defend a legacy (Walking the walk or NATO (No Action Talk Only)). Desperate times, and time is likely something we have a big shortage of...
"...a 'serious' document...or a coffee table pamphlet". I did actually (speed) read the document.
That document might not have looked so impressive if it came across with a date time group on a printer in Radio Central without a professional layout that included glossy color photos printed on quality bond paper. Like any good chef knows, presentation can turn even catfish into good sashimi. But BZ for that well-built piece of journalism. Way better than I could do with just scissors, library paste and a Xerox machine. The screed has appeal with important phraseology like "integrated kill web", "deep bench of talent", "warfighting ecosystem", "disaggregated" and even more so with the absence of woke-speak. Why would we expect anything less from this Warfighter CNO, a journalism major? God speed, Admiral.
You get a 5x5 matrix of trite worn-out phrases like "reengineering" or "six sigma" or "multitasking" .... and you mark off each one that you hear in a meeting. If you get five in a row you shout out "Bingo."
As Jerry Hendrix notes in an X post earlier today, "My beloved Navy is badly broken. It has failed to manage its training and subsequent career pipelines. Now it will force aviators to remain in service to complete two sea tours"
CNO had to sign off on the new Navy initiative of forcing aviators to remain in service to complete two sea tours. How does this match the goal of her "Recruit and retain the force we need to get more players on the field". Real world- those two are mutually incompatible. Sure, CNO, keep up with your happy talk. Actions matter.
The lady CNO with a degree in journalism wrote a nice paper free of the usual PC DEI Marxist claptrap that we’ve been accustomed to over the past few years.
That’s nice.
Does she mean it or is she just following the White House playbook not to say anything that might alienate voters like there really are active duty sailors in war zones.
I don’t know.
Personally, I would like to see this admiral gone come 1 20 25.
Did you see the video of the guys watching her say that, earing fatigues in a tent somewhere, and one turns to the camera and says "then where the F are we then!?" and they all laugh?
Sal, come up with something better than SCRIBD. I don't need a sales pitch or 2-factor authentication to download a public Navy document. How about just linking to the original source or putting it on Google docs/similar?
My take away. I am pleased she appears to respect her place in the “continuum” of leadership. This is humble and circumspect. I also am pleased to see that she places the maintenance backlogs as a priority. We need the critical infrastructure as well. Our installations are barely funded and our infrastructure is crumbling. Either we are a first rate Naval power or we are not. We certainly don’t look like we act.
Go get ‘em 33. No more excuses.
(I like how she kept Jeremy Boorda’s order on the capitalization of “Sailor”.
“This prioritization is a function of our moment in history and our constraints. Readiness informs my guidance and remains my central commitment to our Sailors, civilians, Navy families, Joint service members, and the Nation I serve. Yet I am also responsible for being a good steward of the future. The very motivation behind Project 33 stems from my place in a continuum of Navy leaders past and future, calling to mind each CNO’s obligation to articulate a vision that outlives their tenure.”
Sadly this only captures the spirit of ADM Zumwalt on the surface in terms of calling for "continuity" between CNO's. I don't think this document will do that and that her successor may have a document called "NAVPLAN" but it will dump most of the personalized information in Project 33 (Appears like Zumwalt's Z-grams which ADM Holloway dropped.) Other nits; no specific list of program goals to improve the fleet as Zumwalt had in Project Sixty. No sense of the deep urgency in preparing for war with China (Zumwalt by contrast said the USN had a 45% chance of beating the Soviets and implored Congress for help.) Finally, MOC-based warfare does not enable mission command or the kind of independent thinking needed from unit level commanders in war. Spruance and Fletcher did not constantly call ADM Nimitz back at the PACFLT "MOC" during Midway for guidance. Sorry, not good enough.
Agree. As I re-read, I notice there were no "top-level" objectives/goals, for those critical near term gaps/shortfalls that the USN is currently facing.
When the balloon goes up, Australia and Japan will stand with us ... but the last member of the Quad, India, will be missing in action unless she is attacked.
They are practical, but the Nipponese have long memories as well. I don't think they look forward to facing the PRC as world Hegemon without the US in the picture.
They may choose to make a stand while we are a player rather than all alone later.
India certainly is relevant to USN matters, but CNO only runs the Navy, not the State Department or DOD. She's got a big enough job without getting into turf wars over what others should be doing.
"It disturbs me that we continue to marginalize the nation with the largest population on Earth"
How are they being marginalized? They've engaged more with the Indians in the last five years than the previous 50. Heck they even named a COCOM after it.
A DEI hire that left the DEI crap out of her Navigation Plan. I may have to reevaluate. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes. I hope her leadership (with better words) results in a good course correction....we've needed it for a long time.
I motion we replace "warfighters" with "salty dogs" in Navy documents.
"Warfighters" sounds like it came from the mind of an illiterate, for the consumption of illiterates. Nothing will change my mind, even though I hear this childish babble word every single day.
build more ships?
