Your Presence Mission is not Sending the Message You Think it is

No, I’m not going to let this go. 

Yes, I am going to throw this in your face. 

What message does this send to friend or foe? 

BEHOLD!

Want to see the absolute state of it all, in detail?

Well, in another recent pic - this just happened to be the first one I could find - you can download the hi-res here, if you zoom in to just one section, you can see the long-term damage being done to the ship. This isn't just cosmetic. 

This is what is being sold; 

This is what is actually being seen by anyone who sees this ship:

"This is a slowly degrading force sent by a declining empire. They send their warships to impress us, but all I see is a nation and its navy who lacks either pride or the money to properly maintain their front-line forces. If their exterior looks like this, imagine everything inside. Imagine the mentality of its leadership. Their leadership either does not care, or does not know. We should plan accordingly.”

Is that accurate, or even fair? 

I don’t know, but here is what I do know. 

We are burning up our navy and its working capital without regard for the future – or even the present. 

We are chasing metrics and COCOM demand signals decoupled from centuries of known best practices of peacetime stewardship of a navy to ensure it is ready for war. 

I find nothing impressive about “7th” if that is what we are putting forward. 

You know what would be more impressive? A “5th” that had a properly maintained warship that you wouldn't be embarrassed to pull in to any port, accept any dignitary. 

I feel sorry for the Skipper and crew of the DONALD COOK; they deserve better support. They deserve better leadership. 

PS: this perfectly flows with much of the conversation we had yesterday with Mackenzie Eaglen on Midrats. 

h/t Blake