US Army on discussing the Iraq War: "Can't this wait until I PCS?"

Do you get the feeling that the US Army does not really want to talk about its performance in Iraq? 

Well, judging by how they've slow rolled their own report - you might be right.

I'm pondering over at USNIBlog.

Come by and help me rend clothes and gnash teeth.

Prelude to Empire: Warrior Writers, the 1880s

Episode II today for our Warrior Writers Podcast with a focus on the 1880s.


Our series will run next 14 weeks, to coincide with the Naval Academy Museum exhibit; "Warrior Writers: The U.S. Naval Institute" open from September 10, 2015 through January 31, 2016.

Our focus will be a decade by decade look, discussing the significant naval events and developments that helped shape the US Navy.

Our guest for each episode will be Naval Academy History Professor Emeritus and noted naval historian Dr. Craig Symonds, and Naval Academy Museum Director Claude Berube.

Please join us today at 8am, or get the archive at BTR or iTunes.
Return each Monday for the next decade, and if you're in Annapolis, pay the museum a visit.

Ian Bremmer's Three Doors

We have three options to outline a foreign and defense policy. Which one is the direction the American public would support?

I'm discussing over at USNIBlog. Stop by and let me know what you think.

I'm sorry, but pith helmets look silly

So, who's up for this?

Take up the White Man's burden, Send forth the best ye breed
Go bind your sons to exile, to serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness, On fluttered folk and wild—
Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child.

Take up the White Man's burden, In patience to abide,
To veil the threat of terror And check the show of pride;
By open speech and simple, An hundred times made plain
To seek another's profit, And work another's gain.

Take up the White Man's burden, The savage wars of peace—
Fill full the mouth of Famine And bid the sickness cease;
And when your goal is nearest The end for others sought,
Watch sloth and heathen Folly Bring all your hopes to nought.

Take up the White Man's burden, No tawdry rule of kings,
But toil of serf and sweeper, The tale of common things.
The ports ye shall not enter, The roads ye shall not tread,
Go mark[14] them with your living, And mark them with your dead.

Take up the White Man's burden And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better, The hate of those ye guard—
The cry of hosts ye humour (Ah, slowly!) toward the light:—
"Why brought he us from bondage, Our loved Egyptian night?"

Take up the White Man's burden, Ye dare not stoop to less—
Nor call too loud on Freedom To cloke your weariness;
By all ye cry or whisper, By all ye leave or do,
The silent, sullen peoples Shall weigh your gods and you.

Take up the White Man's burden, Have done with childish days—
The lightly proferred laurel, The easy, ungrudged praise.
Comes now, to search your manhood, through all the thankless years
Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom, The judgment of your peers!

I'm slapping Robert D. Kaplan around a bit on the topic over at USNIBlog. Come visit and tell me what you think.

Bob Work and the Future Imperfect

The kickoff keynote speaker this year was Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work. He gave a typically informative speech outlining the challenges he sees from his seat.

I review his major points and then pick up where he left off; the start of The Terrible 20s.

Come on over to USNIBlog, give it a read, and tell me what you think.

Fullbore Friday

How do we best honor the memory of those who have, by their actions, set the example for those who follow?

We can remember their names and the deeds of their Shipmates and the ships they sailed on. While their acts speak for themselves, one can easily forget the very real people they were.

When you see their face, not in a rigid pose or official photo, but their face as their friends knew them - it adds depth and context to the people who made our history.

So much as been lost or never captured, that those rare collections are of a value difficult to measure. One thing you can measure however, is the cost it takes in the very real world to ensure that those how follow us have an opportunity to look at those examples themselves.

It takes effort by every generation to ensure the legacy remains for the next.

Please take a moment to see the below about the rare photos from the USS Indianapolis and WWII, and the effort to preserve the collection of Alfred Joseph Sedivi, the ship's photographer.

You can be part of this effort, the details of the USNI kickstarter is here.

A New Maritime Strategy

Hey, the UK has one.

I'm pondering it over at USNIBlog. Come visit and see what the Mother Country is thinking.

Christine Fox and the High Value Unit

If you have been waiting for a senior civilian leader to come out and speak in a way that encourages you that we have some of the right people for the intellectual contest for this drawdown, then let not your heart be troubled.

Head on over to USNIBlog where I outline the highpoints from Acting DEPSECDEF Christine Fox at West14.

If I were a narcissist I might dare say that, yes, she was almost Salamanderesque.

What 'cha do'n after school today?

