Proactively “From the Sea”; an agent of change leveraging the littoral best practices for a paradigm breaking six-sigma best business case to synergize a consistent design in the global commons, rightsizing the core values supporting our mission statement via the 5-vector model through cultural diversity.
The higher up the food chain you go, the more people who will second guess every move you make. Everyone will Monday morning quarterback every decision you make. Unlike the leader, the ankle biters (you know, like bloggers) will have the benefit of hindsight. A leader holds the lives of others in his direct and indirect control. The second and third order effects of every decision he makes, right or wrong, will effect hundreds to millions of lives and can steer the course of history. In the end of the day, that burden in on one head; the leader. I thought this little aspect of leadership was rolled up quite well in Alliser Thorne's speech on the Wall in Game of Thrones:
In that light, everyone should hold themselves when acknowledging something that I cannot believe is only now coming to light, but here is it. Allah puts it well;
A time capsule from Australia via MSNBC, captured for posterity at what would have been around 11 p.m. New York time. The hijackers may have been ritually shaving themselves as he said it. Previewing the audio, the host says Clinton “almost brags” about his decision. Of course he does; at the time, it would have been a no-brainer for a politician to congratulate himself for sparing a terrorist in the name of also sparing dozens (or, if you believe Clinton, hundreds) of civilians, even if that terrorist was responsible for the U.S.S. Cole attack. Twenty-four hours later, I guarantee you he wasn’t bragging anymore. In fact, you can draw a straight line from this audio to America’s drone policy today. These 20 seconds or so are precisely why Obama ended up pulling the trigger on Anwar al-Awlaki and why he continues to pull the trigger on Al Qaeda’s bigger fish even if it means incinerating civilians in Waziristan or Yemen in the process. He’s never going to let a statement like this come back to haunt him. Post-9/11, when you’ve got a big fish on the hook, you reel him in come what may. A presidency can survive anger from doves and civil libertarians that the White House was overly aggressive in targeting jihadis. It can’t survive having skyscrapers knocked over by someone who, you’re sheepishly forced to admit, you had a clear shot at killing years before. By the same token, if the FBI had announced on the morning of 9/11 that they’d busted a spectacular Al Qaeda plot to fly planes into the Twin Towers, plenty of people would have chortled that that’s the most ludicrous, Michael Bay-ish nonsense yet cooked up by a government eager to find pretexts to roll back civil liberties. There’s a reason why the term “September 10th mentality” exists, and Bill Clinton’s not the only one who was guilty of it.
Listen to the video here. Go to the 5:30 mark for the audio in question.
Let's see; she can't seem to do any job right. She has an inflated self-image of not just her abilities, but her attractiveness to others, and ... she seems to be muffintop'n over those low-waisted jeans of hers;
Moving from the construction phase into testing, it turns out the littoral combat ship has gotten too heavy, and that has slowed it down, according to the Government Accountability Office.
...
“Outstanding weight management and concurrency risks related to buying ships while key concepts and performance are still being tested continue to complicate LCS acquisitions,” the report summary states. “Initial LCS seaframes face capability limitations resulting from weight growth during construction. This weight growth has resulted in the first two ships not meeting performance requirements for sprint speed and/or endurance, as well as potentially complicating existing plans to make additional changes to each seaframe design.” ...
“The Navy has not received accurate or complete weight reports from the seaframe prime contractors, and the Navy’s lengthy review process has hindered a timely resolution of the Navy’s concerns,” the report states. “Additionally, a number of significant test events, including rough water, shock and total ship survivability trials, will not be completed in time to inform upcoming acquisition decisions—including future contract decisions.”
One of our top-shelf concerns about LCS going back a decade was its arrogantly exquisite design did not leave much room for the traditional growth, weight gain, and future requirements that get bolted on. That growth in ship weight has always been true - but with so much else that was rolled in to the original sin of LCS - all that corporate knowledge and best practices were thrown away in a flush of transformational hormones, ego, and just bad leadership. I also hearing some additional interesting things are going with maintenance reliability - but my spies have asked me to say no more ... except to say, "We told you so."
... or UAS, or whatever we are calling them now days. Craig Whitlock over at WaPo does a great bit of work bringing together various sources to give a detailed account of one of the lesser discussed facts about unmanned aircraft, their loss rate. Required reading here and here. He wants to use the data to push back on the civilian use of drones - but let's focus on some of his data WRT military drones;
Since the outbreak of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, military drones have malfunctioned in myriad ways, plummeting from the sky because of mechanical breakdowns, human error, bad weather and other reasons, according to more than 50,000 pages of accident investigation reports and other records obtained by The Post under the Freedom of Information Act.
More than 400 large U.S. military drones crashed in major accidents worldwide between Sept. 11, 2001, and December 2013. By reviewing military investigative reports and other records, The Washington Post was able to identify 194 drone crashes that fell into the most severe category: Class A accidents that destroyed the aircraft or caused (under current standards) at least $2 million in damage.
Commercial drone flights are set to become a widespread reality in the United States, starting next year, under a 2012 law passed by Congress. Drone flights by law enforcement agencies and the military, which already occur on a limited basis, are projected to surge.
The documents obtained by The Post detail scores of previously unreported crashes involving remotely controlled aircraft, challenging the federal government’s assurances that drones will be able to fly safely over populated areas and in the same airspace as passenger planes.
Military drones have slammed into homes, farms, runways, highways, waterways and, in one case, an Air Force C-130 Hercules transport plane in midair.
I am a supporter of expanded and measured use of unmanned aircraft as they make sense. We need to make sure we keep in mind their limitations and contain the overly enthusiastic advocates who think they will replace everything. Loss rate, vulnerability to access denial to satellite navigation and communication links, ease of intercept in non-permissive environments - there are plenty of concerns. Each year they make more and more sense for use in the toolbox, but we are a long way off - if ever - from them being "the tool."
I know you navalists are going nuts as of late with some of my non-navalist posts - so I have a compromise post that should keep the navalists happy, the historians happy, and the whodathunk gaggle noodl'n their puzzl'r. So, what really was the first shot of WWI?
