The SECNAV Received His Direction & Guidance
...a main course on a long buffet...
The first thing you want to get from the person you work for is a clear idea of what that individual wants you to focus on. You want to clearly understand their priorities so you can align your efforts and direct resources properly.
Via Jeff Schogol over at T&P, I think SECNAV Phelan doesn’t have to do all that much wondering:
Navy Secretary John Phelan said he has a mandate from President Donald Trump: “Fix the damn rust.”
“He has stated to me many times: ‘Shipbuilding, shipbuilding, shipbuilding. Get those ships out of maintenance yards. Fix the damn rust,’” Phelan said on Wednesday. “He does not like it, and I don’t like getting calls in the middle of the night.”
…
The issue of the Navy’s rusting fleet came up during Phelan’s Feb. 27 confirmation hearing, when Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) showed a recent picture of the destroyer USS Dewey caked in orange rust.
“Please don’t give that to President Trump because I’ll get a text at like one in the morning,” Phelan said at the time.
One thing I have grown tired of are the excuses from serving and former active duty naval officers. The excuses are not just tiresome; they are unserious and reek of Sovietesque obsequiousness to a system and a process that no longer is fit to purpose.
The physical condition and external appearance of a navy tells a story not only of that navy, but the nation it serves. Those of us who served at the end of the Cold War remember that we knew in the late-80s that something in the Soviet Union was “off”, simply from the condition of her fleet.
As we face the People’s Republic of China around the world, if you want to look like the “weak horse”, look like a sick horse.
There is a very good reason why the People’s Liberation Army Navy ships that deploy look spotless. They know the message they want to send to the rest of the world, and they know their navy is a great way to do it.
We used to know that. Time to get back to where we once were.
If you have his ear, tell the SECNAV clearly and directly why it isn’t being done now, and what you need to get it done in the future. If it requires executive action—let him know. If it requires regulatory relief—let him know. If it requires legislative action—let him know. If it requires telling COCOMS that they can’t have all the ships they want deployed until they support a larger maintenance and shipbuilding budget—tell him.
No excuses. No quarter.
Please, secretary phelan, please put this retired, grumpy old weapons department chief in charge of the preservation tiger team with every active duty 06 and below as a direct report. We’re gonna need a sh1t-load of paint, plenty of wire brushes, needle guns, coveralls, hearing protection and knuckle-busters. 100% of shore duty billets will be mustering on a pier somewhere there is a ship for port and starboard preservation details UFN.
Each and every swinging (ahem) will be turning to, and anyone who does not participate will be standing in front of the CINCs resolute desk explaining what they will be doing while they sit in a Naval brig for the next 10 years.
LEADERSHIP IS WAY HARDER THAN PRESERVATION, this picture explains the problem clearly.
We need to replace all the ship building Admirals and SES types. We need to get rid of every 3 and 4 star promoted by Biden. We need a new CNO that can even be a ship driver Captain.