If you are within a quick drive of Newport, RI - this is a required event.

On Thursday, 12 December, The Naval Institute will host a Happy Hour in Newport, Rhode Island for members, prospective members, or anyone who wants to show up to talk about daring “to read, think and write” about sea power and national security.

A member of our Editorial Board will be there to answer questions, and some writers and thinkers who have contributed to the Institute to share some of their experiences. While there will be no punches thrown, sparing over strategy and grappling with the naval issues of the day will be encouraged.

If you are in Newport, please join us to splice the main brace at the USNI Happy Hour/Social:
The Malt
150 Broadway
Newport, RI

12 December 2013, 1700 until the tab runs out or the grog runs dry.

The Blog You Should be Reading

Are you reading Norman Polmar's posts over at navyhistory.org blog?

Well shame on you if you aren't classics like this;

After dozens of letters and many hundreds of manuscript pages exchanged between us, we finally met in March 1969 when Genda visited the United States. He was invited to the United States in part to participate in the Naval Institute’s distinguished visitor program. (I had been assistant editor of the Naval Institute Proceedings from 1963 to 1967.)

During his visit Genda spoke at the Naval Academy to an audience of Naval Academy midshipmen and faculty, and area USNI members. When asked if the Japanese had possessed the atomic bomb, did he believe they would have used it against the United States, he replied, “I think so.” When in a later conversation I raised the subject to him, he responded, “Why wouldn’t we have?” (He also spoke at the Smithsonian Institution while in the Annapolis-Washington area.)

That week Genda and I had a lengthy, private session at his Annapolis hotel. His English was excellent, his views candid, and his personality overwhelming. During our discussion of the Battle of Midway (June 1942), we spoke of the failure of the Japanese to detect in a timely manner the three U.S. carriers that arrived in the area unbeknown to the Japanese. One of the Japanese search planes had developed engine trouble and had not been immediately replaced. It was in that plane’s search sector that the U.S. carriers were located.

When I asked Genda if another scout plane from the carriers or one of the accompanying cruisers or battleship should have quickly been launched to cover that sector, he responded, “Of course.” Not really thinking, I asked whose fault it was that a replacement plane was not immediately dispatched. Without hesitation, he pointed to his own chest and said: “Genda!”

Genda sent me a very kind letter when he received a copy of our book—Aircraft Carriers: A History of Carrier Aviation and Its Influence on World Events, published in 1969. The title page listed me as author “In collaboration with” General Minoru Genda, Captain Eric M. Brown, and Professor Robert M. Langdon of the Naval Academy.

We exchanged notes over the next few years, albeit with far less frequency than when we were working on the book. He retired from the upper house in 1986 and passed away three years later, the day before his 85th birthday.

That stuff is solid gold.

USNI's CEO and an ENS With 100 Things From His Closet; on Midrats

Institutions do not exist and excel simply because they "are." They must be nurtured by dedicated individuals that find the right combination of stewardship and intellectual curiosity to ensure they continue to carry out their mission and leave a more viable entity for those who follow.

It must be informed by the past, though not shackled to it. It must be true to its nature, but not ossified in its operation. It must be ready for the future, but clearheaded on how to get there.

This Sunday from 5-6pm EST we will have two guests to look at two parts of our story then, now, and next.

For the maritime professional in the United States, there is a rather unique institution that really has no counterpart here or in other nations; the United States Naval Institute. Our guest for the first half of the hour will be USNI's CEO, Vice Admiral Peter Daly, USN (Ret). He will be with us to discuss USNI's place in the maritime security arena and how ideas and concepts today inform and influence the direction of our Navy.

For the second half of the hour, we will shift focus back with Ensign Chris O’Keefe, USN who is the producer of the United States Naval Academy podcast series, A History of the Navy in 100 Objects, that uses objects from the Naval Academy's museum to help tell the story of our Navy and the nation it serves. You can see Episode 1 & Episode 2.

Join us live if you can, but if you miss the show you can always listen to the archive at blogtalkradio - the best way to get the show and download the archive to your audio player is to get a free account and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

Listen to internet radio with Midrats on Blog Talk Radio

Feeling Upbeat Today?

Well, I have a cure for you over at USNIBlog.  Come visit.

The Naval Wiki

BZ to USNI for getting this off the ground. Great potential as a superb UNCLAS gouge book.

Oh, and about USNI ...

If you are a member - don't forget to vote. Details and suggestions here.

If you aren't a member - shame on you. Sign up.