The first hostile act of the war also took place 100 years ago today when Austro-Hungarian troops seized two Serbian river boats carrying ammunition and mines. Then, on the night of 28/29 July, the Serbs blew up the railway bridge between the two countries – to prevent Austro-Hungarian troops using it to invade Serbia. The first actual shots of the war were fired just after 1am on 29 July when Austro-Hungarian naval vessels on the river Sava opened fire on the Serbian sappers who had blown up the bridge and on Belgrade itself.
Remarkably, the gunboat, the Bodrog, from which the first shots were were fired still survives today, largely forgotten, moored at the side of the river Danube in Belgrade.
Yes kiddies, she is still with us; and here she is today.
I wish I could find a better English narrative of her story - but here is an ESL version that gives you a taste;
With the break of dawn, on the 29th of July, armored ships with fixed cannons and machine guns sailed into Sava. Those were the dreadful hostile monitors from which the assault on Belgrade was meant to be launched. Among them was the monitor Bodrog, that had been waiting anchored in Zemun until the declaration of war was issued. It was from Bodrog that the first grenades flew towards Belgrade. The news of the monitors rumbled through Belgrade like a tornado and spread fear among the citizens, and for a good reason. Already, that same day, the first grenade from Bodrog flew towards Knez Mihailova Street and fell on the building across the hotel “the Greek Queen”. Up until the arrival of the two batteries with long gun barrels sent to Serbia by the allies, these monitors sowed death across Belgrade killing the citizens and demolishing the city.
She served four nations, the Austro-Hunganian Empire, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Independent State of Croatia, and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - none of which actually exist today - but she does. She sure packed a punch - a real littoral combat ship that drew only 9 feet.
2 × 120 mm (4.7 in) guns (1 × 2) 1 × 120 mm (4.7 in) howitzer 1 × 66 mm (2.6 in) gun 2 × machine guns Her main battery - and I cannot find out exactly, were either Skoda 120/35 or 120/50s. That gives her a maximum range of 10,000-19,000 yards depending on which gun it was and the shell being used. On the Danube ... that rapid fire, for her time, 66mm would have been a handful. I've been on the Danube and cannot imagine what it would have been like having this coming out of the fog at you, or worse, dropping anchor off your town's promenade. ... and armored too. The ship had a 50mm belt, 19mm deck and 76mm around the bridge.
She really is in a sorry state, and for the sake of history, she needs a sponsor to help bring her back to her glory. She is rotting away as a gravel barge for goodness sake. I don't think saving her is silly sentimentalism - the physical relics of our past are critical in helping share the lessons of the past so that they are not forgotten, or worse - the bad lessons repeated. Few do this better than warships ... of any size.
A final note, some of you may think, "Oh cute, Austria once had a navy ... " Well, as we covered here in 2007 - it only died within the last decade.
Looks like the first double envelopment is taking place to the west in the Donetsk salient while the "northern thumb" is being slowly squeezed. As was pointed out on the Front Porch last week, the Ukrainians are widening their southern area of control and getting better control of their border. Unless Russia does something, we are seeing the slow end to this phase of the separatist movement. This is a strange kind of conflict. So few actual armed forces in play, but so much at stake. Everyone is trying to win on the chief, or seem to be waiting for a lucky break - or in some way, for the proverbial roasted duck to fly in to their mouth. I am intentionally avoiding the buzzwordsofthemonth. Everyone should do a little more watching and pondering, and less wonking.
The next graphic does a very good job outlining the muted reaction from Europe to what is going on. Via TheDailyMail, follow the money, indeed.
The final bit I find interesting is what is the reaction to my friends in The Netherlands. As usual, the good stuff can be found in TheEconomist;
JULY 23rd was a day of national mourning in the Netherlands, the first since the death of Queen Wilhelmina more than 50 years ago. Broadcasters dispensed with advertising and game shows; the windmills stopped turning, their sails set slightly off-kilter in a way that has betokened grief for centuries. At Eindhoven airport two Hercules transport planes were met on the tarmac by 40 hearses and over 1,000 relatives desperately hoping their loved ones were in one of the wooden coffins. The country came to a solemn standstill.
...
“People have a hard time matching balancing acts with atrocities,” says Marietje Schaake, a Dutch MEP for the liberal-democrat D66. The government has cuddled up uncomfortably close to Vladimir Putin in search of ever better trade relations; at the Sochi Olympics the king shared a cool Heineken and a photo-op with him while others offered only cold shoulders. There may be a backlash.
With the Netherlands now leading the investigation into who is to be held accountable for the outrage Mr Rutte will have to keep balancing the need to channel public anger and the need for “justice to be served”. It will be a struggle for him and his country to keep cool heads when their hearts hurt so badly.
The greats are the greats because, well, they're great. In spite of the torture he inflicted on so many youth indirectly through the force feeding of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (I actually like it in spite of what my high school teachers did to it, but Mrs. Salamander does not allow poetry in the house, so I don't speak of it often), one has to accept that T.S. Eliot has his way with words. From Prufrock ... just as an example; what Sailor cannot relate or have a memory-spark from this?
LET us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
I'm not sure if that best defines liberty in Souda Bay, Crete - or what one does after the official party at Broward Navy Days. There is a timeless to the mood of the poem, but I think it takes a well seasoned soul to really get its meaning. Not a concept a 17-yr old male can quite grasp, but with life's experience - it comes clearer ... but I digress. Refocus. If you find yourself a bit overwhelmed with the steady stream of unravelling from Ukraine, Gaza, our southern border, Afghanistan, Libya, and other vacation spots ... and find yourself pondering in general themes why and where all this is going in the centenary of the start of WWI, you are not alone. In Canada's National Post, Rex Murphy manages to fold in history, WWI, today's goings on, and ... Eliot.
History, said T.S. Eliot, has many “cunning passages, contrived corridors and issues.” He continues rather bleakly that what history might or could teach us emerges with “subtle confusions” offered only when our “attention is distracted.” Eliot’s is a necessary caution against seeking specific lessons from history; despite the maxim, it never “repeats itself.” Rather it is like the ancient oracles, speaking always in riddles, hiding its truths in ambiguities and perplexity. The only lessons we may draw are general ones. It will never speak to a single or particular event, but it has its maxims and morals which we cannot safely ignore.
