We Will Never Forget
Eleven years have passed since the morning when everything changed for an entire nation at once. Sometimes it feels like yesterday; sometimes it feels like decades ago. As with Pearl Harbor and the...
View ArticleRemembering Ambassador Chris Stevens
The President of the United States visited the Pentagon yesterday to attend and speak at the Memorial Service for the victims of 9/11. Security was tight, but after a solemn service and a rather...
View ArticleThe Chairman, the Admiral, and the Pastor
Because of the broohaha over invective and language a few weeks back I was asked my opinion of the Chairman’s conversation with Pastor Jones. Simply put, I am confused and disappointed. I firmly...
View ArticleNeil Armstrong – A National Treasure
The passing of Neil Armstrong, an American treasure and icon, seems lost in the steady drumbeat of electoral rhetoric and the 24-hour news cycle. How unfortunate, since he serves as a standard-bearer...
View ArticleFirst Amendment Right…or Undue Command Influence?
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably...
View ArticleSebastian Junger: Tim Hetherington Didn’t Have to Die
From our brother site, news.usni.org. Worth it. http://news.usni.org/news-analysis/news/sebastian-junger-tim-hetherington-didnt-have-die Risc Training
View ArticleA Farewell to the MCPON
Last Friday night I was walking down the 4th corridor to my office in N81. It had been a long week. I was a little tired and looking forward to a cold beer when I got home… Then I heard a booming voice...
View ArticleWhat We Say and How We Say It
Nearly twenty years ago, I first read the Qualifications of a Naval Officer, which was (at the time, apparently with a bit of inaccuracy) attributed to John Paul Jones.* As an 18-year-old, I found it...
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On the Effects and Usage of Social Media by Organizations.
Disclaimer: This theory of mine is only mine, and is not the thinking or policy of the US Navy or NATO. Further more, this is only the second time I’ve even mentioned my thoughts below to anyone. I am...
View ArticleNavy Development Warfare Command’s Pacific Rim Innovation Symposium
I had the great pleasure of attending the first day of the Navy Development Warfare Command’s Pacific Rim Innovation Symposium at SPAWAR in San Diego yesterday. It was an invigorating afternoon of...
View ArticleOn the Effects and Usage of Social Media by Organizations, episode II
Disclaimer: This theory of mine is only mine, and is not the thinking or policy of the US Navy or NATO. Further more, this is only the second time I’ve even mentioned my thoughts below to anyone. I am...
View ArticleOn Warfighting: The Warrior Spirit
Cold steel isn’t worth a damn unless you have men to command it. – Representative Fred Britten, House Naval Affairs Committee, 1928 The warrior spirit of its members constitutes the most important...
View ArticleThe Marine Corps Marathon
This Sunday, 28 October, the Marine Corps Marathon will once again be closing down the streets of Washington, D.C. Since the MCM began in 1976 it has grown immensely, and over 43,000 runners are...
View ArticleNavy Supply: Now Lactose Free!
The demands of the warfighter are like cheese processed through the lactose intolerant digestive tract that is military supply; though digestion is a vital process, it can be unspeakably painful and...
View ArticleThe Real Heroes in Our Lives
We often hear how the younger generation doesn’t appreciate many of the things that make this country great, the people responsible for our enduring freedom, and the sacrifices required to keep it that...
View ArticleOn Changing Commanders in a Long War
America’s “longest war”—now in its eleventh year in Afghanistan—has proved a source of frustration to policymakers, military strategists, and academics alike. Hypotheses abound about why American...
View ArticleNobody Asked Me But…
Several years ago I decided to renew my membership with the Naval Institute. I had been retired for about ten years and I found I missed things Naval. Low and behold, the very first issue of...
View ArticleNaval SOF: How Much and at What Cost?
As military operations in Afghanistan wind down and pressure to reduce defense spending heats up, policy makers and military leaders must carefully assess how to effectively posture the US military for...
View ArticleWhat Say You, Independent Forum? Navy Cancels Christmas?
http://www.examiner.com/article/u-s-navy-cancels-christmas-the-gulf Atheists force Navy to cave… Calling itself the busiest 60 acres in the world, the Naval Support Activity Bahrain (or NSA Bahrain)...
View ArticleRIP Medal of Honor Recipient and Senator Daniel Inouye
In his own soft-spoken words, from our Americans at War Series. http://www.americans-at-war.com/videodetail.php?id=2 In part: Daniel Inouye / U.S. Army /Served 1943-1947. Inouye’s remarkable act of...
View ArticleHistory is Dead; Long Live History.
Discussing Congressional politics over at Facebook I made the following comment. The past is dead, and only exists on the pages of books. Chart a new course and new future. I was questioned pointedly...
View ArticleOf Options and Plans: A Flawed System
In Bob Woodward’s book Obama’s Wars, the author highlights the president’s frustration with the military advice he received leading up to the surge in Afghanistan. Woodward recounts an exchange between...
View ArticleGuardian – not too soon to be thinking of the aftermath.
What’s happening on Tubbatha Reef is covered in detail by Galrahn at Information Dissemination. The facts will, likely, come out in the ensuing investigation. On the off chance that pundits and...
View ArticleHonesty Can Be Uncomfortable
I met my wife because my school district allowed me to play soccer for her High School, as my High School didn’t have a soccer team. On the day we met I had my head shaved all the way around the sides...
View ArticleZ-Innovation!
Admiral Elmo “Bud” Zumwalt, Jr. was unquestionably one of the most influential and controversial officers in US Navy history. The challenges of his era, both in and outside the military, were...
View ArticleThe Combat Exclusion Policy is no more. So now what happens?
