Executing the Flat Footed Pivot

No reason to ignore it. It is right in front of you, waiting. All you need to do is look at it, smell it, touch it.

I'm pondering the Zeitgeist over at USNIBlog ... come visit and tell me what you think.

AMCSB: Zombie Boards & The Truths They Tell

Never is something more true than, "Don't listen to what they say, watch what they do." 

From FITREPS to the Milington Diktat, we have developed a habit of telling each other little lies. Mostly it is from the intellectual cowardliness of not wanting to be the bearer of bad news, or to do something that will make someone not like you. Worse, it is a sign of disrespect where you tell a lie to someone who knows you are telling a lie, and they act like they think you are being truthful when, in reality, they know that you know that they know that you are lying. That is just your basic FITREP debrief. 

 It is something else though when your nation and your service has been at war for a decade. In addition to "normal" deployments, in order to double-count paid billets (a person is counted only once, though they are doing two jobs, one which is effectively gapped) we created IAs where the Navy sent people to fill warfighting jobs in IRQ, AFG, and other garden spots that supported those wars. There was always a promise that of course, we are at war. You are filling a combat job in addition to everything else ... you are getting "pain points" that will be rewarded. Trust us. 

Well, what ground truth does the latest Aviation Major Command Screen Board tell us?

124Total URL Eligibles (SG 91/92)
39 URL Selects (not including AVN/Seq Commands)
21 of 39 selects on first look (54%)

- 35 had a masters (90%)
- 37 had completed JPME 1 (95%)
- 26 had completed JPME 2 (67%)
- 35 had joint duty assignments (90%)
- 24 were JQO (62%)
- 21 had completed an overseas tour (54%)
- 1 had completed IA/GSA (3%)

It is like a decade of war never happened.  You could have seen almost the same results in 2000. This is simply the result of a system running on autopilot. Led by people who have lost whatever operational mindset they once had, that they don't even understand what their core job is - to fight wars.

What are the "lessons learned" for our best? Get a masters, JPME I, and Joint Tour. All else is secondary. Fight to avoid the front lines and to lead Sailors in harms way. Scratch for those triple-digit N-codes in chop-the-chopped-chop PPT jobs. Get your part-time Masters from degree mills.

And, for all that is good, don't go to war or volunteer for an IA/GSA. That's the B-Team's job.

What does our Navy seem to value after a decade of war? Simple, the box-checking, staff weenie fonctionnaire.

---

Update: Some people have read this as a slap at those who were selected. I can see how it could be read that way, and I am sorry if some took offense; I could have worded it better.

Our system puts out demand signals that good people respond to, or are pushed to by sponsors to follow. Also, for something as highly exceptionally selective as the AMCSB, the line between the bottom five selected and the top five not selected is very hard to draw. The central issue here is institutional and what we have our best doing with their time, and also what we use as a "tie breaker."

You were a #1 JO, DH, & CO, but due to the luck of the schedule did not do a combat deployment. You want to get in the game, and look to an IA as a way to do it. Do you? The message is clear; better to do a cube farm J-code than lead Sailors in AFG.

That board fact is to our great shame.

LCS Gets Some Travel'n Shoes

Actually, I kind of like it. In some mission sets where visual matters - I can see where this might buy you some time, and that is good.

It is also experimentation and builds some ship's pride in being unique, and that is good.

LCS-1 is in dire need of a paint job in any event.

Anyway - if you can't have a war horse, which LCS isn't yet; if you can't have a work horse, which LCS will never be; then you probably have a show pony. If you are going to have a show pony - make it look as good as you can. Play the hand you have.

We chatted it a bit yesterday - so here you go.  LCS-1's new paint scheme Earl Scheib will give her before her "deployment" to Singapore.

Salamander approves.

Look at some of her peers' paint jobs ... and though we'll see once it gets put on - but how about the HOUBEI:

.... and the VISBY:

OK. I think we have them beat in aesthetics, but as for those funny things making smoke .... let's not talk about that right now.

Well we won't ... but if you would like to snark along like we did yesterday, I highly recommend Spencer's article from the other day.

LCS and the Audacity of Hope

Oh goodness. I really don't want to make it a habit of Fisking Flag Officers, but if you are going to put your by-line out there, well, welcome to the scrum of the marketplace of ideas.