Wow. I’m really pleasantly surprised. It sounds like a focused document, and that it’s focused on what we need and have been worried about. It’s a step.
I was pleased when Bill Clinton said the era of big government is over
Yeah, the proof is always in the pudding.
Now for implementing! Won’t be so easy for anyone for at least two reasons. Money and politics. Personnel is by far the largest portion of any agency budget. Recruit and retain? How will we convince young Americans to join? I remember getting my draft notice. What’s wrong with another draft? I chose the Navy instead of Army and the trip to Vietnam. Became a River Rat anyway and later OCS and spent 37 years in. The draft was my initial motivation. Now the politics! 435 House members and 100 Senators equal “mob” rule. Then there is the “iron triangle.” Morale to the story? Implementation is much, much harder than this report will ever be.
I can't get behind a draft for action overseas (I could to defend our own borders, but there seems precious little interest in that within our government).
If we can't get people interested in doing it, then I think we shouldn't be doing it.
That said, I agree it gives some people a push in a direction to turns out to be a calling. One of my best friends and mentors when I was in was on the "go to war or go to jail" plan in 1970 and enlisted, then stayed on, became a mustang, and did 35 or so.
There is precious little interest, but, that doesn’t erase the fact that personnel cost are the largest part of any agency budget and when you spend to attract and retain that means less for modernization of the Navy ability to engage multiple enemies on multiple fronts. That poses the question of where is the money going to come from? And, what are we willing to sacrifice? We have become an entitlement society. Those entitlements are going to make the available monies less and less. I didn’t particularly agree with the draft, but I didn’t dodge it either. Just chose the Navy instead of the Army. Probably the wisest decision I ever made as a 18 year old.
No doubt better but too late and not enough, even if (some of) that action takes place (per your good summation in the last sentence Sal). Just as we silently watched the Phillipines get thrown off their territory, we can do little to stop this train now. We have to build for the coming fight unless it comes to us first. We need political leadership that values a Navy but it does not appear that shouldering that burden is in the cards. We have no Reagan nor Lehman so we rationalize that as long as we can trade and make money let's spend elsewhere. And we don't have the money anymore. What Navy money we've had has not been spent effectively. We talk about logistics yet we are recalling expeditionary support from around the world (17 ships). I hope our back pockets are full of good stuff to pull out.
💯
Good luck., You will need it.
CDR Sal: Full disclosure, didn't read the actual document, relying on your executive summary for my...response. IMO: A necessary, and long overdue first step (admitting you have a problem!) in dealing with ONE service's deficiencies with respect to their primary mission: defense of the nation. A 50,000 foot overview of deficiencies that must be addressed to fulfill that mission (big hand / small map level of detail). A very bare bones roadmap. The devil's in the details with regards to the surely classified implementation plan, whose suspense timeline will determine if this is a "serious" document meant to actually solve problems at the required rate of need or a coffee table pamphlet meant to defend a legacy (Walking the walk or NATO (No Action Talk Only)). Desperate times, and time is likely something we have a big shortage of...
I am very skeptical having been lied to so many times.
"...a 'serious' document...or a coffee table pamphlet". I did actually (speed) read the document.
That document might not have looked so impressive if it came across with a date time group on a printer in Radio Central without a professional layout that included glossy color photos printed on quality bond paper. Like any good chef knows, presentation can turn even catfish into good sashimi. But BZ for that well-built piece of journalism. Way better than I could do with just scissors, library paste and a Xerox machine. The screed has appeal with important phraseology like "integrated kill web", "deep bench of talent", "warfighting ecosystem", "disaggregated" and even more so with the absence of woke-speak. Why would we expect anything less from this Warfighter CNO, a journalism major? God speed, Admiral.
Don't go knocking catfish.
Does anyone remember BS Bingo?
You get a 5x5 matrix of trite worn-out phrases like "reengineering" or "six sigma" or "multitasking" .... and you mark off each one that you hear in a meeting. If you get five in a row you shout out "Bingo."
Yes. We need 9Sigma. It's 3 better.
Das ist verrückt. Nein Sigma.
That's what I said, Nine Sigma. 😜
I like it, but how’s about “sailor” (no I haven’t read CNO’s doc yet)…
As Jerry Hendrix notes in an X post earlier today, "My beloved Navy is badly broken. It has failed to manage its training and subsequent career pipelines. Now it will force aviators to remain in service to complete two sea tours"
CNO had to sign off on the new Navy initiative of forcing aviators to remain in service to complete two sea tours. How does this match the goal of her "Recruit and retain the force we need to get more players on the field". Real world- those two are mutually incompatible. Sure, CNO, keep up with your happy talk. Actions matter.
