USAF to USN: "New Fighter? We already got one ... oh Yes, its Very Nice!"

I have to tip my hat to the USAF, I didn't see this coming. 

BZ to our friend Valerie for the scoop:

The U.S. Air Force has secretly designed, built and flown at least one prototype of its enigmatic next-generation fighter jet, the service’s top acquisition official confirmed to Defense News on Sept. 14.

...

“We’ve already built and flown a full-scale flight demonstrator in the real world, and we broke records in doing it,” Will Roper told Defense News in an exclusive interview ahead of the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference. “We are ready to go and build the next-generation aircraft in a way that has never happened before.”

Meanwhile ... last month over at NAVAIR;

 After nearly a decade of fits and starts, the Navy has quietly initiated work to develop its first new carrier-based fighter in almost 20 years, standing up a new program office and holding early discussions with industry, USNI News has learned.

The multi-billion-dollar effort to replace the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and electronic attack EA-18G Growlers beginning in the 2030s is taking early steps to quickly develop a new manned fighter to extend the reach of the carrier air wing and bring new relevance to the Navy’s fleet of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

Navy acquisition chief James Geurts told reporters last week that the service created a program office for the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative.

Diversity Thursday

NAVAIR, you do you.

The IPs Revolt

When you can't breath, nothing else matters.

Take your stereotypical Naval Aviator; cocky, aggressive, devil-may-care, hour-hounding etc, etc ... now double it.

That is your standard issue Navy Instructor Pilot. More often than not, the top pilots coming out of their first tour go on to some kind of billet as an Instructor Pilot at their FRS or a VT squadron.

Keep that in mind.

Via Lucas Tomlinson, the Pentagon and State Department producer for Fox News, this is something.

More than 100 U.S. Navy instructor pilots are refusing to fly in protest of what they say is the refusal of top brass to adequately address an urgent problem with training jets’ oxygen system, multiple instructor pilots tell Fox News.

The boycott started late last week and has effectively grounded hundreds of training flights.

“The pilots don’t feel safe flying this aircraft,” one instructor pilot told Fox News.
…
Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, head of naval aviation, told Fox News in an exclusive interview that the training jet issue is the “number one safety priority” across naval aviation right now.

“Right now we don't have the smoking gun,” he cautioned.
In the last five years, physiological episodes, caused in part by problems with the oxygen system, have nearly quadrupled on the T-45 training jet,
…

Last week, a student from training squadron VT-86 in Pensacola, Fla., had to be “dragged out” of his jet because he became “incapacitated” from the faulty oxygen system, according to two flight instructors.

In March, a British exchange instructor pilot with thousands of hours in the cockpit had to conduct an emergency landing during a training flight near Meridian, Miss., after both he and his student experienced hypoxic symptoms.

In August, a flight instructor and his student were forced to eject near Kingsville, Texas, when they felt symptoms of hypoxia, crashing the multi-million dollar jet.  Both pilots ejected safely and were not seriously injured.

Last month, there were 10 episodes in T-45s, according to Shoemaker.

Anticipating the pilot protest, the Navy sent a team of engineers and other specialists this week to its T-45 training bases in Kingsville, Meridian and Pensacola for talks with the pilots.

A meeting Tuesday in Meridian “got heated,” Fox News is told.  The pilots told the civilians from Navy Air Systems Command their complaints about the oxygen system were being ignored. When a senior Navy pilot showed photos of a faulty oxygen system he claimed had been sent up to NAVAIR’s headquarters in Maryland, the engineers said they never received the photos.

Navy spokeswoman Cmdr. Jeannie Groeneveld acknowledged that 40 percent of instructor pilots refused to fly their training flights Friday. A flight instructor said the number was closer to 75 percent, because the Navy reduced the flight schedule knowing more than half the pilots would refuse to fly.

Shoemaker said following a meeting in Kingsville, flights there had resumed.  

Navy IPs are not drama mamas. They are not type-B personalities who look for excuses not to fly. They do not make stuff up except for liberty stories.

...and JOPA ain't changed;

I don't think this is a helpful response;

“We have been working this for five, six years now to try to get to the bottom of this,” one official said.