VADM Copeman, again, "With all due respect ... but ..." - you brought up the subject. Out of nothing but love ... we must engage on  ... the Little Crappy Ship.

BEHOLD

The alternative universe of the Potomac Flotilla!

Sigh. Here we go, paragraph by paragraph.

By Vice Admiral Tom Copeman

I'll afford you the same benefit of the doubt as I do all VADM, I really don't think you penned it all, someone on your staff got it started and you got a chop on it. Well, I don't know, maybe you did.  If you did, I don't think your Staff served you well if you let them chop on it.

Twenty-five years ago, then CNO Admiral Trost looked into the future and began our shift from a Cold War focus to dealing with regional and littoral conflicts in the years to come.  So we started down the path to where we are now—working through various iterations, starts and stops, and plenty of ideas on ship types and classes to deal with unknown future threats.

25 years ago was JAN 1988. I'm sorry, no one in 1988 was seeing the end of the Cold War, much less shifting away from it. We were both JOs then ... come on, you remember. Heck, Hunt for Red October wasn't even in movie theaters yet.

Future without the Red Banner Fleet as our primary threat? Future where we would need more smaller ships? (actions of the next decade+ tell a different story as the legacy Riverine forces in the reserves were killed in the late '90s, PHMs were sent packing, PG gone, OHPs castrated, etc). I don't see 1988's Admiral Carlisle A. H. Trost, USN (PBUH) having any of the LCS stink on him.

As a matter of fact, dig around the good Admiral's tenure as CNO and most of what will be found is about physical fitness, the IOWA turret explosion, spanking Lehman, women at sea (he was not a fan). Here is the WSJ from OCT of '87. Lots of talk about the meeting of the Supreme Soviet and their next 5-yr plan.

You brought Admiral Trost in to it ... so ... what was he writing about in 1987? Here, read it yourself from JAN 87's Proceedings;

Let's go to 1989, 24 years ago. What was Admiral Trost saying?

Oh, hey .... let's let the newspaper of record tell us.  From the DEC 89 NYT;

Despite rampant revisionism in Washington on the changing scope and nature of the Soviet threat, he continues to base his analysis of the Navy's needs on a belief that the Soviet Union is just as dangerous as ever.

I'm sure I am missing something. Can anyone here give me something with a '87-89 date stamp where Admiral Trost sees the decay of the Soviet Union and the need in 2012 to have a corvette that can't even get its 57mm and 30mm guns to work right?

Sigh. VADM Copeman; you need a historian on your Staff ... pronto, if for no other reason than to say, "You may want to reference that comment." Now, back to the article.

Now we have assets in place to operate in the littorals and we have new ways of delivering troops and equipment to the beach.

OK, soooooo ..... the gun line off Vietnam was not in littorals? 5-inch Friday off Al-Faw in 2003 was not the littorals? LCS is actually and asset we can, in 2013, fight in the littorals?

"Now"? No we don't. Not now.We have a lot of "hope" and "will" and "plan" but no there-there. It will be years until we know if LCS will be able to do squat ... and until then the best thing to do is to keep it far away from any possible threat until we figure out exactly what it can or cannot do.  Right now, we know mostly what it cannot do - which is all of its primary mission areas.

How many of us saw the expansion of C5ISR? Or, who knew in the late 1980’s that there would even be UAVs, much less see the ubiquity of their use? Which is the sticking point about the future—it is wholly unknown. And for those who say past is prelude. That may be, but the past isn’t a plot.

Well, only the cynic would have said, "Oh, come on. We went from C2, to C4I, to another NCM for C4ISR. What more can they do - make it C5ISR? Please, everyone will think it is an old air-force cargo plane doing ISR ... no one will make that acronym .... we'll be stuck with C4I or C4ISR ... you can bank on it."  Oops. That is what you get for not being cynical enough. By 2020, what more can we add to it?

But yes, a lot of people saw the future of UAVs .... the military had been using them for decades and as technology, communications, and everything else advanced, so did their utility.  Good googly moogly .... don't engineers read science fiction if not their own history?

The past isn't a plot ... but it is the best reference point to the future. Only a few thousand years show us that. I'm still not sure what "...past isn't a plot." is trying to address. While I nood'l that, let's get back to VADM Copeman;

The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is an important addition to the Battle Force and is exactly the ship we envisioned 11 years ago to fill a capability gap in the Littorals in Surface Warfare, Mine Warfare and Anti-submarine Warfare. It is here now and we fully expect it to be an important an integral and substantial part of our future force. 