...
We may start with the axioms that human affairs are always riddled with error, confusion, misjudgement and carelessness, and that all of those fallibilities and failings have had, and will have again, massively turbulent consequences. The example of a century ago is ominous and necessary. History “deceives with whispering ambitions, guides us by vanities.” Eliot again.
If anyone really knows where this history's path going, or that they can in some way control it - they are fools. One can hope, aspire, and try to steer ... but control? No, only in the micro; in the macro, all you can do is react. All you can do is prepare yourself to be as strong as possible, as flexible as you can, and to try to ensure that you have the best leaders possible. Even if you follow the "Big Man" theory of history, you cannot discount the small players.
We draw too from the reckless drift into the First World War how small and underscale the actors of that day were, how little the rulers, whether czars, monarchs, presidents or revolutionaries, truly understood of the events they thought they were managing. The leaders then were tragically unequal to the times, but of course, as leaders unfailingly do, thought otherwise.
...
The West has had some peace since the last great war, almost 70 years of it now. And we have had with that peace an astounding march of technological and material progress. Both tend to make people forgetful of worse times. It renders them careless of the foundations upon which peace is first secured and then maintained, and nourishes the delusion they are exempt from the horrors and perils that have been a constant in human affairs.
So it seems now to some, as it seemed to some a century ago, that there is a menacing scattering of events and conflicts, where a disturbance, an accident or misadventure (such as the shooting down of the passenger jet) in one arena could unwind into a chain of unforeseen events, a haphazard flow of unpredictable cause and effect. And here, despite Eliot’s cautions, we can draw another clear and unconfused message from history: Whenever full-scale war comes. it is always worse than the previous one.
Read it all. What does Prufrock's love song and global war have in common? Easy my friend - easy. What is, and what will be has always been and will be. See? Simple.
Wrath, avarice, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony will always be a driver of human action. Human intitutions also are run by imperfect beings in a fallen world. Sometimes nations put a leader in place who has the character and talent to rise to the occasion - some times they do not.
There is one constant here; you cannot control for history's drive. You can prepare for it - you can have history's inconsiderate narcissism as one of your planning assumptions - or you can ignore it. You can try to mitigate the chaos, or you can let it run free and multiply.
One thing we know from what was - those who ignore history do not enjoy the results of their indecision, and sometimes cease to be part of what will be. Endnote: Yes URR, feel free to bring up the Gods of the Copybook Headings; Eliot was a big fan of Kipling. UPDATE: Victor Davis Hanson seems to be getting the same vibe. I highly recommend his latest;
The U.S. looks at the current global violence and then looks away, after a call for a “pivot” or a flash card calling for Boko Haram to give back the girls it has enslaved. Our generation’s version of the bad memories of the 1918 Meuse-Argonne Offensive is Iraq and Afghanistan. Like our grandparents of the 1930s, we feel that the dead lost abroad in the most recent wars were not worth it — and so ignore the gathering war clouds on the present horizon, as if ignoring them means they must disappear.
Glance about — Central America, Venezuela, China, Russia, Ukraine, Crimea, Gaza, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Turkey, etc. — and the world outside the West is mostly a nasty place. The three common denominators in all these catastrophes are the usual demagogic leaders blaming someone else for their people’s own self-inflicted miseries, a comfortable West that shrugs that somehow all these depressing things and mean people will just go away — and a tired global enforcer whose community organizer leader went into retirement and offers “make no mistake about it” warnings between swings on the golf course.
A special time this Sunday, 2pm Eastern, in order to have a reasonable time for our guest on the other side of the world. This week we are going to visit an AOR that may have dropped of a lot of people's scan, but in the Long War - it is still the front lines; the Horn of Africa. Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and the waters around the Arabian Peninsular - from terrorism to piracy - America and her allies and partners are at work every day to keep the beast over there, and not here. Our guest for the full hour will be Rear Adm. Alexander L. Krongard, USN, Deputy Commander, Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Africa. In this position, he supports the CJTF-HOA Commander to counter violent extremism in East Africa, foster regional security cooperation, strengthen partner nation security capability, and build and maintain U.S. strategic access in the region. Krongard is also responsible for developing relations with senior military leaders in African partner nations and directing CJTF staff and subordinate commanders’ support to deployed personnel and units of all Services across the Horn of Africa. DCJTF-HOA. A Navy SEAL by training, RDML Krongard is graduate of Princeton University and the National War College.
Join us live if you can with the usual suspects in the chat room and offer up your questions for our guest, but if you miss the show you can always listen to the archive at blogtalkradio.
Sergeant Ryan M. Pitts distinguished himself by extraordinary acts of heroism at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Forward Observer in 2d Platoon, Chosen Company, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry Regiment, 173d Airborne Brigade, during combat operations against an armed enemy at Vehicle Patrol Base Kahler in the vicinity of Wanat Village, Kunar Province, Afghanistan on July 13, 2008.
Early that morning, while Sergeant Pitts was providing perimeter security at Observation Post Topside, a well-organized Anti-Afghan Force consisting of over 200 members initiated a close proximity sustained and complex assault using accurate and intense rocket-propelled grenade, machine gun and small arms fire on Wanat Vehicle Patrol Base. An immediate wave of rocket-propelled grenade rounds engulfed the Observation Post wounding Sergeant Pitts and inflicting heavy casualties. Sergeant Pitts had been knocked to the ground and was bleeding heavily from shrapnel wounds to his arm and legs, but with incredible toughness and resolve, he subsequently took control of the Observation Post and returned fire on the enemy.
As the enemy drew nearer, Sergeant Pitts threw grenades, holding them after the pin was pulled and the safety lever was released to allow a nearly immediate detonation on the hostile forces. Unable to stand on his own and near death because of the severity of his wounds and blood loss, Sergeant Pitts continued to lay suppressive fire until a two-man reinforcement team arrived. Sergeant Pitts quickly assisted them by giving up his main weapon and gathering ammunition all while continually lobbing fragmentary grenades until these were expended.
At this point, Sergeant Pitts crawled to the northern position radio and described the situation to the Command Post as the enemy continued to try and isolate the Observation Post from the main Patrol Base. With the enemy close enough for him to hear their voices, and with total disregard for his own life, Sergeant Pitts whispered in radio situation reports and conveyed information that the Command Post used to provide indirect fire support.