Both officials acknowledged “communication problems” between the upper echelon of the Navy and the instructors.

Six months ago, the Navy sent the T-45 and other jet squadrons Sorbent tubes to measure the air the pilots were breathing. After each flight, the tubes were sent to a lab in Maryland for analysis. After 1,500 flights worth of air samples, the results remain inconclusive.

“We haven’t come up with anything conclusive … showing a contaminant or something like that,” a senior official said.

The instructor pilots see it differently.

“They sent our squadron six tubes,” one pilot said. “That’s part of the frustration. They are doing the absolute minimum.”

A longer period of time than it took to develop the atomic bomb. Longer to fight WWII.

And yet ...

The dangers with the oxygen system are not limited to the T-45 training jets either. U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornets have been known to suffer similar problems.

As was stated earlier, this is not a new problem. Bad on me, Meghann Myers at NavyTimes wrote about this 11 months ago;

"There’s only one thing that scares the s--- out of guys that fly the airplane, and it’s OBOGS," the pilot said in an interview.

That day in Nevada, the pilot and the NFO pulled out their backup oxygen bottles, landed the plane and met with the squadron's safety officer to file a report. It turned out, the pilot said, that the jet's OBOGS had stopped producing oxygen. What's more, he added, the filtering material inside the system had just been cleaned and it was the jet's first flight with a fresh oxygen generator.

That was back in 2007, when aviators reported annually a dozen or so reports of physiological episodes — the technical term for the effects when a plane stops producing oxygen, pumps a toxin into the cockpit or loses pressurization.

The rates were troubling. In 2010, Navy aviation pushed to get pilots and aircrew to report every time they thought they'd had an episode. And NAVAIR engineers focused on how to improve OBOGS and the environmental control system — the pieces of the airplane that keep clean, dry air circulating.

Navy officials say it's progress that more fliers are recognizing and reporting physiological episodes. They say the causes of these distressing incidents are varied across the air systems' dozens of components, many of which have been modified and are now being more regularly checked. Meanwhile, engineers work to develop sensors that detect air contamination and low oxygen levels.

The Navy's air warfare director summed up the dilemma in a tense exchange during a February hearing.

"It’s like chasing a ghost," said Rear Adm. Mike "Nasty" Manazir, a career Navy pilot. "You can’t figure it out, because the monitoring devices that do this are not on the airplane."
...
The air flow issues have bedeviled the Navy and Marine Corps' fleet of F/A-18 Hornets, EA-18G Growlers and T-45C Goshawk trainers, all of which use the OBOGS. In the case of air contamination, there are no warning systems to alert the aviators breathing disorienting and potentially deadly gases. Complicating the assessment of the breadth of the incidents is the general reluctance of pilots to report what seem to be physiological problems, which can remove their flight status.

Meanwhile, the reported number of events is skyrocketing. Aviators reported 15 physiological episodes in 2009, concentrated in strike aircraft and the trainer jets that aviators learn on, according to Naval Safety Center data.

By 2015, the fleet reported an eight-fold increase to 115 episodes: 31 in the T-45C Goshawk trainer and 41 in Hornet variants, plus 19 in the EA-18G Growler. The Marines also reported a spike that year, including hypoxia and OBOGS failure in the brand new F-35B joint strike fighters and seven more events involving its legacy Hornets, as the F/A-18 A through D variants are known.
...
"I’ve been flying Navy airplanes since 1982 on oxygen," testified Manazir. "I commanded an F-14 squadron that had OBOGS back in 1998. I have two cruises on that system and I have four cruises on the Super Hornet. I’ve never experienced a hypoxic event."

If the Navy were concerned about the safety of the jets, he added, they would ground the fleet.

But inside ready rooms, his comments landed like a ton of bricks.

"We have definitely upped the reporting since 2010 and it is a huge issue for us," the East Coast pilot said. "In my opinion, the admiral is just lucky that he has never had an incident."

The West Coast pilot shared that disappointment.

