Category: Uncategorized

Developing A 5000 Year Old Mind

Jay Luvaas, the great American and Civil War historian, once said, “There is no excuse among professional officers for not having a 5000 year old mind.” What he meant was across the sweep of recorded time, the literature of war lays at our feet nearly the sum total of man’s warfare experience. In these works, there are lessons to be found that provide guideposts for virtually every challenge or dilemma we may encounter on the modern battlefield; new technologies notwithstanding.

General John R. Allen
United States Marine Corps

The Myth of the DADT Forced Lie

Retired Admiral Mike Mullen said repeal of DADT was a matter of INTEGRITY for him.  He said DADT forced service men and women to lie every day about who they were.  Just for the record, I know three gay Captains with more than 82 years of Naval service between them. So far as I know, they never lied once about who they were  (certainly not to me).  And, they don’t lie today.  All served honorably; all retired honorably – as many gay Sailors in every paygrade have.  No one forces anyone to lie.  Lying is a choice; one’s sexual preference may not be and I appreciate that. For those who believe they were FORCED to live a lie – the truth may not have been as damaging as you believed.  In any case, lying or not – thank you for your service.

David Ignatius says, “Mullen knows that his greatest legacy will be a cultural and legal issue — ending discrimination against gays in the military by dismantling the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. He did it for reasons of conscience and never looked back. It was a moment of leadership, pure and simple.” 

BTW, Admiral Mike Mullen didn’t dismantle DADT.  He simply added his important voice to endorsing the President’s position for repeal of DADT just as previous Chairmen had added their important voices in support of their President endorsing DADT.  Rarely do we hear a JCS Chairman publicly voice opposition to the President’s position.  That would take incredible courage.

Sexist ? – You decide

14 December 2011

Hello Mike

Thank you for your past participation in the NavyWomen eMentor program.  Since that program sunsetted, and our AcademyWomen eMentor is restricted to women only, I’m sorry to inform you we had to delete your profile from the program.  However, we are currently talking with several organizations regarding launching new eMentor programs that might apply to you, so please periodically check back to our site (http://academywomen.org/e-mentorprogram.php) for announcements of new programs.  
Warm regards,
Shannon
From where I sit, I am deeply saddened by this.  I have faithfully carried out my responsibilities and have mentored a number of Navy men and women, young and old, every color of the spectrum and most ethnicities to greater levels of success (From E-1 to O-7).  I never concerned myself with anything other than their desire to be helped and my willingness to help.  Now I am told that I am the wrong sex to help.  I don’t do DIVERSITY THURSDAYS but this would be a good subject to discuss.  I think I may have been discriminated against.  You can always catch Diversity Thursdays over HERE.  Check in tomorrow.

Mastering the Electromagnetic Domain

Electronic warfare (EW) and cyber operations are increasingly essential to defeating the sensors and command and control (C2) that underpin an opponent’s A2/AD capabilities. If the adversary is blinded or unable to communicate, he cannot aim long-range ballistic and cruise missiles or cue submarines and aircraft. Today, Navy forces focus on deconflicting operations in the electromagnetic spectrum or cyber domains. By 2025, the Fleet will fully operationalize those domains, more seamlessly managing sensors, attacks, defense, and communications, and treating EW and cyber environments as “maneuver spaces” on par with surface, undersea, or air.

From the CNO’s Navy 2025: Forward Warfighters (click on the title to read the CNO’s article in PROCEEDINGS Magazine

The Day We Cryptologists Cried

Our Shipmate Howie Ehret passed away over the weekend at age 70 – way too young and far too busy to die, but the good Lord took him anyway.
For 30 years, Howie Ehret served as an officer in the Navy, a life of constant movement that took him all over the world on ships and submarines. Rarely, he said, did he live anywhere more than a few years. So when he retired in 1992, he was determined to sink the community roots he never could as a globe-crossing naval officer.
 
“I spent 30 years defending the American way of life,” he said. “Now I want to participate in it.”
 In 1992, he retired from the Navy and went to work in Sonoma County, California and for 20 years he extended his Navy leadership skills into the civilian community where he made an incredible difference.
“Show me someone who has a bad word to say about Howie and I’ll show you a liar,” says his friend, Rusty Smith.

Excerpts from the Sonoma County Press Democrat

22nd Navy Commanding Officer Fired – Call on the Field is "under review"

Commander Jonathan Lee Jackson, commanding officer of VAQ-134 (based in Whidbey Island and embarked in USS CARL VINSON), was fired on 8 December for (1) conduct unbecoming an officer and (2) violation of the Navy’s sexual harassment policy.  Commander Jackson was accused of creating and supporting a hostile work environment in his EA-6B squadron.
According to the Navy’s Naval Air Forces Command spokesperson, Commander Jackson had a pattern of making inappropriate and derogatory remarks toward subordinates.
He is the 22nd Navy commanding officer to be fired in 2011.

BEFORE YOU MAKE UP YOUR MIND ABOUT THIS, YOU MUST READ THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY HERE. His subordinates, peers and superiors ALL disagree with the Navy IG’s findings. 

Fortunately, the Commander, Air Wing SEVENTEEN, Captain Stephen McInerney, has tossed the challenge flag on the field of play. We are awaiting a ‘booth’ review of this call by Commander, THIRD Fleet. 

Thanks NEPTUNUS LEX.

Common Data Set Initiative

Readers,
I must admit that in the interest of full transparency, I have not been using the standards established by “The Common Data Set Initiative” when counting readers of my blog.  I should be calling you “click throughs” vice “readers”.  I have no idea if you are actually reading the blog.
USNA Professor Fleming is onto the Academy for the same mistake.  Apparently the USNA is triple counting its applicants for admissions.  You can read the story at Navy Times.  It reflects a mildly deceptive practice.  We Navy guys learn to inflate statistics (among other things) at an early age.  I don’t think there is a foul involved, just a different method of counting.  Most of us are accustomed to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … Seemingly, the admissions office counts instead by the 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 … method. It’s fine once you figure out the counting method.
Regardless of how the counting is done, lots of great young men and women are seeking admission to the Academy.  It’s not necessary to artificially inflate those numbers.  I am just now learning that I was counted among those who applied to the Academy in 1974. I did ask for an application but never completed it.  Apparently, that brief interest of mine was sufficient to count as having applied.  I am glad to contribute to inflating the numbers for admission to the class of 1978 – one of the best classes ever!