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.
In less than a month we will be firmly in the middle of the 2nd decade of the 21st Century. What path were we put on at the start 21st Century that got us here? How do we evaluate the right decisions, the neutral decisions, and the less than optimal calls of the last decade and a half? What lessons can we take away now in order to make decisions to best position the Navy on the approaches to 2030? Join us this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern when our guest for the full hour to discuss this an much more will be Admiral John C. Harvey, Jr, USN (Ret). Almost a year since he joined the retired ranks, when in uniform Admiral Harvey was one of the of the more engaged, visible, and accessible Flag Officers of his generation - and in retirement he continues to be an influential voice. Admiral Harvey was born and raised in Baltimore, MD and is a 1973 graduate of the U S Naval Academy. In his thirty-nine year Navy career, he specialized in naval nuclear propulsion, surface ship and carrier strike-group operations and Navy-wide manpower management/personnel policy development. He commanded the USS DAVID R RAY (DD 971), the USS CAPE ST GEORGE (CG 71), the THEODORE ROOSEVELT Strike Group/CCDG-8 and also served as the Navy’s 54th Chief of Naval Personnel and as the Director, Navy Staff. Prior to his retirement from the Navy in November, 2012, Admiral Harvey served as Commander, US Fleet Forces Command. He now makes his home in Vienna, Virginia where he resides with his wife, Mary Ellen.
Join uslive 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.
When he was reported to be very sick earlier this year, right after there was a false report of his death, I typed out a post about Nelson Mandela but never published it. Reading it now, I've decided it is way too long and unfocused. No, he deserves much better than that. I remember very much watching one of his first speeches after he was released from jail. When he started to quote your standard issue Marxist blather, I sighed and turned the TV off. I thought it would all unravel from there, but something happened. As with truly great men, he was a thinker with an open mind. Where lesser men would have seized power and with Zimbabwe-like destruction destroyed economic potential in orgy of revenge - he didn't. Where even worse men would have enabled a slaughter of the former oppressors - he didn't. Where almost every other possible leader in his part of the world would have seized power as President for Life and just let South Africa become another sub-Saharan hell hole - he didn't. He had the wisdom to know when he might be thinking the wrong thing, brought in smart people and was willing to learn and change. He took power. He did not take revenge. He compromised between his friends and those who once imprisoned him, and did the best he could to steer his nation in a positive direction. Some of his people were not that great. Many of the people who followed him were not that great, but that isn't the issue. Sometimes you have the right man in the right place at the right time - and he does the best he can. Then, in the face of all human nature - he lets that power go and gives the nation he gave his one life to a chance. Not a guarantee, but a chance. In that light, there is only one other person that from an American world view one can really compare Nelson Mandela to - George Washington. Mandela had a long life, a good life and by any measure - one that no one else could have replicated with such honor. Well done sir, rest well.
Regulars here have probably picked up a wee bit of pro-Polish bias. I'm really don't hide it that much. Such a great nation with such a tragic history and sketchy neighbors, but an indomitable spirit from the Gates of Vienna to the summit of Monte Cassino. Perhaps it is the defeated idealist Southerner and Jacobite in my bloodlines that has me giving them a nod, who knows. Pawel might say it is just my inherent good sense and wisdom ... and who am I to argue with that .... ahem. Something happened mid-week that just gave me pause to reflect that, yes, my bias towards the Poles is well placed. In addition to a older historical issues, in living memory, the Poles and Ukrainians took turns filling ditches with each other in one of the nastier sub-plots of the even nastier Eastern Front (the book Bloodlands is a good start). The two nations have shared a few things recently. They both know the soul crushing nature Communism and the ever present danger of Russia. I had the honor of serving with a few Ukrainian officers and Polish officers, and have great respect for both. Though the Ukrainians didn't have quite the "Western" vibe as their Polish counterparts - they were sure trying. It would be such a waste for Ukraine and Europe is they slide back in to the Russian orbit. In that light, this picture just gave me a feeling that, yes, something good has potential in Eastern Europe.