Sergeant Pitts' courage, steadfast commitment to the defense of his unit and ability to fight while seriously wounded prevented the enemy from overrunning the Observation Post and capturing fallen American soldiers, and ultimately prevented the enemy from gaining fortified positions on higher ground from which to attack Wanat Vehicle Patrol Base. Sergeant Ryan M. Pitts' extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Company C, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry Regiment, 173d Airborne Brigade and the United States Army.
The ceremony was over and former Staff Sgt. Ryan M. Pitts, the nation’s newest Medal of Honor recipient, walked toward the microphones set up in front of the West Wing, his pants bloused over his black boots and the nation’s highest award for combat valor draped over his chest.
“The real heroes are the nine men who made the ultimate sacrifice so the rest of us could return home,” Pitts said quietly, a reference to the nine soldiers who died defending Observation Post Topside beside him in the summer of 2008 in Wanat, Afghanistan.
“It is their names, not mine that I want people to know.”
“Spc. Sergio Abad, Cpl. Jonathan Ayers, Cpl. Jason Bogar, 1st Lt. Jonathan Brostrom, Sgt. Israel Garcia, Cpl. Jason Hovater, Cpl. Matthew Phillips, Cpl. Pruitt Rainey, and Cpl. Gunnar Zwilling,” he read, and in an homage to Chosen company of the 503rd parachute infantry regiment, added: “Thank you. The Chosen few.”
Pitts did not take any questions Monday, and as he walked away, a reporter inquired, “Is that it?” For Pitts, 28, of Nashua, N.H., it was.
I wonder if the G5 shop at the 11 Luchtmobiele Brigade did any unofficial planning for a recovery operation in coordination with Ukrainian special forces or one of their airmobile brigades ... naw ... well - I bet someone did, even if only at home over a few beers.
A five-nation "coalition of the grieving" is expected to supply the forces to secure the 50-square-kilometre crash site of Malaysian Airlines' downed MH17.
The multinational force is expected to be led by the Dutch, who lost 193 nationals in the bringing down of the plane, while Australia could serve in the deputy role.
...
Security forces from the Netherlands and Australia worked closely together for years in Oruzgan province, Afghanistan.
...
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is in Ukraine and at 9.30am Australian EST time, signed an agreement with Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin that will provide a legal basis for Australia's presence in that country.
The arrangement will not come into effect until signed off by President Petro Poroshenko and passed by the Ukraine Parliament, which could take some time.
Once operating, it will allow Australian officials freedom of movement in the Ukraine, allow them to work with local authorities and allow equipment and supplies to brought into the country. It will also cover legal matters such as liability.
...
Earlier, President Poroshenko, Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans and Ms Bishop also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the investigation of MH17.
Under that MoU, the Ukraine delegated authority to Holland, as the nation that lost the majority of victims in the crash, to investigate the case.
''Countries whose citizens died in this terrible tragedy are scattered around the world. That's why we must be united to ensure co-ordination of actions in holding the efficient investigation and submitting its results to the world,'' the Head of State emphasised.
He thanked Australia and the Netherlands, ''with whom we are increasingly efficiently coordinating our actions and elaborating concrete mechanisms to ensure transparent and independent international investigation''.
...
The Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf has flagged the possibility that members of that country's airborne brigade could be deployed alongside military police.
And Volksrant reported the Dutch government was "seriously considering" a group of soldiers and policemen, on condition the group is part of a multi-national force.
And overnight, news wire Agence France Presse reported that Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said 40 unarmed Dutch police would be sent to the crash site to stabilise the area.
They look to start as soft as possible - but there will be branch plans. For the love of Pete ... please don't let some drunk Russian do something stupid.
In this environment, I guess they eventually get them all. Let me know if you catch the tell;
Buss also overhauled the selection process. The Blues will still get to pick the next generation of team members, but once those selections are made, Buss said new checks and balances will be used to vet those selections.
Buss said the the selection criteria has been carefully rewritten to ensure no one is excluded.
“We’ve really kind of focused on clearly stating in our selection instruction that demographics and gender will not be considered as factors,” he said. “It’s really based on aviation skill, professional performance and community reputation.”
Once the flying and nonflying new members are picked, those selections will first get looked at by the squadron’s immediate boss, the chief of naval air training.
From there, Blues selections will be sent to Navy Personnel Command for a final scrub to ensure there’s nothing in the person’s record to preclude their selection and that a tour with the team won’t be bad for their career progression.
Buss said he’s ready for naysayers to complain that the new process as “the admirals picking the team,” but he said nothing is further from the truth.
“It’s just having an outside set of eyes look at the selections to be sure you are picking the most talented and diverse team possible,” he said.