Last Friday, in the wake of the two-week-old announcement overturning the Combat Exclusion Policy, I attended a panel event about the removal of the CEP and its implications for the services. Having...
View ArticleGuest Post: Anti-Coup: Ares Shrugged by LT Trautman / Illegitimi non...
There are times in history, where there is a roll call. Col. John Boyd noted, “That’s when you have to make a decision: to be or to do.” With sequestration threatening to leverage the full trillion in...
View ArticleSpiking the Navy PME Rumor Mill
With sequestration hovering like a black cloud, PME like everything in the Defense Department is under the hammer and in flux regarding present operations and future planning. Nobody knows quite what...
View ArticleBauxite, Soot, and the Promise of Technological Surprise
As we stomp our empty Natty Lites flat to make room in the blue-bin, wrap our Costco chicken wings in foil, and enjoy cheap high-speed air travel – it is easy to forget that just outside of living...
View ArticleHistory of the Navy in 100 Objects: Innovating History
From the U.S. Naval Academy: “It’s our privilege to announce a very special project designed and created at the Naval Academy that should be of great interest to fans around the world. Led by...
View ArticleNavigating the Seams – Guest post by LCDR Chuck Hall, USN
In the Navy, our concept of an organization is dominated by the “chain of command” and the quintessential “org chart,” both of which are vertically focused. These concepts do a good job of telling us...
View ArticleSequestration killed Tuition Assistance… Perhaps it’s a good thing (Update)
I can hear the backlash from that title from here. However, before you put me in a position to be stoned by the masses I’d like to make my case and open the floor to your thoughts too. My military...
View ArticleCNP Operationalizes Sequestration/CR
As the budget cuts kick in – I’m having a few flashbacks to the 1990s “peace dividend” era. The key to getting through this process is communication. It takes away some of the uncertainty, and in a way...
View ArticleAmerican Seapower, Forward and Ready
It seems inevitable when the fiscal environment wanes toward austerity that there are calls for reducing forward presence in those regions of the world that concern us most. Some have argued that our...
View ArticleDoD: Too Big To Manage?
In a recent post at AOL Defense, I examine Congress’s role in the problem of excessive overhead within the Department of Defense. Because of a series of legislative actions dating back to 1947, the...
View ArticleControl the Spectrum, Control the Fight
I appreciated ADM Greenert’s blog on “Wireless Cyberwar, The EM Spectrum, And the Changing Navy“, and before that, his December 2012 Proceedings article entitled, “Imminent Domain“. He highlighted...
View ArticleA-School.
CAPT Hinkley and LTJG Hipple’s recent posts have served as something as a kick in the pants for me… It’s been a really long time since I wrote anything. But, yeah, I’ve been busy… I’m not in Belgium...
View ArticleProposed FY14 Budget and the Coast Guard
Yesterday President Obama released his proposed Fiscal Year 2014 budget to Congress with the intent of adding to the reduction of the federal deficit to the tune of $4 trillion. However, to achieve...
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I remember; ET1 Hopkins and BMC Belisle
One year. That’s how long it’s been since the Coast Guard lost two more if its Shipmates. However, this loss seemed a little more tragic than most. As opposed to losing members of our Coast Guard...
View ArticleWhat Boston Shows Us
As stories of a massive manhunt through Boston and of the still-unfolding drama surrounding Monday’s events capture the attention of every news network, I am struck by our collective reaction to...
View ArticleAccomplishing Strategic Naval Operations on a Training Budget
“Gentlemen, we have run out of money. Now we have to think.” - Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister While the details of the budget cuts are still being debated, one thing is clear: the Department...
View ArticleMeetup at EAST 2013
The U.S. Naval Institute is having a meetup in Virginia Beach during EAST 2013! Come talk with members and non-members alike about issues for the sea services. Special guests include Eric Wertheim,...
View ArticleBody Composition Assessment
The weigh-in/body composition assessment (BCA) portion of the Navy’s physical fitness test (PRT) is in need of a change. The height-weight tables are based on standards from the insurance industry that...
View ArticleEnabling Deckplate Innovation
The CO gathered a group of petty officers for a brainstorming session. He was looking for some new ideas, and to hear from them what they wanted and needed to do their jobs more effectively. A few...
View ArticleAn Approach to Writing
The good CDR’s post helped to solidify in my mind some notions I’ve had for some time now. These notions concern why there is such fear and hesitation when it comes to writing as a Naval professional....
View ArticleNot my Navy, Marine Corps … or Army either
From Hagel to the Hill in suit and tie, to the Service Chiefs on down in uniform; we have all heard the steady drum beat about a military that, as we look to the left and right of us, we simply do not...
View Article“The Man in the Corner Cell: Remembering Vice Adm. James B. Stockdale” By...
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the homecoming of our Vietnam POWs, a group of men who still rank as the longest-held group of POWs in our nation’s history. Most of the men are still alive and...
View ArticleOn the contrary, good leadership can make the difference – between life and...
In his recent editorial in the Washington Post, Naval Academy professor Dr. Bruce Fleming asserts that leadership is the “snake oil” for today’s military and that organizations — civilian and military...
View ArticleBetter Buying Power: Success Requires a Cultural Change
An implementation directive for Better Buying Power 2.0 was recently released by OSD (AT&L) Mr. Frank Kendall. Better Buying Power (BBP) 2.0 provides refined guidance to the acquisition community...
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21st Century X
“History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” - Mark Twain In the introduction to his book 21st Century Mahan: Sound Military Conclusions for the Modern Era, LCDR BJ Armstrong, USN speaks to a...
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