The best description for China's clunky power grab last week was, "Dumb and Dangerous." Almost 19th Century in its pig-headedness, the only way it makes sense was a propaganda act for internal consumption - but with exceptionally destabilizing effects outside their borders. The only positive aspect of their act, at least from the American point of view, is that it will drive Japan, South Korea, The Philippines, Vietnam and others closer in to our orbit as they start to recognize China's ambitions for what they are. The bad part of that, is we need to be mindful that those who are closer to us are not under our control. Humans are imperfect institutions and things can get out of control. South Korea isn't really being helpful here;
South Korea is finalizing plans to expand its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in response to China establishing the East China Sea ADIZ, local newspapers are reporting.
According to a number of local reports, ROK National Security Office chief Kim Jang-soo convened a meeting of top South Korean security officials on Sunday to discuss the new ADIZ.
The Korean Herald reported that the ADIZ is rumored to include the “country’s southernmost island of Marado; Hongdo Island, an uninhabited island south of Geojedo Island; and Ieodo, a submerged rock within the overlapping exclusive economic zones of South Korea and China.”
Yonhap News Agency quoted an unnamed local official as saying “(The new KADIZ) has been conceptually finalized. The government will announce the plan after carefully reviewing the military operation and aviation safety as well as the international regulations.”
History; she is such a needful and insecure woman. She will not be ignored.
The drop-flop-and-foam at the USAFA has finally broken above my USAFAdontgiveadamn ambient noise threshold. Sure, I just shook my head in shame for years as they knuckled under to the anti-Christian jihad being waged by Weinstein and his ilk, but the two events below have finally led me to say; "Good googly moogly people; who's in charge of this clown car?!?" First the most serious;
Facing pressure to combat drug use and sexual assault at the Air Force Academy, the Air Force has created a secret system of cadet informants to hunt for misconduct among students.
Cadets who attend the publicly-funded academy near Colorado Springs must pledge never to lie. But the program pushes some to do just that: Informants are told to deceive classmates, professors and commanders while snapping photos, wearing recording devices and filing secret reports.
Yea. Let that soak in. Where do we start? Let me keep this simple; there are few lower kinds of human beings than informants, snitches, stool pigeons or whatever you want to call them. Especially when you attack the seed corn of the officer corps for your snitch population - regardless of your good intentions - that is beyond the pale. Snitches are not the same as witnesses - they are people who intentionally become an agent of whatever petty-Stasi they sell their soul to. They prey on their friends, families, and Shipmates under a false flag for profit, fun, or worse - to save their own skin. What a low form of scum. Not only does it debase the snitch, it creates a climate where you absolutely do not trust anyone. It creates an Orwelian fascist atmosphere that has no place in the military of a representative republic. No excuses, and this will not do;
Gen. Mark Welsh, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the service’s top officer and only commander with authority over both the academy and OSI, said he was unfamiliar with the cadet informant system.
“I don’t know a thing about it,” he said in an interview in October.
Members of the academy’s civilian oversight board, which includes members of Congress, also said they had not heard of the program.
OK. Full stop. Who has been fired, or when is the press conference call that is going to announce firing and resignations? This is way over the line. If USAF senior leadership does not act sooner more than later, then they are just validating everything other services have said over the years about their culture. There is no justification for this Stasi like program. Read the whole article and tell me you do not feel ashamed for your nation and your Air Force.
Then in 2001, the academy was rocked by high profile cases of drug use that resulted in Congressional investigations. That year an OSI officer named Keith Givens, who is now vice commander of OSI, wrote in the Air Force’s official legal journal, The Reporter, that the Air Force should use “a web of undercover agents and informants to detect drug abuse.” In 2003 the academy was hit by more scandals over drugs and sexual assaults that resulted in the removal of top brass. By 2004, court documents show, OSI was recruiting cadets as informants. Documents show that at least some academy leaders have knowledge of the program, but it is not clear if they know who is involved and what they do.
There is your starting point on inviting people to seek employment elsewhere. It is 12-yrs overdue. Taking Cadets and making them informants? Is that what we want to train young leaders to think is normal and right? Another reason I recommend ROTC and OCS. Universities and ROTC may have their issues - but at least you can conduct your daily plans with the mind of a free citizen. No quarter. No question. This should not stand without heads on pikes. If it does - then a pox on the USAF. Give them back to the Army. Now let's shift fire .... you know how much I LOVE how academy athletic boosters are focused on mission! Now, don't be silly. We aren't talking about building leaders for tomorrows military - heavens no - we are talking about making sure we have teams that help insecure adults with self-esteem issues to plaster over the gaping holes in their lives with games played by others. Everything else is second to being able to say, "Yea, my team won!" Those people would sell their daughters in to bondage for a bowl win. Yep - soak in it.