Can I pick at that a bit? I'll fisk just the paragraphs above. 1. We no longer trust the best to pick the best? We need to have the not-best second guess the choices of the best? I get that right? The best are motivated to pick the best because in that line of work, if the guy off your left and right wingtip is not the best - then good chance he may kill you and others. So ... what do the second guessing not-best think overrides excellence? 2. Of course people are being excluded, I sure hope so. That is the foundation of an "exclusive" display team. Without mercy, you exclude those who are not the absolute best in the aircraft. You exclude some exceptional pilots, superb officers ... but those who just don't quite make the final cut. In VADM Buss's view, who, exactly, is being excluded for reasons that require a 3,000-mile screwdriver? Please provide examples for us to use as a reference. Do you have any evidence for the reasons that unacceptable exclusion took place? 3. "... really kind of focused ..." is not the kind of clear wording that builds confidence. "...clearly stating in our selection instruction that demographics and gender will not be considered as factors ..." Why, pray tell, do you feel the need to say that? Shouldn't that be self evident? If not, would the reason be that those in the Fleet see on a regular basis that selection on demographics (read race and ethnicity) and gender (sex) does take place? It feels a little protesteth-too-much and defensive. Of course, we know why you had to say it - don't we? 4. Actually, having the first Flag Officer in the chain of command looking at the list seems fine and good; probably the move I most approve of. Good manners if nothing else. 5. What, pray tell, would Millington know about a junior officer that the squadron CO doesn't? Additionally, if the Millington Diktat on career progression would stop someone from going to the Blue Angels - then we don't stop that pilot from going to the Blues - we break the Millington Diktat down to parade rest and rebuild it. It is broken. 6. VADM Buss; if the Admirals have the last say in who and who cannot be on team, then they are picking them. Don't run away from reality, embrace it. It is a defendable position that good people can argue both sides of. 7. Ahhh ... there is your tell. In an echo from para. 3, you show your hand. "... outside set of eyes look at the selections to be sure you are picking the most ... diverse team possible." Yes, I took talented out, because words and sentence structure matter. I would ask that he define "diverse," but we all know what that is - it is the diversity metrics we measure; race, ethnicity, and sex. So there you go. We know why the Admirals have their new system. They want to second guess from a distance based on something they are not the best judge of - talent in the aircraft - and on something that has nothing to do with who is the best in the aircraft - diversity. In a normal organization, that is just irritating, bigoted and unfair. In a precision flying team, that means you are willing to accept greater risk of death to pilots, observers, and service reputation in order to be able to check more boxes in the Diversity Bullies' little boxes. On an individual basis, there is also the very real fact that because of this taint in the system, everyone who comes to the team from a group that has a special snowflake month from the Commissariat will be look at in a different light; did they get there like we did by performance - or are they a diversity pick? That does no one any good, and the fault lies with leadership for letting such a system take root. That, sir, is on you. It's a tough job, and I am sure you were in a tough place where you felt you had to do something. Your call to make in the end. Hope you made it for the right reasons. I am glad you gave the answers you did. I don't think it had the desired effects based on my email since this came out. Instead of people not worried that diversity is trumping safety and performance, now most are convinced that it is or will be at some time in the future. Me? I don't know. I do know we have a long history of discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity and sex - at least in the period from the late 80s to first decade of the 21st Century that I saw in all its patronizing and bigoted glory; I was ordered to participate in it, and I get new examples of it all the time. Just a shame to think that even here, this cancer has seeped in. BT There is a non-DivThu story here as well. In a standard issue high-n-right reaction to this - Big Navy has flailed about until they have change to say they have change. Details here on the changes. They are going to have an XO now; an XO who does not fly. Yea ... that will go over well. I mumbled to myself that they would probably pick an NFO so no one would try to get flight hours and instead will sit at the desk. I thought it would be fun if they picked a P-3 NFO just to give the pointy-nosed guys someone to abuse ... but they turned the nob to 11 instead.
Navy Cmdr. Bob Flynn, 45, of Moorestown, N.J., is a S-3B Viking Naval Flight Officer and is currently assigned to the Naval War College. He is a 1992 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.
The last S-3 squadron decom'd in JAN09 ... so ... there you go. Nice work though Bob; BZ to you given a chance to get back to squadron life, and enjoy the opportunity to create and make a unique XO position. As a S-3 bubba, you're used to the abuse from the Fighter Attack Guys - so you'll be fine.
How fast time flies … and how much changes with it: CDRSalamander just turned ten. I’m not all that big on ceremony, and I’ve been pondering what to do, if anything, to mark the 10th Anniversary of my little vanity project. I thought about a Midrats special, or a best of hit-list post, or just nothing. I’m still not sure what to do, so instead I thought I would just sit down and type a bit. I'm going to freeform over a drink, so stick with me as I wander. The first thing that comes to mind is this – thanks. I have a lot of people to thank for making what is truly a pleasure for your humble blogg’r. I had no idea where this would go and never really had a game plan for it, still don't. For good reason, in 2004, this whole milblog thing was a boutique operation at best. We talked to ourselves and each other, not really expecting traction beyond that little universe - but in our own way, we caught lightening in a bottle. 2004 was a different environment for online information than it is now, and we were all trying to figure it out at the time. A very ruthless environment, there was a high mortality rate for blogs, and a lot of people who got in to it thinking of what it was, but failing when they just didn't understand the medium. There were also people on the downside who poo-poo'd milblogs, and still do, who even less than we did, failed to understand what can happen when you get traction in the marketplace of ideas. Prior to CDRSalamander, I had been an online presence for awhile, under a different nom du blog. Sent some items to a few people over at NRO's TheCorner that they used, and enjoyed playing around in comments at Argghhh!!!!, MudvilleGazette and other places Navy types may be familiar with. After another round of, "You can't publish that ..." I decided that, OK, I won't publish on those things I was professionally focused on, but I will just skip the other blog comment sections, message boards, etc too - and one afternoon set up CDRSalamander. I was a junior Commander at the time, but knew that I could not be "out" as the minute I was, my boss would shut me down regardless of what I wrote about. I could have started a catblog, and after sending me for a psych-eval, would have shut me down after crushing me. Yea, I had that kind of command climate. So, 22JUL04, LOC1-SER1 came out like this;
I have been thinking about getting this started for awhile after bothering a man greater than myself, CDR Bluebeard, to start a blog. If for no other reason than to post his rantings (if he will let me), err insights, I decided to give this a start and see what happens.
As for me, well I'm a Navy Commander. That is about all you are getting out of me. Going public with your opinions as an active duty officer is in a way just dumb if you want to get recommended for promotion and don't want someone's "pinky finger" spiking you at a selection board. The Naval Institute's Proceedings ( http://www.usni.org/proceedings/proceedings.html) is a great institution, but you publish at your own peril. Sad really. You can publish technical and tactical pieces with them, I have. But opinion? Not so smart. We will cover boards and command influence later, but let’s just say that blogging is a better institution until you get outed. Lets see how long this takes..............if I get edgy. I don't know how edgy I will get. Maybe my random thoughts and postings will just float around in obscurity and be ignored. Hey, if nothing else, it is cheap therapy.
