Category: Uncategorized

Archer A. Vandegrift writing about Moral Courage

Moral courage involves both the fortitude to do what is right in the face of not just failure, but disgrace, and the willingness to set aside profound personal considerations. Military education emphasizes and rewards “boldness”; taking calculated risks to win. But that same education inculcates limits on acceptable risks. 

Junior officers at the beginning of service typically envision physical courage as at or near the pinnacle of martial virtues and are apt to overlook or diminish moral courage. Those who go on to extended careers discover that physical courage is commonplace in American armed forces, but that a depth of moral courage is an indispensable quality for higher command and that it is rarer than physical courage – or boldness.

LEADERSHIP EMBODIED

Do you truly care about your Sailors?

Admiral Nelson also deeply cared about his men, paying particular attention to their health. The admiral understood the two time tested principles of leadership: accomplish the mission and take care of your people. A leader can not be successful in the long run without following both of these mutually supportive tenets. Nelson’s men were aware of his devotion to them. His personal interest in every aspect of their training ensured that their actions in battle ultimately did not require his physical presence or direction when the battle was joined.
From Former SECNAV John Dalton’s Trafalgar Night Speech 15 October 1988

From the archives – 9 years ago

Information Warfare Officer Leadership Changes

Rear Admiral Edward H. Deets III, Vice Commander, Naval Networks Warfare Command, presided over a Change of Command and retirement ceremony on Friday, 17 October 2008 at the National Maritime Intelligence Center in Suitland, Maryland for Captain Robert A. Zellmann. Captain Zellmann concluded 28 years of Naval service as a key leader in the cryptologic and information warfare community. He is a 1980 graduate of The Citadel with a B.S. in Physics. In 1994, he led the Naval Security Group Command’s (CNSG) “Information Warfare Tiger Team” that developed the initial Chief of Naval Operations’ policy which designated NSG as the Navy’s executive agent for information warfare. For the 14 succeeding years, he has been a key leader in formulating and executing information warfare capabilities for the Navy – ashore and afloat.

Captain Diane K. Gronewold assumed command of Navy Information Operations Command – Suitland. She had previously served as a division officer at NIOC-S predecessor command – Naval Information Warfare Activity (NIWA) when (then) Commander Bob Zellmann was her department head. Captain Gronewold’s father was in attendance at the Change of Command. Both RADM Deets and Captain Zellmann said that Captain Gronewold was “the perfectly qualified officer” to assume command. She has a B.A. in Mathematics, a B.S. in Physics and an M.S. in Electronics Engineering.

The Change of Command/Retirement ceremony was PUNCTUATED by CWO2 David Kivi’s (from NIOC Ft Meade, Maryland) amazing and truly inspirational delivery of “THE WATCH”.

A Bronze Star with VALOR – worth noting – VALOR UNDER FIRE

A Bronze Star with VALOR – worth noting – VALOR UNDER FIRE

BRONZE STAR WITH COMBAT «V» and NAVY COMBAT ACTION MEDAL


In a brief ceremony at the Headquarters, Naval Security Group Command on 25 July 1969, the following citation was read to all assembled:

“The President of the United States of America hereby bestows to LCDR James S. McFarland, United States Navy, the Bronze Star with “V” Distinguishing Device (second award) and the Navy Combat Action Medal. The citation reads as follows:

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 McPARLAND distinguished himself by repeatedly rallying Vietnamese soldiersand 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.”

Certified this 25th day of July 1969
William B. Clarey
Admiral United States Navy

A Little Bit of ‘Thank You’ Help – For those of you who are "thank you" impaired.

Sailors always remember a thank-you note, long after they forget what exactly they did to deserve it. Of course, there are the usual occasions to write thank you notes, but what is often more interesting are the unexpected ones.
A thank-you note is a gift in and of itself. Thank those Sailors for the great job they did on the Quarterdeck during the Commodore’s visit, for the great job they did at Colors this morning, Thank them for the super job they did on the engineering inspection. Thank them for keeping the Command’s 5-year safety record intact.

There are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to writing thank-you notes. Most would prefer that you follow this rough guideline.

1. Write the thank-you note.
2. Affix stamp.
3. Mail it. I have been using this formula for 40 years or so and have yet to have one note returned.

If you are the succinct type, a correspondence card works perfectly, as does a small foldover note. Punctuality counts – and it certainly appears more sincere. Generally speaking, the message is brief and usually consists of four parts.

1. The greeting. Dear Petty Officer Smith/Lieutenant Jones.

2. An appreciation of the item or favor.

“Thank you for the the great job on the IG inspection last week.”

3. Mention how important it was.

“We couldn’t have passed without your great work.”

4. Sign off with an appreciation of their service.

“Thank you for your service in our great Navy.” That’s it. That is all there is to it.

Good intentions don’t get the job done, and while everyone intends to express a thank you, not everyone does. If your thank-you note is tardy, don’t apologize for being late. You know you are late, and the person you are writing knows it. Just get on with it.

Adapted from Crane’s Guidance on Correspondence