Exactly? Define soon? Not that important right now ... or in the next few years. I'll take that bet. Well, that mention of a year is fun. 11 years ago was what .... 2002. What was being said in 2002?

The Defense Planning Guidance in May 2002 directed the Navy to pursue a new class of small, stealthy "Littoral Combatant Ships" to support troops ashore and to conduct anti-mine, intelligence and reconnaissance operations. The Navy planned to build two "Flight Zero" LCS vessels to refine the new class' concept of operations. More detailed mission modules are to be developed for the Flight One LCS that was hoped would appear soon after 2007. The Navy wanted to buy eight of these ships through 2009, with the first in 2005.

No, go back to RADM Don Loren's 2002 article; nothing has changed. It is still think'n, hope'n and plann'n.  In twice the time it took to fight WWII, LCS isn't PMC in any of its primary mission areas. One could argue ASUW. One could, but I wouldn't. Back to VADM Copeman;

It’s a high speed, shallow draft, multi-mission workhorse full of technology that is our future.  As we decommission different ships of various classes, LCS will step up and fill multiple roles.  It is far more automated than previous class ships, and with lower manning, requires us to adapt our training and operations to meet that reality.

A ship that cannot deploy for more than 4-months due to crew burnout and habitability issues is not a work horse. Show pony, perhaps .... but not a workhorse. 

It is not multi-mission. It is at best uni-mission. You cannot take a training time out and swap out mission modules when a brace of Houbei come around the inlet you are hunting mines in. 

Also, you cannot use the present tense. I like optimism ... but that is for the future when all the pixie dust takes root. Not now. It cannot today, tomorrow or until at earliest mid-late decade even partially fill in for anything.

So, let me get to my priorities:

1.  Warfighting. It’s what we do – A large part of that will be with LCS.  LCS must get into the Fleet and fully integrated where we will use both variants and the mission modules to their best effect.
2.   Readiness. The world is a dynamic place and the Navy has to have the best trained Sailors who will operate the best equipment possible. In many ways what we operate will determine the number, type and training of Sailors needed. That support trail begins now for what we will require in the decades to come.
3.  Building the future fleet. What will the world look like in another decade. That’s a question which forces us to make assumptions about future resources, alliances, bases and strategies. The concepts, design outlines, support requirements—training, simulators, supply chain and dollars—required to operate in 2025 have to get underway soon.

No, we won't do much warfighting with LCS. Its best utility will be presence operations in peacetime. Warfighting will be with DDG and up. LCS will be kept far away from significant warfighting, if it can avoid it. It simply is not ready, and won't be for awhile.

The points about readiness and the future fleet are spot on. VADM Copeman is also spot on about the need to focus on 2025 now (where have we heard that before .....).

This is the point of the article where I am actually starting to pay attention and am leaning in to read what he has to say. It sounds right and reflects sound reasoning one would expect from a USN VADM.

Looking to the next paragraph;

No matter what news you see or hear about our budget, as of today, we get to steam around the world as part of the most powerful Navy in history. We have the best people, representing the best nation, with the best ships ever known. Let’s keep it that way… tell the Surface Navy story wherever you go. The oceans aren’t getting smaller and the world isn’t getting safer. A maritime nation needs a worthy maritime capability.

NOOOOOO! Tease! I feel robbed. Ending the article with output from the Random Flag Officer Speech Generator? I feel like for most of the article I was reading a press release from industry and then the start of an actual article of interest starts .... only to be cut off at the knees by a paragraph by the RFOSG. 

If I may humbly make a request to VADM Copeman .... take Priority 3, flavor it with Priority 2, and flesh that out to about 3,000 words or more. Submit it to Proceedings and use that as a conversation starter.

Heck, do that and I'll extend an apology for being a snarky and immature smarta55, and offer you a full hour on Midrats to discuss it.

---

UPDATE: Interesting thing. Re-read the above .... and then read this from AOLDefense;

Ultimately, (Copeman) warned, "if you don't want to get hollow, you have to give up force structure."

"Resources are going to drop. They're going to drop significantly," the admiral said.