See, I've had poor grammar from the start. Still don't have an editor, still click "publish" after hammering something out over b-fast, while in a conf call I'm ignoring, or before going to bed. I still hit the topics I am interested in - not the ones I know the most about, just the ones I am most interested in. Still good therapy. I wander off the maritime reservation now and then, something some of you don't like, but I have from the start. If I didn't, CDRSalamander wouldn't be what it is. No, I never got "CDR Bluebeard" to publish anything. He soon found himself in an IG from h311, something that educated me in detail what a heartless and cowardly system can be used to destroy a good man. He just no longer cares. Sad. As things clicked on, I soon found myself in a little corner of the blogosphere - the Navy milblog phylum. Within a year, I found myself getting to know Lex, EagleOne, Joel, SJS, good 'ole Chap, and eventually Skippy the next year. Combined with some ground element bloggers - that first year, that was about it. I remember laughing when I started to get 30 unique visitors a day. Now I have thousands and sometimes tens of thousands. In time, more great blogs came online, I joined USNIblog as a resident poster (thank you very much for the opportunity Mary) and the comments here section started to get some great regulars. I think of many who are still with us from the start Byron, Sid, Mr. T's Haircut, AW1, URR, LT Black, and others. (you guys and gals have no idea how much I truly value visiting with you each and every day) Even more came to be regular visitors during the years, making a real enjoyable Front-Porch. Sharp elbows, snark, but also some just plain good people and as I have come to know some of them IRL, some superb professionals. Something happened fairly soon - and of all places it started with Salon, stuff I was putting out started to get a reading well beyond what I expected. CDRSalamander started to have an impact in policy discussions and other areas. That is when the underground started. There are people who never show up in comments that communicate with me by email, and now FB and twitter. A lot of the stuff is not for publication or comment - just on background. They are, in a word, "interesting" people. There is a place online for places like CDRSalamander and others. I hear from YNSN to Admirals off the record about their concerns, ideas, and observations - happily taking the invitation to make their ideas mine and getting them out in the open. Some don't like that - but that kind has always been with us - those who cannot stand any voice but their own. Early on, some of the places we started to make a difference was in the re-birth of Riverine, and building the foundation of the anti-transformationalist movement. Shining light of some of the worst socio-political experiments being pushed on our Sailors - shaming some of their leaders who were going to far in to backing off. In substantive areas adding, where I could, a little of the creative friction that, with or without conflict, I think brings the discussion to a better, more clarified place. The first half-decade of the blog, I was on active duty. I know for many the anonoblogger status was an issue. The Mark Twain to Samuel Clemens and Federalist Papers etc argument has been around a long time - but it has its place. It still does. I have no problem with it. The second half decade of the blog, I have been USN (Ret) and am no longer in deep cover. I am out in the open if you know where to look, but I am quite happy with Sal - a lot of people know my Samuel Clemens - it really does not matter. I did enjoy being able to break bread with people I have known in my little underground for years, who I also served with - and when the time was right, was able to come out to them. I have also enjoyed the opportunity to finally meet in person many of the people I came to know in half a decade online only as very good people, and seeing them in person, found them to be that and more. Real true friends in a social way, and in a constructive criticism way in their observations, commentary, and suggestions on how I try to communicate my thoughts. True friends who are not just hail fellow well met, but want you to be better. I was about to name a bunch of you, but you know who you are. Also when retired, with the encouragement of some good folks, we started with EagleOne our weekly talk show, Midrats. That has been a great joy as well - a fun, groundbreaking, IMAO, concept. One reason I enjoy it is that over the years, CDRSalamander developed its own "voice" and niche in the milblog ecosystem. Make no mistake, CDRSalamander is very much me - but everything has a certain brand and job to do - but as for "me-actual" it only reflects one side of my personality. The more complete "me" is the Sal you find on Midrats. A little duller, a little less of a bomb thrower, a little more pensive ... still long winded and arrogant, but I'm a little more comfortable in that skin. Would I change anything about blogg'n? In hindsight, sure - a few things. If I were a YG99 type starting a blog, I would unquestionably do things differently - but time travel is a drag. In any event - everything is very different now than it was in 2004. Stand-alone blogs used to be the standard; not they are an exception. Commentary and observational blogs done on the fly have slightly fallen out of favor for group-blogs that are organized and edited almost like an online magazine in some cases. Not better or worse, just different. Thanks to the support and contributions of the Front Porch and underground, we've done some good things - and though I don't have as much time to blog as I used to - serious civilian jobs and houses full of teenagers will do that to a man - I don't plan on going anywhere. Where it this blog trending, where I am going? No changes, same course and speed. It was a quick decade, I'm not done yet - though I wish I had more time. Would I call this a success? I wasn't really looking for that mark. Others may say, "no" - or think that I have not fully realized the potential - but that is fine from their point of view. For me? Look at LOC1-SER1, I think I've met most of those goals. I'm content, and I hope the regulars glean some value from our time together - goodness knows I do. Well, enough freeform. In summary, thanks. Here's to another decade. Advice to others thinking about joining the conversation? Email me, I'll try to help. In general though - I'll let Arnold speak for me.
UPDATE: There is a new Navy milblog hatchling you may want to check out - TheGreenieBoard.
As long as you are conscience of what you are reading - it is good to read bias press as part of your informational diet. It works locally, and globally. One of my favorite new spots as of late has been EuromaidanPress.com. While everyone has been focused on the MH17 shootdown, there has been some very interesting facts on the ground developments that the military professional should take a look at. I have no reason to doubt the validity of this map - so let's give it the benefit of the doubt, as it might explain the desperate actions being taken by the Russian side. For reference, the MH17 shootdown site is right on behind the front lines near Torez - in the south center of the rebel area.
Put your JPME to good work there shipmate. Look at what has happened in the last two months. 1. Ukraine secured its maritime territory. 2. Ukraine managed to re-establish control over most of its borders - though in a thin salient in some places. Not firm control as we know traffic is getting through, but at least partial control to the point they are willing to claim it. 3. They are pushing to widen the salient in the south while increasing its SE bulge, pushing north along the Russian border. 4. From the north, they are pushing south along the Russian border. 5. Yes kiddies, we have a classic pincer movement to envelope a pocket of the enemy, nee - a double envelopment at that. As a matter of fact, a secondary double envelopment is about to take place in that middle thumb centered on Lysychansk - or at least there is an opportunity for one. Cut off the Lysychansk based separatists there while at the same time cutting off their unopposed access to the Russian border - and then you can destroy the pro-Russian separatists piecemeal at your leisure. Well, that is how I see this act of a multi-act play working its way out. Before you go, you should spend some time on the site - if for no other reason than to enjoy some good old fashioned propoganda that has, if you look close enough - some good bits of truth in there. That, and great Putin pics like this:
It is also instructive to see who the Ukrainians consider their friends and not. I think their analysis is fairly solid here - and they have all the right friends. I might nit-pic a bit, but again - I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. They will remember, FWIW ... and so will the Russians. The title of the article that the map goes to is, Ukraine’s possible backstabbers in Europe. Red bad, yellow good, green feh.