"I have a concern. I have a huge concern. Lots of guys have concerns. That’s the perfect time to go, 'We have a problem and we need the funding to get it fixed,' " he said. "If that’s for a media comment, then I get it. But if that’s what he’s really thinking, then I’m disappointed."

The pilot also pointed out that Manazir's timeline suggests his first 16 years flying were with liquid oxygen pumping into his mask, a system which OBOGS replaced.

"I would say, go to his log book and take all of the LOX flights out of there, and those numbers are going to come way down," he said. "We’ve got guys who have never been hypoxic, and guys who have been multiple times."

Her article goes in a to a lot of detail on the OBOGS. Read it all.

I can't get over on how long we are taking to solve this problem. BZ to the IPs for keeping up the pressure.

So, how long would it take and how much money to either convert back to LOX until we ID the problem or fix it like the USAF did with the F-22? Is either an option? 

If not, what is Plan C?

Or are we going to play management for Convair and McDonald-Douglas to Dan Applegate's memo? Just put a price on dead Naval Aviators and figure that is cheaper than fixing a hard problem?

Diversity Thursday

Well, of course.

How shall we patronize President Nixon's divisively invented non-ethnicity (yes, I have to do this again, as the hate mail of ignorance is stong on this point; try to tell a Cuban he is the same as a Mexican, or someone from Chile he is the same as someone from Venezeula ... I dare you)?

-----Original Message-----
From: TOTALFORCE_HR_NEWS
Sent: Tuesday, September 22, 2015 12:09 PM
Subject: Hispanic Heritage Month event, 6 Oct

All hands,

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at a special national program, "Hispanic-Americans: Energizing our Nation's Diversity," on 6 October 2015, live at the Patuxent River Center Stage Theater and via video teleconference to all NAVAIR sites.

This event features keynote speaker Ms. Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch, an Army veteran, author, motivational speaker and educator. Ms. Kickbusch is a renowned charismatic, passionate and influential speaker who carries her powerful message of what it takes to be an effective leader in today's global marketplace to hundreds of schools, colleges, universities, corporations and government institutions, both in the U.S. and abroad. For the last 10 years, Ms. Kickbsuch (sic) has dedicated her life to empowering a new generation of Hispanic leaders and has worked with more than 1 million children and their parents across the U.S. through Educational Achievement Services Inc., a company she founded in 1994.

EVENT DETAILS:
Date: Tuesday, 6 October 2015
Time: 1200-1300 EST (Hispanic cuisine tasting); 1300-1430 EST / 1000-1130 PST (keynote speaker)
Location: Patuxent River Center Stage Theater with video teleconference to all NAVAIR sites
Event flyer: https://mynavair.navair.navy.mil/links/HHMEventFlyer

REGISTRATION (REQUIRED):
--Visit NAVAIR University at https://navairu.navair.navy.mil.
--Click on the classes tab on the top menu bar.
--Enter "CISL-EVT-0109" in the search field, and click the blue search button.
--Click on register in the register column for the session you wish to attend.
--Click the yes button to enroll in the event.

Thank you,
Total Force Strategy & Management Department

Also, "Hispanic cuisine." LOL. Said by the same people who couldn't tell a Colombian menu from a Peruvian one, and think that Taco Bell is Mexican.

Now for the non-snarky bits ... well a little non-snarky. How much is this costing you? Yes, you. You're paying for it.

Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch
Army Veteran and Author

Why Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch?
- You want a dynamic female Hispanic Army veteran who will discuss servant leadership and why legacy builders outrank empire builders.
- Your audience longs for a new call to duty, where integrity, ethics, compassion, service and faith lead others to greater fulfillment.
- She inspires many to live their legacy, personally and professionally.

Let me do everyone a favor. I don't begrudge anyone a living, but ... here's what you're paying for.

Ahem.

BIOGRAPHY
Born and raised along the border in a small barrio in Laredo, Texas, Consuelo Kickbusch overcame poverty, discrimination, and illiteracy to become the successful community leader she is today. Although she grew up without material wealth, Kickbusch was taught by her immigrant parents that she was rich in culture, tradition, values, and faith.