Air Force football coach Troy Calhoun has expressed frustration this season about the competitive disadvantage of not being allowed to have cadets play a fifth year. The Falcons are 2-9 and winless in Mountain West play. Their season finale is Saturday at Colorado State.
Speaking about selling your soul cheaply - check out the spin.
Discussions are being held within the Air Force Academy that could lead to expanding the basic four-year classroom program for graduation to a five-year program for some cadets in order to enhance academic achievements. Such a plan, if adopted, could have a huge effect on the athletic program, thereby allowing an extra year of competition.
...
"At most universities, the average years to graduate is something over five years. For the service academies to hang tough on four years, it may be time to seriously discuss other options. "
Mueh pointed out that a program exists that potentially could add a ninth semester to a cadet's time at the academy, but it is rarely used. The additional semester is usually granted to make up for time lost for illness or injury.
"If there's a way we can help our students reach their academic potential and become leaders in the Air Force and that means talking about a five-year program, I'm all for it," Mueh said. "We won't change our academic requirements, the physical fitness requirements, or the active duty commitment after graduation. The one we might adjust is the time they spend here at the academy.
Who here really thinks this is about academic excellence? If you do - we should play poker some time. Making it so that Cadets can take a 10 to 12 hour semester load is not doing the right thing. Or could something else be in the mix too?
"It's going to take some doing. This basically always will be a four-year institution, but we bring in students from a widely diversified population and it may be time to expand our program in order to meet the different needs."
As this is not Thursday, I'm just going to leave that sitting there for you to ponder. For those who believe in the American service academy model, you need to push back hard. If you allow them to continue to drift towards being a playpen for jack-booted government thugs, football-uber-alles fanatics, and cultural marxists, then you are creating the conditions for a series of scandals that will rock the institutions to their foundation. Just imagine the effects on par with what Penn State just went through. That is where this leads. Not perhaps to pederasty, but scandal that comes from entitlement and arrogance and misplaced priorities - yes. Just be lucky the usual suspects don't line up the pictures from the first story linked above - or for that matter the last dozen people kicked out of Annapolis for sexual assault. If they notice superficial (d)iversity in color guards, they're seeing it there. Again, as this is not Thursday - I won't go there any further. When people who do not have the best interests of an institution at heart; and the Ameri-Stasi, sports addicts, and grievance industry don't - but instead are only focused on their personal agendas, then they will tear your institutions apart in pursuit of their primary goal. The dirty little secret is that the service academies could disappear tomorrow, and the Republic will survive just fine - but that would be a sad loss for the nation, and a pathetic failure of moral courage on the part of those in uniform who are focused on the real mission; building leaders.
The very idea that we would enter in to an agreement with the Iranian theocracy on anything short of exile for Mullahs not sent to The Hague for the ICC to deal, with has been such an anathema to me that I have held back from commentary on recent events until I had time to ponder a bit. What is, is - so we have what we have. Reading around a bit, I found the best summary from JapanTimes;
The “Plan of Action” signed by Iran, the United States, Russia, Britain, France, Germany and the European Union ensures that it will not, at least for the next six months. All uranium enrichment above 5 percent is to be halted, and Iran’s entire stockpile of 20 percent enriched material — the potential feedstock for a “dash” to weapons-grade material — is to be diluted or converted to a form not suitable for further enrichment.
Iran is not to install any more centrifuges (the machines used to enrich material), and large numbers of the existing banks of centrifuges are to be left inoperable. Even Iran’s stockpile of 3.5 percent enriched uranium (for use in nuclear power reactors) is to remain the same between now and the end of the six-month period.
And there will be no further work done on the Arak reactor, which might give Iran plutonium, and thus a second route to a nuclear bomb.
Iran will also allow more intrusive inspections by International Atomic Energy Agency officials, including daily access to the key enrichment sites at Natanz and Fordow. All it gets in return is $7 billion worth of relief (about $100 per Iranian) on the sanctions that are crippling its economy.
All the main sanctions will stay in place until a final agreement has been signed — if it is — six months from now.
