Fullbore Friday

Sometimes in our line of work we can dilute the exceptional by the overuse of praise and "everyone is in the top 1%" way we evaluate each other.

In other cases, the body of a man's work speaks for itself. To be Fullbore, you don't have to be a combat leader. Not everyone has that opportunity. A Fullbore life though can be demonstrated in many ways. To honor those who meet that standard, you can try to meet the standard that they set for themselves and others to succeed.

It would be helpful in many cases if we remembered in our present day development work a simple phrase from an exceptional man, RADM (Ret.) Wayne E. Meyer, USN.

"Build a little, test a little, learn a lot"

UNCLASSIFIED//

PASS TO OFFICE CODES:

FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//N00//
TO NAVADMIN
INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC//N00//

UNCLAS //N05000//
NAVADMIN 256/09
MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N00/SEP//
SUBJ/PASSING OF RADM (RET) WAYNE E. MEYER//
GENTEXT/REMARKS/1. IT IS WITH PROFOUND SADNESS THAT I REPORT THE PASSING OF REAR ADMIRAL (RETIRED) WAYNE E. MEYER, USN. ADMIRAL MEYER, KNOWN AS THE "FATHER OF AEGIS", WAS A TOWERING FIGURE IN OUR NAVY'S SUCCESS OVER THE PAST FOUR DECADES. FROM 1970 TO HIS RETIREMENT IN 1985, HE BRILLIANTLY LED A TEAM OF DEDICATED PROFESSIONALS WHO PIONEERED THE WORLD'S FOREMOST ANTI-AIR WARFARE SYSTEM, AEGIS.
2. HIS DISCIPLINED APPROACH OF "BUILD A LITTLE, TEST A LITTLE, LEARN A LOT" CAST ENGINEERING BRILLIANCE INTO COMBAT SYSTEMS DESIGNS THAT ULTIMATELY SERVED AS THE BACKBONE OF OUR TICONDEROGA AND ARLEIGH BURKE-CLASS SHIPS. SIMPLY PUT, REAR ADMIRAL MEYER'S VISION, PERSISTENCE, AND LEADERSHIP WERE THE CARDINAL HEADINGS FROM WHICH OUR NAVY SAILED INTO THE FUTURE.
3. TODAY OUR SURFACE NAVY IS LARGELY AN AEGIS FLEET. AEGIS IS ALSO OF GROWING IMPORTANCE TO THE AUSTRALIAN, KOREAN, SPANISH, AND NORWEGIAN NAVIES AND THE JAPANESE MARITIME SELF DEFENSE FORCE. ADDITIONALLY, HIS VISION SERVED AS THE FOUNDATION OF OUR NATION'S AFLOAT BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE CAPABILITY, AGAIN, THE FINEST IN THE WORLD.
4. REAR ADMIRAL MEYER IS SURVIVED BY HIS LOVING WIFE, ANNA MAE, THREE ADULT CHILDREN, PAULA, JAMES, AND ROBERT, TWO STEPCHILDREN, ANNA AND EDWARD AND FOUR GRANDCHILDREN, AND BY THE UNITED STATES NAVY FAMILY THAT HE LED AND PROTECTED BEHIND THE SHIELD OF AEGIS FOR NEARLY FOUR DECADES. HIS RICH LEGACY OF SERVICE AND INNOVATION WILL BE WITH US IN EVERY AEGIS SHIP AND, MOST POWERFULLY, IN USS WAYNE E. MEYER (DDG 108) THAT WILL BE COMMISSIONED ON 10 OCTOBER 2009.
5. RELEASED BY ADMIRAL G. ROUGHEAD, CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS.//

In our world of LCS and DDG-1000, where is our Meyer?

"Similar to [Adm. Hyman] Rickover and his long-term persistence in overcoming all the obstacles to make the nuclear Navy happen, Meyer basically overcame the same sort of obstacles, provided the guidance -- the wisdom, if you will -- and the determination to make it happen," said Bob Harney, associate professor of systems engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., where the systems engineering institute is named after Meyer.

Facing budgetary concerns, technical problems and "a huge amount of politics," Meyer above all provided leadership, Harney said.

"He led the way," Harney said. "He was out front of everything, and people worked to try to keep up with him."

Thank you Admiral, and may you rest in peace.