The values Kickbusch learned during childhood were reinforced throughout her career in the United States military. After graduating from Hardin Simmons University, she entered the US Army as an officer and served for two decades. While in the military, she broke barriers and set records to become the highest ranking Hispanic woman in the Combat Support Field of the US Army. In 1996, she was selected out of 26,000 candidates to assume a command post, which would put her on track for the rank of general officer. She respectfully declined the honor and retired as a 22-year veteran of the US Army to fulfill her mother's dying wish – for her to return to her roots and become a community leader. In realizing her dream, she founded Educational Achievement Services, Inc. with a mission to prepare tomorrow's leaders.

Kickbusch currently shares her story with people of all ages and creeds. She is doing exactly what she preaches – living a legacy. She maintains a strong dedication to saving the youth of America by mentoring students and parents across the United States.

In addition to her work with American youth, Kickbusch reaches audiences in the corporate, professional, nonprofit, and multi-cultural markets, speaking on such topics as workforce issues like diversity, leadership, and team building, as well as women's issues.

O5 Command at the 22-yr mark? Hmmm, Army does things a bit funky I guess. OK. That must make the O6 board a bear.

When the opportunity arose to assume a command post, Consuelo shocked the military by deciding to retire.

Well, OK.

---

UPDATE: No, seriously, you're paying for it.

Fee Range:($10,001 - $20,000)

NAVAIR Manning Crunch? What could go ... right?

Looks like NAVAIR wants to find efficiencies in its manning?

If you have some ideas, check out my post at USNIBlog and let me know what you think.

Diversity Thursday

Is this what is was all about? To just be another walled off, whimpering gaggle to be paternalistically patronized and pittied?

A LOT of people from NAVAIR sent this to me, and so I will publish it here for the rest of you to ponder out of obligation to the underground, if nothing else. 

I hope that at a minimum there is at least going to be a good effort to shame this through lack of attendance and interest.

Before I post-n-run, a little note to my former allies in the repeal of DADT who get all warm and fuzzy about this.

You have proven our opponents correct in this one bit. You sold the honor of a good cause - a strive for an opportunity to serve our nation regardless of how you found love and desire in your private life - and have pimped it out to the Diversity Industry.

You are letting it be used to fatten the bank accounts of the forces of division, sectarianism, and the very opposite of what was the ideal we agreed we were working for - equality.

No, instead you have degenerated and debased a good cause in to just another tool to justify fraud, waste, abuse, and the never ending search for special-snowflake attention.

I don't know what is worse, how quickly you sold out your honor, or how pathetic you look panting for attention in a circle of self-licking ice cream cones.

If you find pride is this little bucket of sad tomatoes, then yeh ... in this respect ... URR was right. 

On the whole the cause was good - but the backwash of the movement - which this is - is spoiling the taste of the whole effort.

It is all, in the end, sad and pathetic.

From: TOTALFORCE_HR_NEWS
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2015 12:04 PM
Subject: LGBT Pride Month event: 2 June

All hands,

NAVAIR is hosting a national Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month event on Tuesday, 2 June, from 1300-1400 at the River's Edge Conference Center in Patuxent River and via national video teleconference. This event features keynote speaker Brigadier General Tammy Smith, deputy chief of staff, Army Reserve, who will provide a multifaceted perspective on identity and help us look beyond preconceived notions of gender and societal roles. To read the Department of Defense memo regarding Pride Month, visit https://mynavair.navair.navy.mil/links/DoDLGBTPrideMonth.

Event registration is required. Please follow the instructions below for your site.

Patuxent River and Lakehurst:

-- Visit NAVAIR University at https://navairu.navair.navy.mil/.
-- Click on the classes tab on the top menu bar.
-- Enter "CISL-EVT-0106" in the search field, and click the blue search button.
-- Click on register in the register column for the session you wish to attend.
-- Click the yes button to enroll in the event.
-- If you can't register in NAVAIRU, email NAVAIR_EEO@navy.mil.