About that USNI ballot ...

First thing - if you aren't a member of the U.S. Naval Institute; sign up or shut up.

Second, if you are a member, look for the ballot. There might be someone you know on it.

Vote early; vote often.

Happy B-day Week

All sorts of birthdays going on this week.

USNI by the numbers

At the height of the controversy this year at the U.S. Naval Institute (which is not settled, BTW - so vote), Stephen M. Waters, Chairman of the Board at USNI stated the following;

... the Institute needs to gain financial stability ...

There and other places, the financial situation of USNI is constantly brought up by those who want to change the Mission Statement.

How does that merge with the following statement from the State of the Institute Letter,

During 2011, we will continue to “live within our means” and to keep our professional staff together, engaged and productive. Our 2011 objective is to continue the two-year trend of strong financial and operational performance. Only in this manner, can we protect our “national treasure” and see it safely through this economic downturn.

Well, which is it? Is USNI financially unstable, or has it enjoyed strong financial and operational performance? Both are signed by Mr. Waters. I'm confused.

I do have a bias though; a bias towards metrics and audited financial statements - so I will go there for clarity.

With audited financial documents you have fiduciary obligations - a land of laws and regulations. People have to be a lot more careful and accurate in what they say than they do elsewhere - in the financial world people can lose their licenses, livelihood, and perchance go to jail if they are not accurate.

One also, if one is wise, does not play "happy-talk" with financial statements of non-profits. I will make the assumption no one is.

That reality got my puzzler puzzl'n and I decided to put my education to work. Let's go play a bit on the surface of the numbers.

If you are a member, click here to get the Consolidated Financial Statements. If you are not a member, shame on you - then join first, then click.

If the Mission Statement change to make USNI an advocacy organization is so needed as a result of dire financial conditions as presently constituted, then it will show up in the financial statements. No reason to go line-by-line, but let's focus in the big picture and see if there is anything that needs to be drilled down on to find a problem.

Let's go to the numbers (click for larger image if needed).

I spent a few hours picking things apart in the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows and other meatier parts, but then I realized who is reading this. No offense - but I know this is not a business, economics, or accounting blog. I just lost half my readers by now anyway - so I won't punish you. There is a story there - but the big pixels are fine. I will just stick to the above and point a few things out for you.

From '09 to '10;

- The cash position grew by 208%; not a sign of financial instability.
- Accounts receivable decreased by 36% (yea, better collections); not a sign of financial instability.

- Investments increased by 23%; not a sign of financial instability.

- The only significant issue I saw was an increase in inventories by 3%, I guess LEAN has not made it to USNI yet, but that is not a sign of financial instability.

- Total assets increased by 8%; not a sign of financial instability.

Check my math - percentages always kill me - but I think I got that right.

In the Consolidated Financial Statement, I did not see anywhere notes of caution or warning WRT possible financial problems. If you are not going to put such things in your Consolidated Financial Statements - then where are they so that members can review them?

Though only those involved can speak to their motivations, history shows us that most conflict and change in organizations come from one of two areas; financial or power issues. If there is no independently audited description of financial instability at USNI - then are we talking here about power?

If so, who is trying to gain power, to what purpose, as defined by what entity?

One final note on the Change in the Mission Statement. The fact remains that when these Consolidated Financial Statements were written, not only had the Mission Statement not been changed, it hadn't even been voted on - so why is this at end of the letter on the State of the Institute 2010?

With your continued strong support, we want the Institute to remain “the independent forum of the Sea Services advocating the necessity of global sea power for national security and economic prosperity.” The Sea Services and the nation need to hear our and your voices.

Remain? Dude - it hadn't even gotten there yet. Read the Mission Statement. Where is that quote coming from? Google it. Only one place will it be found - that letter. Well, two places now, natch.

Google the real USNI Mission Statement and you get a page and a half of returns for the whole thing.

Good people can disagree on what direction USNI should take, but this just smells funny. From the way the Mission Statement change was handled - the ballot clusterfrak - and now the parallel universe financial statement, someone needs to help me see what is there I don't see.

We all love the Naval Institute - why can't we have an open discussion with consistent messages? Transparencey and consistency builds trust. Opaqueness and inconsistency builds something altogether different.

Ahem. We are better than this.

An NCO on USNI

Our buddy from Midrats and here, AT1 Charles Berlemann, Jr., offers a solid NCO perspective on what the USNI is and is not. Double posted over as SJS and USNIBlog - well worth your read'n time.

