Via email and comments you said you wanted me to cover it - so let's cover it.“I stand before you today, the person you talk about in writing,” Rear Adm. Julius Caesar told Fleming before a few dozen alumni during the question-and-answer period that followed Fleming’s remarks. “I’m so glad that you didn’t sit on my admissions board.”
In a civil tone, Caesar, who is black, took issue with Fleming’s sole focus on admissions metrics — what Fleming called “predictors” — and criticized him for not examining whether the academy was producing better officers.
“Some of those kids, who didn’t have predictors, did make it,” Caesar said. By his own account, he had been one of them.
Caesar, a ’77 grad, grew up in what he called the “inner city” of Cleveland and lacked stellar test scores and grades. He attended the year-long Naval Academy Preparatory School and played football for Navy. Caesar is a vice director at Joint Forces Command.
“When you talk, I want you to look around at some of those folks who have made it,” he told Fleming. “There are people out there — and there are a lot of them — that have gone on to command ships, that went on and [have] done things in business and everything as well, and I’ll just caution you to think about those.”
He made a point, but not the one he thinks.
First of all - let's go back to Leadership 101; sir, it isn't about you.
Our friend Professor Bruce Fleming responded as he did - but as I have the time to research and ponder, from this seat I would have handled the issue differently. I would have turned the discussion back at RADM Caesar, USNR. He wants to be the subject - then OK; he's the subject.
When it comes to race, he is a perfect example of Generational Dissonance. He can't shift his racial mindset out of the 1970s.
The incoming MIDN this year more often than not were born nine years after Caesar left active duty. Nine years. 15 years after he was a Plebe.
What does his experience a decade and a half before they were born have to do with any of these young men and women? Does he really think our nation has remained static in his thinking - or has he remained static?
As a secondary and more personal point - let's go back to this comment Caesar made.“Some of those kids, who didn’t have predictors, did make it,” Caesar said. By his own account, he had been one of them.
If his concern is predictors - then where is his support for bringing in the Scot-Irish from Appalachia? Why the urban-only focus?
But again - let's focus on what the Navy got for its sacrifice (in a zero-sum game, they turned down a better objectively qualified person) to bring Caesar on board.
First of all - we should thank him Caesar his service; one way or another - he served his nation in the manner that was asked of him more than most of his countrymen. However, before he places himself up as the best example to follow; let us review his bio in full. Rear Admiral Julius S. Caesar is a 1977 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He earned a Masters of Business Administration from the Executive MBA Program at the College of William & Mary. He is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI Fellow in Foreign Politics, International Relations, and the National Interest.
During his period of initial active service, his sea duty assignments included USS Dale (CG 19) where he qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer and USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67). He served in the engineering, weapons, and operations departments during these assignments.
Caesar transitioned to the Reserve Component in 1983. He has held a variety of assignments including Battle Watch director in Commander, 2nd Fleet, Area Air Defense commander, Atlantic and deputy commander, Navy Reserve Readiness Command, Mid-Atlantic. He has commanded four reserve units including: Personnel Mobilization Team 3106, Surface Warfare Development Group, OPNAV Surface Warfare N86, and Naval Inspector General Detachment 106.
Active duty assignments include: Commander, Navy Installations Command, Commander, 2nd Fleet, Joint Task Force Exercises, Battle Group In-Port Exercises; Naval War College, OPNAV N86, Fleet ASW Training Center, Atlantic and NATO exercises in Europe and the Pacific.
Caesar has been assigned as vice director, Joint Concept Development and Experimentation, J9, U.S. Joint Forces Command, Suffolk, Va.
Caesar previously served as Reserve deputy commander, Navy Installations Command, Washington DC.
His personal decorations include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), Navy Commendation Medal (three awards), and Navy Achievement Medal. Caesar was awarded the Blacks in Government Meritorious Service Award. He is a member of the Secretary of Defense Reserve Forces Policy Board.
6 years on Active Duty, the rest in the Reserves. I'm assuming that he is still USNR - again hard to tell - but his bio says he transitioned to the reserve component in 1983 ... and the active duty assignments may have been short recalls - or just his Reserve Billet assignment. Hard to tell - again. All service is good .... but ...
