Musings, leadership tidbits and quotes posted by a retired Navy Captain (really just a high performing 2nd Class Petty Officer) who hung up his uniform a bit too early. He still wears his Navy service on his sleeve. He needs to get over that. "ADVANCE WARNING – NO ORIGINAL THOUGHT!" A "self-appointed" lead EVANGELIST for the "cryptologic community". Keeping CRYPTOLOGY alive-one day and Sailor at a time. 2019 is 84th Anniversary of the Naval Security Group.
“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”
Attributed to Steve Jobs and dozens of Navy Command Excellence proponents.
Director, Navy Nuclear Propulsion (1982-1989)
And my response to that is a quote from Tony Schwartz at Life@Work.
“Humility is a way of acknowledging that none of us stand at the center of the universe. No matter what role we occupy, or how much we know, we don’t have a lock on the answers. A position of authority over others scarcely guarantees that you have real authority.
When leaders openly accept the whole of who they are – for better and for worse – they no longer have to defend their value so vigilantly.”
Are you being too defensive?
The Navy is on a good course and speed regarding transformation initiatives and we have a good navigation plan for the future. If confirmed, my goals will remain largely consistent with our current efforts. For example, Navy has taken the lead within DoD in reshaping itself to meet current and future cyber threats and opportunities, but we have more work to do to capitalize on our progress to date and realize the full potential of our growing cyber force. We must continue to mature Navy’s recently-formed Information Dominance Corps.
Ready Sailors and Civilians will remain the source of the Navy’s warfighting capability.
From the CNO’s Tenets.
“We now have 30 minority flag officers and 32 female flag officers, or admirals, for a 49% increase since 2006.
For those of you who are in the information world, this year it’s been my great personal pleasure for me as I welcomed into the ranks of our Navy admirals, a former shipmate, a great African American officer by the name of [Rear Admiral] Will Metts. He was selected for admiral this year. He was a close and personal friend, a consummate professional, who served with me in the Pacific Fleet, who later commanded the Navy Information Operations Center in Hawaii in a delightful little part of Oahu called Wahiawa. And in his first assignment as an admiral he will be the Director of Intelligence at the new U.S. Cyber Command.”
Admiral Gary Roughead
Chief of Naval Operations
at the Black Data Processors Association
- He is an intense, nuclear-trained engineer.
- He understands the technological intricacies of cyberspace far better than his contemporaries.
- He advised the CNO on countering the emerging ballistic-missile threat to surface ships.
- He absolutely understands the intersection of strategy and technology.
- He brings profound technical depth to bear on a number of crucial military questions (cyber included).
From: Loren B. Thompson’s (PhD) article over at Lexington Institute
“The Navy will use the borderless domains of the sea, space and cyberspace to make that vision a reality. And we will continue to educate and train our Sailors so they are capable and comfortable in those domains.”
Admiral Jay Johnson, 1999, former Chief of Naval Operations
“Fundamental to the value of our Sailors is culture; it’s our culture that makes our Sailors different. Clearly the training and equipping does, but it’s the culture of the Navy and the culture of innovation that make our Sailors so very different: they simply get the job done, they identify a problem, they self-organize, they execute well, they’re collaborative and when the time comes for them to leave, they put their responsibilities into a package to turn over to a successor who can be more successful than they were. That is something that we as a Navy can never lose and that’s the culture that exists today.”Admiral Gary Roughead in his May Rhumblines, CNO Monthly Update
Plain and simple – Sailors find a way, day in and day out, despite every obstacle put in their way, to get the job done. Always have – always will.
If the Navy is to regain its soul and its respect, the answer lies not in some additional program but in the right kind of leaders, at every level of command. Leaders who understand that the seemingly arcane concepts of tradition, loyalty, discipline, and moral courage have carried the Navy through cyclical turbulence in peace and war. Leaders who are imbued with a solemn duty to preserve sacrosanct ideals and pass them on to succeeding generations, leaders who know that this obligation transcends their own importance and must outlast their individual careers. Leaders with the courage to articulate the inviolability of these ideals to the political process. Leaders who will never allow a weakening of these ideals in exchange for selfpreservation.
It’s time to give the Navy back to such leaders. There can be no more important task over the next few years. Without officers who will defend the Navy’s culture and take decisive action when it is needed, there will be nothing but continuing chaos. With them, as they have shown throughout the Navy’s history, no challenge is too great; anything is possible.
I Like The Cut of His Jib 