Sad news

LCDR Bob Morrison, USN, retired, reported that CTA1 Jerry Oster passed away at 71 years of age on September 26, 2017 in Las Vegas. Jerry was our Admin Chief for several years at Naval Security Group Detachment Atsugi, Japan in the early 1980s. I was saddened to hear that news. He trained some good CTAs who went on to make Chief Petty Officer – CTAC Michael Schuenke and CTAC Frank Zakravsky. May Jerry rest in peace.

A couple of things about caring for Sailors that I learned at my first command – 1977-1979

Learning is a lifelong process. “Stop learning – stop living” someone wise once told me. First commands offer an incredible and long-lasting learning experience if you really pay attention. I like to think that I did pay attention.

Some of the leadership best practices I picked up from then Captain James S. McFarland (a career long mentor and later-in-life friend):

– When Sailors reported to the command, he wrote letters to the parents letting them know that their son/daughter had arrived safely in a very distant Misawa, Japan and that his officers and Chiefs would take care of them. Commands which make this time are remembered long after the Sailor departs. Some commands have the Department Head or Executive Officer do this.

– Most Sailors were sent to the Naval Air Facility (NAF) Misawa photo lab for their “official Navy photo”. Little did the Sailors know that the CO actually sent these photos back to the parents. Captain McFarland also sent a copy of my Sailor of the Quarter (SOQ) photo to my parents, as well – along with a copy of “The Misawan” newspaper’s SOQ announcement. Sent in 1979, my family still has these. Getting a photo of their Sailor means a lot to parents. If you doubt it, ask a parent!

Navy Chiefs – Take Back Your Mess

Here is an article I wrote some years ago for PROCEEDINGS magazine.

http://goatlocker.org/resources/cpo/about/anchorup.pdf

VADM Jan E. Tighe

Perhaps a more important Naval figure than RADM Grace Hopper.

Only time will tell.

The supreme quality is missing in a few of our senior officers

The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible.

DWIGHT DAVID EISENHOWER

Worth repeating

Not everyone can be a Sailor

A man or woman can be false, fleeting, a liar or a coward – in every way corrupt and still be an outstanding engineer, doctor, a great artist, cryptologist or a computer wizard. But there’s one thing they can’t be and that is a Sailor or a Naval officer.

What can be more important??

“Mike,

Thanks for your continuing engagement on the vital issue of leadership — at the end of the day, what can be more important to our Navy and our nation?”

Admiral James Stavridis

For all of those who have helped guide me. Thank you. Camus said it best.

www.brainpickings.org

For many of you, I remain your faithful and grateful pupil.

Writing is writing

Planning to write is not writing. Outlining a book is not writing. Researching is not writing. Talking to people about what you are doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing.

E. L. Doctorow

Today, I received letters from two NIOC COs, a NIOC XO, a NIOD OIC, a retired Navy Captain colleague, my sister, a priest and a NWC graduate attending the Warfighting school. As you can imagine, it was a very good day for me. These men and my sister understand what it means to write.

As per H.L. Mencken’s example, I will send out my responses by day’s end. I will be writing.

Your True North

Boxing the Compass – Finding our True North and staying true to it

Most of us have come to understand that leadership is about character, not characteristics. We know what our values are and sometimes struggle to stay true to those values when we see that our seniors continue to progress while not demonstrating that same strict adherence to our Navy core values.

Some in our community have found strength in maintaining their ‘true North’ by creating something they have called their personal “Board of Directors” (BoD). Entrepreneur Bill George has a decent book out called TRUE NORTH GROUPS. He knows that, with the challenges we face these days, we require additional help to stay on track. We cannot rely on just ourselves or our commands to help us stay on track. We need Shipmates in ‘our circle of trust’ with whom we can have in-depth discussions and share intimately about the most cherished things in our lives and careers while we serve our country around the world.

Whatever you choose to call it, you need to have Shipmates you can count on in the toughest of times – the people who will follow-through on things ‘because they said they would.’