China Lake and Point Mugu:
-- Email CHLK_EDD_HELP_DESK@navy.mil.
-- Include your name, code, number, and session/location [CL-VTC Mclean] or [PM-VTC MIC]


Thank you,

Total Force Strategy & Management Department

DoD LGBT Pride Month by CDR Salamander

Diversity Thursday

If one must think of Woman's History Month, I like to think of Mama Salamander. Honors graduate in Math. Trailblazer for women in the computer industry, mother, entrepreneur and never ... never one to suffer fools or fads.

A misogynistic, woman hating, male chauvinist pig would be harder pressed to create an event that tee'd up an "I told you so" ball better than what I am about to share below - and about as contra-Mama Salamander as you can get. (think of Mama Salamander as a slightly younger Grace Hopper ... if Grace Hopper was also a model as a side job)

As someone who from MIDN days supported women serving wherever they physically and realistically could, this torques me off, as it gives the "I told you so" crowd all the negative stereotype fodder they need.

Of what do I speak? Well, if you haven't eaten yet - you may want to hold off. If you have a spray shield for your computer, you may want to go get it.

First, NAVAIR ... you own this. All of it, so just soak it in.

-----Original Message-----
From: TOTALFORCE_HR_NEWS
Sent: Monday, February 23, 2015 2:37 PM
Subject: Women's History Month event, 3 March

All hands,
Celebrate Women's History Month on 3 March featuring LeeAnn Mallorie, founder and CEO of Leading in Motion, who will address "Leadership Sustainability." Ms. Mallorie specializes in coaching, personal development, leadership training and organizational change. This event is jointly sponsored by NAVAIR's Women's Advisory Group and Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity Office.
EVENT DETAILS:
Date: Tuesday, 3 March 2015
Times:
-- 1000-1130 (main event: "Sustainable Leadership")
-- 1230-1345 Breakout Session 1 ("Increasing and Managing Your Energy")
-- 1400-1515 Breakout Session 2 ("Emotion and Stress Management")
Location: River's Edge Conference Center, Patuxent River, and via video teleconference
Flyer: https://mynavair.navair.navy.mil/links/WAGFlyerEastCoast
REGISTRATION INFORMATION:
Note: Each program segment requires separate registration.
-- Visit https://navairu.navair.navy.mil . (Note: You must have a NAVAIR University account to register. If you do not have an account, follow the instructions below.)
-- Click on the "Classes" tab on the top menu bar.
-- Enter "CISL-EVT-0101" in the search field and click the blue search button.
-- Click on "Register" in the register column for the session you wish to attend.
-- Click the "Yes" button to enroll in the event.
Course numbers and titles:
-- CISL-EVT-0101 - Women's History Month -MAIN EVENT
-- CISL-EVT-0102 - Increasing & Managing Energy
-- CISL-EVT-0103 - Emotion & Stress Management
NAVAIRU REGISTRATION INFORMATION:
-- Visit https://navairu.navair.navy.mil .
-- Select "Register" in the upper left corner of the screen.
-- Complete all fields, and click the save button.
If you are unable to register in NAVAIRU, email [redacted]@navy.mil and list sessions attending.
Thank you,
Total Force Strategy & Management Department

I guess that comes under the category of Conference Weaving & Group Energizers.

Oh, I don't know if I can really do this ... but, sigh, if not me, who? If not now, when? Let's go.

NAVAIR is a fairly technical organization. We can all agree on that I hope. Nothing in life is free. Especially for events like this. In an era where every other speech by senior leadership squeals about sequestration, one would expect all organizations to be very careful how funds are used. After all, it is hard to cry poverty when you are spending $20 on popcorn at the movie theater every weekend.

So, with that set - what is the mindset NAVAIR wants its very technical force to have? Especially their female cadre? What tools are they giving them to compete? 

What does LeeAnn believe?

I believe in GUT-FEELING and intuition. I believe that MUSIC & MOVEMENT can unlock the soul. I believe that ILLNESS is a wake-up call. I believe in SIMPLICITY. I believe in RADICAL SELF-CARE. I believe experts don’t always know BEST.

I believe in PLAY… that our life depends on it. I believe in BOTH-AND. I believe our INTENTION affects our destiny. I believe that our PRESENCE is the ultimate gift. I believe we must FEEL in order to HEAL.

