• Attaching one’s name and reputation to a piece of writing creates a drive for excellence difficult to replicate when writing anonymously. None of us wants to be criticized, so public writers have more incentive to hone their arguments; ultimately, the better arguments will stand the best chance of adoption and implementation.
• Writing anonymously allows people to speak truth to power, but it also diminishes responsibility. As a result, anonymous writings can often devolve into mere complaint and invective. Public writing, while less able to challenge authority, also produces more measured, balanced prose and often proposes solutions instead of merely lamenting a problem.
• Being creatures of ego, we want credit for a winning concept. Public writing best enables that credit to be given fairly in the marketplace of ideas.

From: “Gladiator vs. Ninja, or, The Innovation Discourse”
Center for International Maritime Security, June 7
LT Kurt Albaugh
Instructor in the Naval Academy’s English Department.

NAVY STANDARDIZES COMMAND QUALIFICATIONS

WASHINGTON (NNS) — Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, approved an instruction governing the Navy’s Command Qualification Program June 4, setting the standards for qualifying and screening Navy commanding officers. OPNAV Instruction 1412.14 guides officer communities on how to formally establish a written command qualification program and how to formally screen prospective officers for command.

Prior to the release of this instruction, command qualifications were left to the individual officer communities. Following an internal review of the different programs, leadership determined common threads needed for effective command which could be highlighted during a standardized screening and qualification process. “This program will strengthen the caliber of our leaders and provide for a more ready, capable fleet by ensuring we select the right people for command by adhering to clear, consistent professional qualification standards. This process recognizes each community’s unique professional standards, while reinforcing the necessarily high expectations we hold for those in command Navy-wide,” explained Adm. John Harvey, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces.

While the instruction primarily provides guidance to community leaders and mandates standards, it also contains some requirements and expectations for prospective commanders. During Command Leadership School (CLS), which is now mandatory, candidates will complete a written examination that covers specific professional knowledge requirements and participate in a 360° assessment of their strengths and weaknesses with the help of certified counselors. Capt. Michael Slotsky, commanding officer of CLS, explained how the students will be impacted by this training. “Prospective commanding officers will now demonstrate and reflect in writing how they will apply tenets of good leadership, bedrock principles of authority-responsibility-accountability and Navy Regulations as they prepare for command. Individual student’s self-awareness and leader development will also be enhanced through the 360 assessment and coaching they will receive,” said Slotsky.

The new instruction also tasks affected officer communities to develop and prescribe a set of professional qualification and oral board standards that reflect the needs of their communities. Once an officer from their community has achieved the knowledge standards required, demonstrates mastery of the required skills, and sits an oral board with officers in command, community leaders will ensure their candidates receive a formal review by an administrative board.

The full instruction is HERE.

The attack killed 34 Sailors, and wounded 174 more on board. Both U.S. and Israeli governments conducted inquiries about the incident, and decided the attack was a result of Israeli confusion about what the USS LIBERTY was.

However, Admiral Kidd believed with certainty that this attack, which killed 34 American Sailors and injured 174 others, was a deliberate effort to sink an American ship and murder its entire crew. Admiral Kidd repeatedly referred to the Israeli forces responsible for the attack as “murderous bastards.” Admiral Kidd believed based on the documentary evidence and testimony received first hand, that the Israeli attack was planned and deliberate, and could not possibly have been an accident.

That’s the scuttlebutt around the scuttlebutt.

Thomas J. Watson