There is one thing the Iranian government does - besides soak in the blood of thousands of Americans they have killed in three and a half decades - it is lie. They lie to their people, they lie to their neighbors, they lie to their friends, and they unquestionably lie to the infidel. No agreement is worth the paper it is written on. This isn't doing business in Finland - so where is the smart money? Would we be where we are today if in the middle of the last decade Iran had agreed to halt their ... ummmmm .... wait. Let history be your guide. Did you hear that? I think we have 2005 on the line;
The World Trade Organization announced today that it would start talks to admit Iran as a member, a reward for Tehran's agreement to continue to freeze its nuclear activities.
The decision came after the United States, in a small but important conciliatory gesture, dropped its longstanding opposition to Iranian membership in the organization that governs global trade.
"It is a long-overdue decision but it is a positive decision," Mohammad Reza Alborzi, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said in a telephone interview. "We have a Persian proverb, 'A fish is always fresh, even if it is caught when you go fishing late in the day.' "
In Washington, a State Department spokesman, Richard A. Boucher, said the timing of the American decision on Iran's W.T.O. membership talks was "not totally coincidental." He said the talks between the Europeans and the Iranians on Wednesday demonstrate "that efforts to achieve a peaceful, diplomatic solution on the Iran nuclear issue do continue."
...
But the United States decided to make good on its pledge to the Europeans on W.T.O. membership talks only after the Europeans reported a successful outcome of their nuclear talks with the Iranians in Geneva on Wednesday, a senior State Department official said today.
...
Under a preliminary accord reached with Iran in Paris last November, France, Germany and Britain promised Iran economic, political and security benefits in exchange for Iran's "objective guarantees" that its nuclear program is totally peaceful.
The Iranians are very good at playing this game. Remember the Three Nation Talks from a decade+ ago? They seemed old in 2006 when,
Since 2002 Britain, France and Germany have led talks meant to assure that Tehran's nuclear program would not give it the capacity to build weapons. The three countries last week declared that Iran's decision to resume nuclear research had brought the talks to an end, and, with the United States in support, asked that the matter be sent to the United Nations Security Council for possible action.
The Bush administration has long favored sanctions, but had deferred action at the request of the European nations, who convinced Iran in 2003 to suspend its nuclear program. Mr. Bush last week said that he would pursue a vigorous diplomatic push to get as many countries as possible on board for possible United Nations action.
How did that work out? Hillary? Care to comment?
"I believe that we lost critical time in dealing with Iran because the White House chose to downplay the threats and to outsource the negotiations," Ms. Clinton said, according to a transcript of the speech published by The Daily Princetonian. "I don't believe you face threats like Iran or North Korea by outsourcing it to others and standing on the sidelines.
Yep, that was from 2006 too. Now, what did Hillary do about it when she was SECSTATE? Yea. No need to go in to "red-lines" and all - that too does nothing. Now, go back to that first quote from JapanTimes and read that again.
All the main sanctions will stay in place until a final agreement has been signed — if it is — six months from now.
That is how we make lemonade. I think there are not good options here. Iran is a huge country - if we attacked it we would actually help the Iranian government as the young there who are pro-American will have to turn nationalists. If Israel attacks them - well - that would have such undesired 2nd and 3rd order effects I really don't even want to ponder that from the Hazara of Afghanistan to the government in Iraq. The Sunni Arabs will do nothing on their own - and we would be fools to do their dirty work for them. When things get complicated and a bit wobbly, what is the best thing to do? Stop, think, and go back to fundamentals. Let's do that here. If you are being run around in circles Diplomatically, your Information and Intelligence resembles the cloital efforts of simians and their favorite oblong sports objects, your Military options run the span from impossible to undoable, that leaves you with the last part of DIME - Economics. That is the ticket. That has always been our best hand - and we have never leveraged it as we should. So ... what do we do? We need to pass legislation - surely we can find bi-partisan majorities for this - in the next few months that outlines very clearly the economic sanctions that will take place in six months. Large, substantial and painful economic sanctions. That will give us two possible results: 1. Iran decides to actually do what needs to be done and will avoid sanctions. 2. Iran will fail, again, and the sanctions will kick in. Their economy will continue to collapse, and then the Iranian people will decide that they actually are tired of their corrupt theocracy. Then again - we could blink once more at the 6-month mark and Iran will laugh and keep marching forward. If history is your guide ... but I'm an optimist. As a side note, President Obama could not only do his nation, but himself and his party some good by taking a very tough economic line on Iran. I'd support him, and I think the American people will too - they are tired of looking weak.
is a good start).