On the 18th, President Obama made a well needed statement to the people of The Netherlands;
By far, the country that lost the most people on board the plane was the Netherlands. From the days of our founding, the Dutch have been close friends and stalwart allies of the United States of America. And today, I want the Dutch people to know that we stand with you, shoulder to shoulder, in our grief and in our absolute determination to get to the bottom of what happened.
I would have perhaps recommended a bit more earlier - but I have my pro-Dutch bias. They have been a very good ally, and next to the British, our fledging nation owns the most for its character to this kingdom. Let's do a little math here. The Dutch have a population of ~17.66 million souls. The USA has a population of ~313.9 million. The Dutch population is only 5.6% of ours, or the USA is 17.8-times the size of The Netherlands. 193 of the 298 people on MH17 were Dutch. As a percentage of the population, that would have the national impact as if 3,435 Americans were killed. In the 911 attacks, 2,977 were killed. Of those, depending on how you account for dual citizenship and if you use as the base number the terrorists killed, ~2,585 were American citizens. The per-person impact of the attack on MH17 on the Dutch is over a third larger than the impact of 911 on Americans. The only mitigating factor is that the Russians did not shoot down MH17 as a direct attack on the Dutch. No, odds are, this is a cockup by poorly trained air-defense operators. We (Americans) have made the mistake before - it is part of the nature of the business. This was, really, a case of mistaken identity. What is making it worse than it needs to be is the fact the Russians are not being clear, transparent, and up-front about their mistake. That is very un-Dutchlike and helps explain why the Dutch official reaction is starting to ratchet up;
"I was shocked at the pictures of utterly disrespectful behavior at this tragic spot. It's revolting," Mark Rutte said on Saturday, referring to allegations that the bodies of the passengers, including 193 of his countrymen, were being dragged about and allowed to rot at the scene.
"He has one last chance to show he means to help," Rutte said of Putin minutes after what he described as a "very intense" conversation with the Russian leader. He added that the leaders of Germany, Britain and Australia shared his view.
Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, who is in the Ukrainian capital Kiev with a team of Dutch forensics experts trying to secure safe access to the crash site, said access so far had been too limited to allow them to carry out their work of identifying the victims and repatriating them.
... the biggest Dutch newspaper, Telegraaf, openly asked for military intervention by NATO to protect MH 17 and calls Putin a "KGB liar."
Interesting ... interesting. I wonder if the G5 shop at the 11 Luchtmobiele Brigade did any unofficial planning for a recovery operation in coordination with Ukrainian special forces or one of their airmobile brigades ... naw ... well - I bet someone did, even if only at home over a few beers.
Whatever confession of maritime strategy you adhere to, there is one linchpin that all will survive or fail on - the Military Sealift Command. Our guest for the full hour this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern to discuss the entire spectrum of issues with the MSC will be Salvatore R. Mercogliano, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History at Campbell University. Sal is a 1989 graduate of SUNY Maritime College, with a BS in Marine Transportation. He sailed on the USNS Neosho (T-AO 143), Mohawk (T-ATF 170), Glover (T-AGFF 1), Comfort (T-AH 20) during the Persian Gulf War, and John Lenthall (T-AO 189). Ashore, he was assigned to the N3 shop for the Afloat Prepositioning Force and focused initially on Marine Corps MPF vessels, but later working on the new Army program, including the construction and conversion of the LMSRs. In 1996, he transitioned to his my academic career. Receiving a MA in Maritime History and Nautical Archeology from East Carolina University, focused on the merchant marine in the Vietnam War. He later then went to the University of Alabama and graduated with a Ph.D. in Military and Naval History with his dissertation on entitled Sealift: T He has taught at Methodist University, East Carolina, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and the U.S. Military Academy, prior to being an Assistant Professor of History with Campbell University since 2010, In addition, since 2008, I have been an Adjunct Professor at the US Merchant Marine Academy teaching a graduate level on-line course on Maritime Industry Policy. He has been published in the Northern Mariner, Sea History, Naval History, and Proceedings.
Join us live if you can with the usual suspects in the chat room and offer up your questions for our guest, but if you miss the show you can always listen to the archive at blogtalkradio.
Have you ever heard of Admiral Yi of the Royal Korean Navy? Shame ... he was a complete stud ... and completely Fullbore. This is also instructive for those who think the whole Korea vs Japan thingy just has to do with WWII. No ... a lot deeper than that. It is hard to find good articles online about him outside Wikipedia - so I at least have to use their description of him for the uninitiated - it really is good;
Yi Sun-shin (Hangul: 이순신; hanja: 李舜臣; April 28, 1545 – December 16, 1598) was a Korean naval commander, famed for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin war in the Joseon Dynasty, and is well-respected for his exemplary conduct on and off the battlefield not only by Koreans, but by Japanese Admirals as well.[1] Military historians have compared his naval genius to that of Admiral Horatio Nelson.[2] His title of Samdo Sugun Tongjesa (삼도 수군 통제사 ; 三道水軍統制使), literally meaning "Naval Commander of the Three Provinces," was the title for the commander of the Korean navy until 1896.
Perhaps his most remarkable military achievement occurred at the Battle of Myeongnyang. Outnumbered 133 warships to 13, and forced into a last stand with only his minimal fleet standing between the Japanese Army and Seoul, he still managed to destroy 33 of 133 Japanese warships in one of the most astonishing battles in military history.
Despite never having received naval training or participating in naval combat prior to the war, and constantly being outnumbered and outsupplied, he went to his grave as one of few admirals in world history who remained undefeated after commanding as many naval battles as he did (at least 23).