💯
So why are helicopter pilots sent on a non-flying 2nd sea tour? Are they trying to drive them out of the Navy?
https://www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Portals/55/Career/Detailing/Officer/Aviation/Detailers/Helicopter%20Sea%20Assignments.docx?ver=nZhA4Xa8-8PfTtLlSENfag%3d%3d
Some might suggest that pilots, and all others, are simply commodities to be used. Great for esprit de corps, is it not? Contrast the Navy approach with that of the Marines as noted in a Military Times article of the 16th by Hope Hodge Seth. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2024/09/16/marines-draw-new-policy-line-we-will-not-separate-families/
The lady CNO with a degree in journalism wrote a nice paper free of the usual PC DEI Marxist claptrap that we’ve been accustomed to over the past few years.
That’s nice.
Does she mean it or is she just following the White House playbook not to say anything that might alienate voters like there really are active duty sailors in war zones.
I don’t know.
Personally, I would like to see this admiral gone come 1 20 25.
Fine words butter no parsnips.
Did you see the video of the guys watching her say that, earing fatigues in a tent somewhere, and one turns to the camera and says "then where the F are we then!?" and they all laugh?
Sal, come up with something better than SCRIBD. I don't need a sales pitch or 2-factor authentication to download a public Navy document. How about just linking to the original source or putting it on Google docs/similar?
…because it wasn’t available in open source easily until 1130 Eastern today. Link updated.
Thanks, Sal.
My take away. I am pleased she appears to respect her place in the “continuum” of leadership. This is humble and circumspect. I also am pleased to see that she places the maintenance backlogs as a priority. We need the critical infrastructure as well. Our installations are barely funded and our infrastructure is crumbling. Either we are a first rate Naval power or we are not. We certainly don’t look like we act.
Go get ‘em 33. No more excuses.
(I like how she kept Jeremy Boorda’s order on the capitalization of “Sailor”.
“This prioritization is a function of our moment in history and our constraints. Readiness informs my guidance and remains my central commitment to our Sailors, civilians, Navy families, Joint service members, and the Nation I serve. Yet I am also responsible for being a good steward of the future. The very motivation behind Project 33 stems from my place in a continuum of Navy leaders past and future, calling to mind each CNO’s obligation to articulate a vision that outlives their tenure.”
Fine words butter no parsnips
To be honest, I'm tickled pink I couldn't find the word "woman" in it attached to something like "As the first Woman CNO ..."
Sadly this only captures the spirit of ADM Zumwalt on the surface in terms of calling for "continuity" between CNO's. I don't think this document will do that and that her successor may have a document called "NAVPLAN" but it will dump most of the personalized information in Project 33 (Appears like Zumwalt's Z-grams which ADM Holloway dropped.) Other nits; no specific list of program goals to improve the fleet as Zumwalt had in Project Sixty. No sense of the deep urgency in preparing for war with China (Zumwalt by contrast said the USN had a 45% chance of beating the Soviets and implored Congress for help.) Finally, MOC-based warfare does not enable mission command or the kind of independent thinking needed from unit level commanders in war. Spruance and Fletcher did not constantly call ADM Nimitz back at the PACFLT "MOC" during Midway for guidance. Sorry, not good enough.
Agree. As I re-read, I notice there were no "top-level" objectives/goals, for those critical near term gaps/shortfalls that the USN is currently facing.
More word salad from the CNO. And ignoring India is done at additional peril to our maritime and national security.
When the balloon goes up, Australia and Japan will stand with us ... but the last member of the Quad, India, will be missing in action unless she is attacked.
💯
I am not so sure about Japan.
A few missiles could destroy their power plants.
A few submarines could blockade their ports.
If I were the Japanese PM I would think long and hard about maintaining neutrality.
I suspect the PRC will also heavily employ UUVs and mines at the entrances to key harbors (e.g., Sasebo, Tokyo).
Luckily we have focused on mine clearing like a laser and have deep capability there /sarc
The LCSs mine module will handle it. . .wait one. . .guess it won't. . .my bad.
If PRC strikes Japan, Japan will fight. No doubt about it.
They are practical, but the Nipponese have long memories as well. I don't think they look forward to facing the PRC as world Hegemon without the US in the picture.
They may choose to make a stand while we are a player rather than all alone later.
It disturbs me that we continue to marginalize the nation with the largest population on Earth
that has long standing and clear enmity with the second largest,
an entire ocean to work in,
a fair economy to work with,
and a demonstrated willingness to participate in helping keep sea lanes open.
That "0" mentions of India is short-sighted in the extreme.
India certainly is relevant to USN matters, but CNO only runs the Navy, not the State Department or DOD. She's got a big enough job without getting into turf wars over what others should be doing.
India's Navy is doing yeoman's work in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. Eliminating them from this document is quite the snub
Excellent point.
Other nations take our publications more seriously than we do.
Agree.
"It disturbs me that we continue to marginalize the nation with the largest population on Earth"
How are they being marginalized? They've engaged more with the Indians in the last five years than the previous 50. Heck they even named a COCOM after it.
A DEI hire that left the DEI crap out of her Navigation Plan. I may have to reevaluate. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes. I hope her leadership (with better words) results in a good course correction....we've needed it for a long time.
She left it ...for now. The DNC focus groups probably said that diversity was no longer popular.
Also, CYA in case Ms. Harris loses this fall.