That doesn't reinforce negative tropes ... nope ... not at all.

LeeAnn has her fingers in all sorts of stuff. What else can she offer? We have "Dancing Freedom;"

Dancing Freedom is a global movement supporting liberation, community and leadership through the sacred medicine of dance. We are co-creating a global rEvolution, dancing towards a world in which all beings feel more at home, empowered, peaceful and free.

Dancing Freedom blends conscious dance and the essence of medicine ceremony, taking you through an elemental wave of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether. Each Dancing Freedom class provides a safe and dynamic space to explore your own body sensations and emotions, while connecting with whole group consciousness. The ceremony begins with a powerful prayer for your life, and ends with a harvest circle where collective wisdom is shared.

We believe that oneness includes everything, no exceptions. Therefore welcome all people to participate in the journey, from experienced dancers who want to deepen their practice to those who have never stepped foot on a dance floor.

She can bring in her skills as a Somatic Coach;

There are many perspectives on coaching today, yet rarely do you see a methodology that fully encompasses the totality of our humanness. Somatic Coaching is the discourse that represents this unity of the whole human being. A somatic perspective includes our thinking, feeling, emotions, and acting; this also accounts for our narratives and stories, our moods, and our energetic body. This comprehensive and integrated view is what sets the SI Somatic Methodology apart from other styles and methods. While some systems may simply add the body as an element in their coaching curriculum, we treat the body as a fundamental place of change, learning, and transformation. We hold that the self and the body are indistinguishable and by working through the body we can directly work with the self. Working through the body at this level is Somatic Coaching. Through systemic, bodily intervention, transformation occurs. It is through this holistic coaching process that fundamental, sustainable change is possible on a level not achieved through most coaching modalities.

Our narratives, belief systems, world views, bodily contractions, streamings, pulsations, and a yearning for that which is beyond the self all live in our soma. These experiences shape our mood, our actions, our perceptions, our way of being – and our bodies. Through the SI Somatic Methodology, coaches learn to observe the self in the body. With this skill, one can assess aspects of the self by observing the shape of the body. This is not body language; this is a skill that allows one to deeply and respectfully see who someone is. Our somatic shape, the shape of our self, produces possibilities and limitations. Through disorganizing the conditioned, historical shape we can re-shape ourselves into a more relaxed, confident, bold shape through which we can live our full potential. SI’s methodology offers the skills to bring forth this level of change for your clients.

There have always been issues raised on the sexist nature of the PRT. Maybe LeeAnn would have some options we can look at in order to be more inclusive. She is really in to Nia, that could be a start.

Nia is the art of movement the body's way. Nia is a cardio-dance workout, a movement practice, and lifestyle based on the intelligent design of the body.

We believe every person can discover, explore, unleash, and enhance their individual potential to live a healthy and meaningful life by engaging their senses and listening to their bodies.

Nia Workout

Nia tones your mind and tunes your body. Each workout brings mindfulness to your dance movement experience leaving you energized, mentally clear, and emotionally balanced.

Nia cardio-dance workouts combine 52 simple moves with dance arts, martial arts, and healing arts to get you fit in 60 minutes - body, mind, emotion, and spirit.

Nia is practiced barefoot, non-impact, and adaptable to individual needs and abilities.

There ain't no party like a NAVAIR dance party; mark it down as command PT.

I know, I know ... you must be asking yourself, "Where does NAVAIR find its motivational speakers?" Usually, you see one, you like them, and then you ask them to come speak to your people.

The City of Brotherly Love is just a day's drive from NAVAIR, isn't it? Perhaps someone met her at the 2014 Poly Living Philadelphia Conference. Did she bring this advice and perspective to NAVAIR. Goodness knows we need to make sure we access all the tools in the toolbox.