We have been a Navy at war for over nine years. I see no record of any combat experience or service. Read his bio, look at his salad bar - no wartime service at all since 1977. None. I think of all the USNR types I served with since 2001. It boggles the mind.
A Navy at war promoted him to O-8. Rear Admiral - the 2-star version. Noted.
Quod erat demonstrandum.
Moving on.
If still USNR, he is a civilian - really. A good and honorable, yet lower-tier for a Navy at war Reservist. His full-time gig now days is at SAIC from what I can find out online. When you do a google search for "Julius Caesar SAIC" to see what his greatest or most well known civilian achievement while there is .... ungh .... you get this.Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) announced today that Julius “JC” Caesar, senior vice president for product development in the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) Group has been given the prestigious Blacks in Government (BIG) Meritorious Service Award for personal achievement.
The BIG Meritorious Service Award recognizes outstanding military service members and civilians who have distinguished themselves through significant contribution to their service in the global war on terrorism, the advancement of African-Americans, and the promotion of diversity and equal employment opportunity in the Department of Defense.
I tried to find more about him over at SAIC's site - but he's not there on the highly diverse leadership team, and on their site-search 2 out of 3 articles are about his BIG award with the third being when he was hired. As a matter of fact - his trail at SAIC seems to go cold at about 2006. Is his gig at JFCOM a full time job now, as in pulled back on active duty for a stint? Bnet says he is still at SAIC. Hard to tell one way or another ... and doesn't really matter.
Oh, the the BIG award ... ummm? Was it in his status as Vice Director of J9 at a command deemed by SECDEF as the low-hanging-fruit of redundancy what got him that award? Really? No.
Oh, wait; my bad - he got that in 2006, - when he was working for a civilian company doing business with DOD.....OK.Reserve Deputy Commander for Commander, Navy Installations Command, Rear Adm. Julius Caesar was awarded the 2006 Blacks in Government (BIG) Meritorious Service Award Aug. 25 in New York.
The BIG Meritorious Service Award is presented to a military member who has significantly contributed to the global war on terrorism while creating opportunities that support and contribute to the mentorship or development, and advancement or retention of African Americans in government service consistent with merit principles.
Nominated by Chief of Navy Reserve/Commander, Navy Reserve Force, Vice Adm. John G. Cotton, Caesar was recognized for his dedication to the superlative values of honor, courage and commitment. A board of his peers endorsed Caesar’s nomination because of his extensive mentoring of minority Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and Naval Academy Midshipmen. His personal mentoring of minority and underprivileged youths has promoted diversity in the naval service and enriched lives in the surrounding communities.
Caesar was also chosen for his outstanding support of the Individual Augmentation of personnel mobilized in support of the global war on terrorism.
“His leadership and unwavering support of African Americans in the Navy resulted in a better understanding of the cultural differences,” said Cotton.
If you say so. I always thought that in the history of nations, having Flag Officers and General Officers who promoted sectarianism never led to any good. Oops.
Caesar is a smart guy with an exceptional professional record. Before going to SAIC, he was a sector vice president of professional and engineering services at EDO Corporation, an engineer for TRW, Inc., and at Booz Allen Hamilton he worked primarily in strategic integrated underwater surveillance systems.
It is a shame that in the end of everything, when you try to do a simple search for the man's accomplishments, it seems that he is someone who wishes more than anything else to be defined by the color of his skin, and not the content of his character. After 33 years Active and Reserve Duty - that is it above the fold. If he looks at himself like that - how does he view others?
I do think though, that before he starts pointing a race focused finger at Fleming, he may want to do a little more self reflection. This isn't about him or his generation - this is about young men and women born in the Clinton Administration. Two Presidential Administrations after he left active duty and three after he graduated from Annapolis.
He should know that he cannot apply his individual experience in the 1970s towards the general experience of others in the second decade of the 21st Century; but there you go - he is.
On this Thanksgiving, what am I thankful for? After the many blessings of God's grace, my family, and the sacrifices of others that allowed my children to grow up in this nation - that and other important things - on another level I am thankful that I do not have to convince non-African-American Sailors competing with African-American Sailors who RADM Caesar in any way controls their rankings, that they are being evaluated on merit alone.
Even with the assumption that Caesar is the most fair and color-blind person in uniform - that is a tough sell.
Don't blame me; he wanted to be the focus.
