Category: Uncategorized

Kirby’s Rules

From: 20 Questions With John Kirby

From The Pendulum: Doctrine Man HERE

Always be:
1. Good to your family 
Nobody succeeds at this business alone. We all need help. Take time to appreciate everything your family does to support you. They’ll never ask for your thanks, but they darn sure deserve it.
2. Skeptical 
Don’t be afraid to question policies or programs. You have to be the sanity check. If it doesn’t make sense to you, you are going to have a hard time communicating it. Worse, it may be a bad policy.
3. Courteous 
Treat everyone you encounter as if they were at your grandmother’s dinner table.
4. Professional 
Nothing about your job is personal, certainly not your relationships with media. You are always a spokesman … always. Be able to separate personal from professional issues.
5. Able to take two steps back 
It’s all about context. Find ways to put things into perspective. That’s what we do.
6. Right 
We can’t afford to pass bad information … ever.
7. Responsive 
Reply to emails promptly. Get the phone before it rings three times. Make sure people know how to get hold of you at all times. Don’t be afraid to give out your home number.
8. Engaged
 Let people see you; let them know you are informed and interested in what they are doing. Stay ahead of issues, get out in front. Think strategically.
9. Curious 
Ask lots of questions; be willing to learn no matter how long you have been at any command. Nobody cares how you did it before or how successful you once were. Listen.
10. Circumspect 
People have to know they can trust you with information, both at the command and in the media. Know when to speak up and when not to. Be trustworthy.
11. Yourself 
Don’t try to fit someone’s mold. Be true to who you are and let that reflect in your work. A phony PAO can be spotted — and distrusted — a mile away.
12. Able to laugh 
Sometimes your sense of humor will be all that gets you through. Take the work seriously, not yourself.
13. Physically Fit 
You represent the military. Look the part. Workout regularly. Wear your uniform smartly.

The Long Gray (Navy/USAF/USMC/USCG) Online

“The compartmentalization of professional discussion is over. No longer will good ideas and fresh perspectives be restricted to a unit, post, or email chain. Today, chiefly due to the congruence of technology and the desire among a group of young field grades to have their voices heard, the institutional monologue has developed into a dialogue, with a variety of fresh, unique voices emerging above the fray. By consciously devoting themselves anew to the key tenets of reading, writing, and reflection, these officers and the Army (and I note, all the Services) are better for it.”

You can read it all HERE.

Someone had to be first

Excerpts from the Navy Times:

Commanding Officer, Naval Station Guantanamo Bay was unceremoniously removed from command for unspecified “misconduct” Wednesday amid a Naval Criminal Investigative Service Investigation.
Captain John Nettleton was fired by Rear Admiral Mary Jackson, head of Navy Region Southeast, “due to loss of confidence in Nettleton’s ability to command,” the region said in a press release.
Nettleton is a prior-enlisted Marine infantryman who was commissioned as a helicopter pilot in 1989. He has deployed aboard the carriers Theodore Roosevelt and Saratoga, and is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm. He took command of the controversial naval station in June 2012. Nettleton did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday.
Nettleton is the first Navy commanding officer to be fired in 2015.

Just added this to my reading list

For more than two decades William S. Sims was at the forefront of naval affairs. From the revolution in naval gunnery to his development of torpedo boat and destroyer operations, he was a central figure in  preparing the U.S. Navy for World War I. During the war, he served as the senior naval commander in Europe and was instrumental in the establishment of the convoy system. Following the war his leadership as president of the Naval War College established the foundation of the creative and innovative Navy that developed the operating concepts for submarines and aircraft carriers leading up to World War II.
Despite his dramatic impact on the U.S. Navy, Sims’ books and articles are often overlooked. His lessons are especially important for a today’s military, facing budget cuts and missions in transition. This book is a collection of Admiral William Sims’ written work, and it investigates his relevance in addressing the questions facing today’s military personnel and policymakers.
LCDR Benjamin Armstrong, USN, is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and Norwich University and is a PhD candidate in War Studies with King’s College, London.  He has been awarded the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement and is the editor of 21st Century Mahan.

FCC/C10F STRATEGIC GOALS

While we wait for publication of Fleet Cyber Command/TENTH Fleet’s new Strategic Plan, we can be certain that this will be included:

The value the U.S. Fleet Cyber Command team brings to Navy and Joint commanders moving forward will be measured based on our ability to:
  • Operate the Navy network as a warfighting platform;
  • Conduct tailored signals intelligence (SIGINT);
  • Deliver warfighting effects;
  • Create shared cyber situational awareness; and
  • Establish and mature Navy’s Cyber Mission Forces.
You can read the latest from VADM Jan E. Tighe HERE.

This from fellow blogger George Ambler


Busyness kills leadership as:
  • Busyness is fake work, it has the appearance of work, but doesn’t deliver results.
  • Busyness gets you doing unnecessary work. When unnecessary work is done time is wasted.
  • Busyness is seductive as it makes you feel important.
  • Busyness traps you into using your time and energy for doing good work rather than investing it in your great work.
  • Busyness robs you of the capacity needed to reflect and to think deeply about important issues and decisions of the day.
  • Busyness keeps you reacting rather than responding and initiating.
His excellent blog is HERE.