LeeAnn Mallorie recently moved to Philadelphia to pursue her first love: building authentic communities through the power of dance. For the past ten years, she has trained with Bay Area conscious dancers, martial artists, sound healers, shamans, coaches, somatic therapists, body workers and musicians, while boldly disseminating their cutting edge work to the rest of the world. LeeAnn believes that intimate relationships are a path to personal transformation. Walking her talk, she followed the thread of her parents failed marriage and her own series of tumultuous monogamous relationships, through the barriers of social convention, to the joy of loving openly. She has been in a creative and open relationship with her partner, Jorge Cortez since February of 2013, when her sexuality cracked open while studying the practice of Orgasmic Meditation.

OK, that is an interesting form of meditation. Are there practical exercises, vignettes, and possibly workshops? I have no idea. If you are interested in more, Salon.com has a primer.

Even better, visualize this at NAVAIR ... not that there is anything wrong with it, though LeeAnn seems a bit heteronormative in her practice.

One last bit. I am never one to want to take away someones honest living - no one owes you a job and you have to make your way in the world as best as you can. 

That doesn't mean that anyone is entitled to the money with your stamp on it though. If this is really what NAVAIR leadership thinks is best for their organization and what present Navy leadership wants, then so be it.

I do want to take a moment to emphasize a central tenet of DivThu: this is all about the $$$$. There are a lot of otherwise unemployable people who have invested tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in education that they have to find some way to monetize. LeeAnn is, in this respect, a hard driven and successful entrepreneur. Part of the Diversity Industry? You'bet'cha;

Founder LeeAnn M. Mallorie has a passion for culture and a knack for supporting people in "ah-ha" breakthrough moments. LeeAnn completed her M.A. in Cultural Social Psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, focusing on bicultural identity negotiation among Chinese-American biculturals and inter-cultural communication v. conflict among U.S. majority/minority groups. She was trained in dialogue facilitation through the University of Michigan Program on Inter-group Relations and Conflict. She studied and worked abroad as a Princeton In Asia Fellow teaching EFL for ten months in rural Hunan, China. In addition to running the Cultural Horizions Institute, she currently works as a life coach, on-site facilitator and 360° feedback specialist at Learning as Leadership, a San Francisco based consulting firm. Her clients include NASA, Shell Oil, Sandia National Laboratories, Harvard Business School, and Artech Inc, Taiwan. LeeAnn is fluent in Mandarin, Chinese.

Fluent in Mandarin. What a waste. I'd rather have her in the N2 shop at PACFLT, but then again - knowing those guys, the last thing any of us need is seeing them dancing in yoga pants and going on an orgasmic meditation workshop retreat.

I hope all my NAVAIR bubbas had a chance to go ... for goodness sake, you don't want to miss a chance to explore your, what do you call it,

"Our narratives, belief systems, world views, bodily contractions, streamings, pulsations, and a yearning for that which is beyond the self ..."

Yeah, that. Take your local ABHC.

As you watch the two video below ... which I know you will as your tax dollars are paying for this ... think about all that sequester talk ... and think of your happy place.



... and yes, this new age snake oil as about as non-diverse as anything I have seen in a long time.

I'm a giver ... so I give. Behold URR and MTH's next girlfriends having a chat.




Hat tip K.

Diversity Thursday

I know that many of you just think it is hyperbole on DivThu when we talk of non-value added empire building by self-referential self-licking ice cream cones that are the subsidized parasites of the diversity industry that have adhered themselves to various vestigial organs throughout our Navy.

When you see it ....

Ponder the mission of NAVAIR. Ponder manpower costs. Ponder opportunity costs. Ponder ... why?

BEHOLD!

NAVAIR Industry Day - Sequestration

Interesting presentation today by NAVAIR's Garry Newton.

Well played and well done. Educate and leverage technology.

Skippy, SJS, Lex; let's bid on this NAVAIR contract

Come on guys - there are only two interested vendors at this point; WESTOOL CORPORATION of Temperance, MI, and DCX-CHOL ENTERPRISES, INC. from LA, CA.



We do "Whatever" every day. If we aren't SME's on "Whatever" - who is?

BTW - this is not a joke. Until they take it down - the link is here. Google cashe here.

That 'thar is funnie - I don't care who you are.

---

UPDATE: I found it at last. Here is the googlecache.

Hat tip Spencer Ackerman @ Wired.