WASHINGTON (NNS) — Navy announced the two 2017 Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Leadership Award recipients Thursday in NAVADMIN 215/17.

Cmdr. Brian M. Drechsler, former commanding officer of Sea, Air, Land (SEAL) Team Five is the Pacific Fleet recipient and Cmdr. Eric M. Sager, former commanding officer of USS California (SSN 781) is the Fleet Forces recipient.

The two recipients were nominated by their peers, who were also eligible for the award, and chosen from among eight finalists to receive the award.

The Stockdale award was established in honor of Vice Adm. Stockdale whose distinguished naval career symbolized the highest standards of excellence in both personal conduct and leadership. It is presented annually to two commissioned officers on active duty in the grade of commander or below who are serving in command of a single ship, submarine, aviation squadron, Sea, Air, Land (SEAL) team, naval special warfare squadron, SEAL delivery vehicle team, special boat team, explosive ordnance disposal mobile unit, mobile diving and salvage unit, or Navy special clearance team and who serve as examples of excellence in leadership and conspicuous contribution to the improvement of leadership in the Navy.

Drechsler was nominated by the former commanding officer of Naval Special Warfare Group One, Cmdr. Ryan P. Shann, who wrote the nomination was in recognition of “his high standards, strong example, selfless service and personal commitment to his command members and their families.”

Four commanding officers nominated Sager for the award. In his nomination letter, Cmdr. Kenneth R. Franklin, commanding officer of USS Colorado (SSN 788), stated Sager “sets an impeccable example for his peers and subordinates that is a model for all Naval officers to follow.” 

Drechsler and Sager are scheduled to receive their awards from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson at a ceremony later this fall.

Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale, for whom the Stockdale Award is named, articulated five roles for a leader — moralist, jurist, teacher, steward and philosopher.

A Naval Academy graduate and pilot, Stockdale ejected from his A-4E Skyhawk over North Vietnam in September 1965 and was held prisoner and frequently tortured until February 1973. He received the Medal of Honor in 1976 and served as president of the Naval War College from October 1977 until August 1979.

He died in 2005 and is buried at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He is survived by his three sons and eight grandchildren.

You can get my short KINDLE book about these amazing men and one woman – Babette Bolivar HERE.   Rear Admiral Babette Bolivar’s biography is HERE.

Many professionals do not want to write because they feel by doing so they are telling people how to think or that no one will even care what the author, regardless of rank, thinks about a subject. What I have learned over the years is that published ideas, both good and bad, serve as a fuel for workplace conversations. And these conversations, which are a form of professional development, can have positive second and third order effects that the author never intended. 

For example, an article about improving performance counseling could lead to leaders reassessing and eventually changing their counseling programs in a unit on the other side of the globe. The changes may not be exactly in line with the article, but it was the article that got that commander or first sergeant thinking and talking about counseling in the first place.

Much more is available HERE.

1. Write your thoughts down

If you can’t express what you think in writing, how will you express yourself?

The Chiefs’ Mess in Excellent Commands

“The backbone of the Navy” is how one old adage sums up the importance of the Chiefs quarters. Superior commands are especially quick to acknowledge the Chief Petty Officer’s special role and contribution. The uniqueness of that role is a function both of the position the Chief occupies in the organizational structure and of the job qualifications that must be satisfied before the position is attained. Chiefs have considerable managerial and technical expertise and are the linchpin between officers and enlisted.

For there to be a strong Chiefs quarters, the Chiefs must feel that they are valued and that they have the authority and responsibility to do the job the way they think it ought to be done. In superior commands, the Chiefs feel that their special leadership role is sanctioned and appreciated by the rest of the command, especially the CO. In these commands, the Chiefs are included in all major activities, particularly planning. Their input is sought and readily given. If they believe that something won’t work or that there is a better way to do it, they speak up.

Chiefs in superior commands lead by taking responsibility for their division. They motivate their subordinates, counsel them, defend them when unjustly criticized, monitor and enforce standards, give positive and negative feedback, communicate essential information, solicit input, monitor morale, and take initiative to propose new solutions and to do things before being told. The Chiefs play a key role in the enforcement of standards.

From: “Charting a New Course to Command Excellence – Summary”

Prospective Commanding Officer/Executive Officer Course
Newport, Rhode Island

Brain-on-brain warfare; you need to read…think.write.

In the end, the quintessential skill of an officer is about bringing order out of chaos. To do that, you have to be calm, and smart, and willing to do the brain work. Because in the end, 21st Century security is about brain-on-brain warfare. We will succeed not because we have more resources, or because our values are the best, or because we have the best demographics or geographic advantages—all of those things matter, of course. But in today’s turbulent 21st Century, we’ll succeed and defeat our enemies by out-thinking them. To do that, and to be successful senior officers, you need to read … think … and write.

Admiral James R. Stavridis 

Navy Capt. Sara A. Joyner has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral (lower half).  Joyner is currently serving as director, Navy Senate Liaison, Office of Legislative Affairs, Washington, District of Columbia.  

Below are subjects and questions that IWBC class is interested to discuss with VADM Tighe.  
This will give an idea what’s on their minds. 

Subjects:

1. Defense Acquisition of Information Technologies

2. Developments in the IDC over the next ten years

3. Expectations for Junior Officers

4. Retention of enlisted and officer, bonuses/job satisfaction

5. Competitive for O-4

6. EM Warfare

7. Direct Accession for IDC from ROTC/Academy

8. What does the community need to change to succeed?

9. Does the IDC have the resources to complete its mission?

Questions:

1. Recently, President Obama and the Secretary of Defense have called out – and even indicted – foreign actors for hacking. How do you see us handling the issue of holding those (whether state actors, private actors, or those who fall somewhere between) accountable for hostile cyber actions against us going forward?

2. Do you know if the Navy is developing communications methods outside of EMS such as Quantum entanglement to support assured C2?

3. People in the class are from different backgrounds i.e. prior enlisted, lateral transfer, or right out of college via OCS. Will the expectations be different upon reporting to our first command due to our backgrounds in terms of initial assignments or leadership responsibilities?

4. What are the expectations of the new JO”s reporting to their first command in regards to the IDC, the military, the position?

5. With advancing technology around the world, and the growing realization of the danger in over-reliance on information technology, do we see our adversaries developing methodologies that are less dependent on technology? How are we addressing our own over-reliance on integrated C2?

6. What are the advantages of attending the Naval War College compared to the Naval Postgraduate School?

7. How have the policies and attitudes shifted in regards to offensive cyber operations over the past ten years?

8. Have offensive cyber operations affected the tactics for special operation forces?

9. Cyber research at the NSA and the Navy are often developed independently and not shared. Will there be a greater sharing of resources in the coming years?

HAVE YOUR QUESTIONS BEEN ANSWERED?

Crane Paper

Sometimes it doesn’t matter what you write or how much you write. What matters is that you made the effort to write something at all — that you chose paper, found a pen and put something out into the world that can’t be erased with the click of a keyboard. It makes you stand out, creates a real human connection and ultimately it’s that effort that people remember.