Much will be said and written about the women who will soon join the Navy’s submarine force.  Some of these women will let their actions do all the talking.  One of these action oriented young women is Ensign Peggy S. LeGrand.  She doesn’t need a male protector, special attention, waivers or favors to succeed.  This young woman is a nuclear rockstar in her own right.  A June 2010 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, she has been working tirelessly on a number of activities.  She’s made the time to continue her semi-professional career as a world class cyclist.  She’s also an incredibly talented academic.  She completed her Master’s Thesis (ELECTROCHEMICAL STUDIES OF PASSIVE FILM FORMATION AND CORROSION OF FRICTION STIR PROCESSED NICKEL ALUMINUM BRONZE) for an M.S. Degree in Mechanical Engineering in June 2011 at the Naval Postgraduate School – Monterey, California.  This young woman has “over-achiever” written all over her.  You know what favor she really needs from the Nay Sayers?  She needs for them to get the hell out of the way.  She has work to do.  Try to keep up.  It won’t be easy.  She’s already started the breakaway and you just woke up from your nap.

From 

OPNAVNOTE 5400

Ser DNS-33/11U228501

24 May 2011

“On 13 April, 1969, Lieutenant Commander McFarland was assigned as liaison officer to the Fifth Special Forces Unit, THUONG DUC SFC, Vietnam. At approximately 1100 hours on the morning of the 13th, the camp was taken under intensive and extremely accurate mortar and rocket attack. Heavy casualties were inflicted on friendly forces within the first few minutes of the attack and within ten minutes seventy per cent casualties were suffered.  

As the attack intensified, the enemy began preparations for a frontal assault of battalion size. The battle raged for over six hours with all perimeters subjected to heavy attack, including hand-to-hand fighting. During this action, LCDR McFARLAND distinguished himself by repeatedly rallying Vietnamese soldiers and directing effective zones of fire. Several times he left the relative safety of his perimeter bunker to assist in repulsing enemy infiltrators. On one such occasion he killed three enemy about to satchel charge the camp command bunker with automatic weapon fire and successfully turned back additional attackers with grenades.

LCDR McFarland’s VALOR UNDER FIRE is hereby awarded by presentation of the Bronze Star with “V” (second award) and the Navy Combat Action Medal.”

**NOTE** This year, the RADM James S. McFarland NJROTC Scholarship was awarded to Cadet LCDR Brandi Blakley.  She will attend Indiana University – Purdue University of Indianapolis.  Lieutenant Commander Frank Starr (retired 1610) was her Senior Naval Science Instructor at Bloomfield High School in Bloomfield, Indiana.

The core principles of leadership remain the same, but the cyber warfare leader must adapt to the needs of the inherently different missions, personnel, weapons, and environment of cyber war. Leaders must be adept lifetime learners who maintain currency with advancing technology, threats, policy, and tactics, and inspire the same in their subordinates. The leader must create an environment which facilitates innovation and initiative by allowing creativity, underwriting honest mistakes, providing goal-oriented objectives, and boundaries upon proper behavior. Cyber warriors have immense potential, but it is up to the qualified and prepared cyber leader to unleash this potential, and effectively execute cyber warfare missions on behalf of our Nation.

Vice Admiral Barry McCullough, Commander of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command and U.S. 10th Fleet, delivers remarks during a change of command ceremony for Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Virginia.  Captain Alan F. Kukulies relieved Captain Stephanie T. Keck as Commanding Officer, Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command at a ceremony on Friday, 22 July 2011.

Commander Jason Strength, CO, Navy Recruiting District Nashville was fired on 19 July.  The former CO was “found to have acted in an unprofessional manner” both while on liberty around subordinates as well as in uniform at official Navy events in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in June, according to a statement from Navy Recruiting Command.  The Navy has not disclosed the details of the events that lead to Strength’s firing, but Navy Recruiting Command spokesman Commander Alvin Plexico said there was an investigation, and that Rear Admiral Robin Graf, commander of Navy Recruiting Command, relieved Strength for a “loss of confidence in his ability to command.”

20 July 2011

At sea

CAPT

I wanted to take a moment and send you a quick update on a recent development here on staff that also impacts the IDC.

Recently SEVENTH Fleet (staff) developed our own Enlisted Information Dominance Warfare Specialist (EIDWS) program. Since this staff has at least one Sailor from each rate that makes up the enlisted component of the IDC it seemed to make sense that the program be opened up to make room Sailors assigned here.

Once we gained approval to attempt this process, we (beginning in AUG 2010) developed and coordinated with the other numbered fleets to draft a “Numbered Fleet Platform Specific” PQS. Followed by the drafting of the required “Unit Specific” PQS for Sailors assigned to this staff.

After almost eleven months of work, we were certified in June 2011 by a CYBERFOR representative and then the subsequent boarding/qualification of our initial set of SMEs. I was lucky enough to be among those in that first group.

SEVENTH Fleet is now the first afloat command to have this program. From now on Sailors, in the IDC reporting for duty to SEVENTH Fleet staff, will have the opportunity to qualify as both ESWS and EIDWS.

I wanted to send you a photo, but haven’t had luck yet getting the pictures from the pinning ceremony from the PAO (they are busy during the current exercise). I can tell you that a certain ‘young man’ you may know, CDR Boz Offord, did the honors and placed the Navy’s newest warfare pin on my uniform.