Yi died at the Battle of Noryang on December 16, 1598. With the Japanese army on the verge of being completely expelled from the Korean Peninsula, he was mortally wounded by a single bullet. His famous dying words were, "The battle is at its height...beat my war drums...do not announce my death."
Nelson would understand. As a result of the difficulty I am having finding high-brow non-wikipedia, I'm going to steal from the a great tribute to him from the irreplacable website, badassoftheweek. Standard Kristen warning about pottymouth (BTW, whatever happened to her hotness? DB will do, I guess ... but still). Sailors should be OK about it though;
Throughout 1592 Admiral Yi Soon Shin won numerous other small-scale battle against the Japanese Navy, sinking hundreds of enemy vessels during the course of two campaigns while suffering only eleven wounded sailors, no KIAs and no ships lost. Now it should be noted that the Korean ships were superior to the Japanese ships in terms of firepower and hull strength, but still holy shit that's a fucking hell of a record. Yi was a brilliant naval strategist, carefully planning and coordinating all of his attacks and personally leading his navy into combat, issuing them directions on the fly. He received intelligence from local fishermen and villagers and planned his battles accordingly, striking enemy supply ships that were bringing food, supplies and munitions to the Japanese Army and severly hindering their war effort. In ship-to-ship combat on a tactical level, Yi relied on the firepower of his ships' cannons and ordered his men to avoid hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese navy at all costs. You see, the Japanese had tons of badass samurai so their strategy was to board the Korean ships and start chopping motherfuckers up Mifune-style and there wasn't a whole lot of shit that the Koreans could do about it except die painfully. Yi knew that his men didn't stand a chance against goddamned samurai so he did his best to set fire to the Japanese vessels before they even got close and burn those jerks to death before they could start impaling people on their magical katanas. His men were down with this strategy.
He also built something called "Turtle Ships" which sound kind of stupid and fruity but were actually awesome. Turtle Ships were large, fast-moving warships with reinforced metal plating completely covering the top deck to protect the sailors from enemy arrows and gunfire. The plates also had big-ass steel spikes sticking out of them so if any ninjas tried to fly on board they'd get impaled like when you knock Scorpion or Sub-Zero off the bridge level in Mortal Kombat. It carried about 30 guns, and the front of it was shaped like a badass dragon that shot a cannon out of it's mouth, had a smokescreen that came out of it's nose, and could be used as a battering ram to smash enemy ships into driftwood. Yi used the Turtle Ships to barrel through the enemy lines, blast everything they came across on either side and then ram the shit out of the enemy flagship, sinking it and drowning the Japanese commanders. Plus it looked fucking badass and intimidated the shit out of people:
...
Later in 1592 Yi Soon Shin took a force of 56 vessels and went up against a fleet of 73 Japanese battleships near Hansan Island, a fortress that pretty much served as party central for the Japanese invasion forces. Yi staged a fake retreat to draw the Japanese out of their fortified harbor and then caught them in a trap that sank 59 enemy ships and essentially crippled what was left of the Japanese Navy. Yi followed up this asskicking by capturing the enemy naval fortress at Pusan, sinking several hundred Japanese ships as they sat in port, crushing the enemy morale, seizing control of all the major supply routes to Northern Korea and choking off all Japanese reinforcements to the battlefront. Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered his Admirals not to face the Korean Navy again because they were getting their fucking asses reamed up and down the coast, and an armistice was signed between Korea and Japan.
However, the peace didn't last long and before you know it the Japanese were ready to have more of their ships reduced to firewood by Admiral Yi. Unfortunately for the Koreans, in the time between the fighting the Japanese had managed to put a double agent into the Korean Court, and he convinced the King to order Admiral Yi to move his armada to a dangerous area known as the Chilchon Straits. When Yi received the order he immediately saw through the bullshit and refused it, reportedly giving the messenger the finger and then slapping him full in the face like a little bitch. So once again Yi Soon Shin was stripped of his rank, imprisioned and tortured within an inch of his life. Command was given to some jackass named Won Gyun, who was fucking incompetent. Won moved Admiral Yi's combined force of 169 battleships and 30,000 sailors to the Chilchon Straits, directly into the trap that was laid for him by the Japanese. In the span of only a few hours Japanese Commando Samurai Ninja Marines annihilated the entire armada and chopped Won Gyun up into shark chum. Only thirteen ships and two hundred men were able to escape the carnage by bravely running away at top speed as soon as the Japanese started fucking everything up. The King then decided to get his shit together and put Yi back in charge because at this point it was pretty motherfucking obvious that not just any idiot could lead the Korean Navy to victory against the Japanese war machine. When Yi retook command of his navy and saw the dire situation before him, he is reported to have said the following:
"I still have thirteen ships. As long as I am alive, the enemies will never gain the Western Sea."
So in 1597 Admiral Yi and his thirteen ships found themselves on the run, hunted by the entire Japanese Navy. At the Battle of Myeongnyang, Yi Soon Shin came face-to-face with a fleet of three hundred Japanese warships, all bearing down on him and filled to the brim with angry, screaming katana-wielding samurai warriors. Yi wisely positioned his tiny force to block a narrow strait Thermopylae-style in an effort to deny the Japanese the chance of completely enveloping him. The Japanese poured into the strait at top speed and ran head-on into a strong current that slowed them down considerably, leaving them exposed to fire from the Korean ships. During the course of the battle, Yi constantly repositioned his fleet in an effort to keep the Japanese marines at a distance and prevent them from boarding his ships. His cannons bombarded the enemy, and when the smoke cleared he had sunk 123 Japanese ships and killed over 12,000 enemy sailors, including the Admiral in command of the Japanese Navy. Yi's losses totaled three wounded and two killed.
This insane victory broke the back of Japanese morale and marked a turning point in the war. At the Battle of Noryang, over 150 Korean and Chinese vessels finished the job on the Japanese Navy, defeating an armada of 500 enemy ships as they attempted to retreat back to Japan. While giving pursuit, Yi was shot in the chest and died. His last words were, "The battle is at it's height. Do not announce my death." The remnants of the Japanese fleet would limp back to its homeland and her leaders would sue for peace - the war was over.
Read the whole thing. If I could only write that way.... To end it off, have some really bad East Asian FX;