Insurgent Victory: USNI Mission Statement

Nothing official yet - but from multiple sources including Norman Polmar, it looks like the push to chance the mission of USNI to make it an advocacy organization has been defeated.

As a matter of fact, I will quote the good Dr. himself;

All,

The USNI Board of Directors has today decided unanimously to withdraw the proposal for a change in the Naval Institute's statement.

Yea!!!

Does any more need to be said? On a variety of levels there are a lot of lessons for this battle and at some point a good POSTEX needs to be done - but for now, thanks to all who helped make this happen - and now lets enjoy the moment.

Also, I would like you consider how close we came to losing a unique institution. If this worried you - and you are not a member - then by all means become a member today. If you can put a subject, verb, object together and have ideas - then write.

Reinforce victory.

Disappointed and slightly insulted

SJS has a good post on the latest iteration of the USNI Mission Statement saga worth your time. Give it a read - and the post by the USNI Board of Directors and then come back.

Here is my rather short take on it.

This is too late, too vague, and to be blunt - insulting. It reeks of condescension to the membership, myopic view of the position and role of the USNI, and totally dismissive of the work the present CEO did in the last year.

The harping on the 2009 financial position is equally insulting. Those who, ahem, also have a MBA and who, ahem, have done quite well in the market over the last 24 months, would find this quote especially insulting.

You will recall that economic events of 2008-2009 were difficult for the Institute. Advertising revenues declined, donations shrank, and our endowment lost almost a third of its value. The Institute, led by our senior management team, became cash break-even in 2009 due to dramatic cost controls that remain in effect today.

Dude it is mid-MAR 2011.

Every day there is darkness followed by light; light followed by darkness. If USNI only lost 30% leading in to the bottom in 2009 - BZ to USNI. Many institutions did much worse. As a side-note, I would offer that you need a new institutional investment team - as many others - ahem - actually broke even during that period as they CANSLIM'd there way out of the bear market - but different subject for a different day.

The NASDAQ market bottom in 06 MAR 2009 at ~1,293.85, to ... right now at ~2,661.66 - the market has increased 105%. No one is perfect and it is not fair to use that. So, lets go back to the beginning of 2008.

On 04 JAN 08 the NASDAQ was at 2,504.65. From then to today - the NASDAQ is up 6.3%.

Let's not get distracted by the sparkl'n pebble though - this isn't about money. This is about power and influence. This is also about a Board of Directors behaving in a manner that is insulting to the membership of USNI.

USNI deserves better - we deserve better. For USNI members - vote with the ballot from Proceedings or online - but vote.

If in the end what the Board of Directors wants to do is best for the institution - then by all means we should do it. However, we should do it right. The Board of Directors needs to speak openly, clearly, and directly with the membership - not try to sneak something in under the radar in the middle of the night.

Poor form. We need to start this conversation again, in the open - with enough time for informed decisions.

---

UPDATE: Off the top rope! Led by Dr. London - the Board of Directors Minority Report is now up with Mark W. Johnson, B.J. Penn signing their name as well.

Notice the difference in tone and focus.

Dear Members and Friends of the United States Naval Institute:

We the undersigned Directors of the Naval Institute write to ask that you vote against the revised Mission Statement for the Institute cited below:

“The U.S. Naval Institute is an independent forum advocating the necessity of global seapower for national security and economic prosperity.”

We emphatically disagree with their imperfectly crafted solution. The reasons are quite simple. The majority has not made the case that changing the mission statement and including the word “advocating” will somehow magically increase our relevance, grow our membership, and make us more economically viable.

In fact, we gain absolutely nothing from a word change to “Advocacy,” that justifies diminishing our image and heritage as the “independent forum” of America’s sea services. This is USNI’s brand. It is USNI’s uniqueness. This is USNI’s “DNA.”
...
How can USNI be an “Advocate,” yet concurrently promote an “Independent/Intellectual Forum?” It can’t. An “Independent Forum” is where differing views that challenge the conventional wisdom are shared and debated. It’s where dialogue brings new ideas and adds value. Advocacy, by definition, is the need to suppress or ignore dissenting views. The “Independent Forum” lives to seek these competing views.

The Majority’s revised Mission Statement is ill-conceived, will not fix either the relevance nor the finance issue and places the entire 137 years effort by generations of members of this unique professional association at risk, for no perceived gain.

The Board is on the cusp of making an irretrievable error and we respectfully ask that you join us and vote DISAPPROVING the new Mission Statement.

BZ!