VADM Copeman just went Salamander circa 2008. Therefor, he is correct. It took a half decade, but welcome. One day soon, they will all go Salamander in their own way. It has been written.

I actually got a kick out of this as well.

"If it were my choice," Copeman said, "I'd give up force structure to get whole. But it's not always my choice."

Admiral Greenert; call your office.

Sequestration Budgetary Guidelines

A couple of items out there for review if you wonder what in DoD/DoN are going to take the brunt of budget shortfalls if sequestration takes place. First, from Deputy SECDEF Ashton Carter;

A little closer to home, from SECNAV Mabus;

DTG 112146Z Jan 13
UNCLASSIFIED/
FM SECNAV WASHINGTON DC
TO ALNAV
INFO SECNAV WASHINGTON DC
CNO WASHINGTON DC
CMC WASHINGTON DC
BT

UNCLAS

ALNAV 006/13

MSGID/GENADMIN/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC/-/JAN//

SUBJ/RISK MITIGATION FISCAL PLANNING//

RMKS/1.  THIS IS AN UPDATE ON THE CURRENT FISCAL SITUATION FACING THE NAVY AND MARINE CORPS AS CONGRESS CONTINUES TO WORK TOWARD A DEFICIT REDUCTION PLAN TO AVOID THE DAMAGING EFFECTS OF SEQUESTRATION AND TO PASS A BUDGET TO END THE EQUALLY DELETERIOUS EFFECTS OF THE CONTINUING RESOLUTION (CR) UNDER WHICH WE HAVE OPERATED SINCE THE FISCAL YEAR BEGAN OCTOBER 1, 2012.

2.  SEQUESTRATION WAS DELAYED FOR TWO MONTHS IN THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER RELIEF ACT (ATRA) PASSED BY CONGRESS ON 1 JANUARY, CREATING MORE TIME TO AGREE ON DEFICIT REDUCTION, BUT GIVING THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE LESS TIME TO MITIGATE SPENDING CUTS IF NO AGREEMENT CAN BE REACHED.

3.  BUT DON (AND ALL OF DOD) FACE AN EQUAL BUT MORE IMMEDIATE FISCAL CHALLENGE BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF AN FY-13 APPROPRIATIONS BILL, WHICH HAS LEFT US OPERATING UNDER THE CR, WHICH LOCKS OUR BUDGET INTO LOWER FY-12 LEVELS FOR OUR OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE ACCOUNTS DESPITE INCREASING RESPONSIBILITIES WHICH DEMAND INCREASED RESOURCES.

4.  BECAUSE SEQUESTRATION WAS DELAYED, OUR FOCUS MUST NOW SHIFT TO THE IMPACTS OF THE CR, WHICH CREATES SIGNIFICANT SHORTFALLS IN OPERATION & MAINTENANCE, NAVY (OMN) AND MARINE CORPS (OMMC) ACCOUNTS AND THE RESULTANT STEPS WE MUST TAKE TO MAINTAIN A MINIMUM LEVEL OF PRESENCE.  UNLESS A SPENDING BILL IS PASSED QUICKLY BY THE NEW CONGRESS, WE MAY BE FORCED TO OPERATE UNDER THE SAME CR THAT HAS BEEN SUSTAINING US SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THIS FISCAL YEAR.  THIS CR IS SET TO EXPIRE AT THE END OF MARCH. SHOULD CONGRESS DECIDE TO EXTEND THE CR THROUGH THE END OF FY-13, THE NAVY AND MARINE CORPS WOULD NOT HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO MEET FY-13 REQUIREMENTS IN THESE ACCOUNTS.

5.  WE EXPECT TO RECEIVE FY-13 OVERSEAS CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS (OCO) FUNDING; HOWEVER, THOSE FUNDS ARE EARMARKED FOR SUPPORT OF CRITICAL WARFIGHTING REQUIREMENTS AND WOULD NOT PROVIDE ANY SIGNIFICANT RELIEF TO OUR BASELINE OPERATING ACCOUNTS.  WE PROJECT A SHORTFALL OF OVER $4 BILLION IN OUR BASE O&M ACCOUNTS WHICH FUNDS NAVY AND MARINE CORPS READINESS.

6.  GIVEN THE GREAT UNCERTAINTY WE FACE, WE MUST ENACT PRUDENT, BUT STRINGENT BELT-TIGHTENING MEASURES NOW THAT WILL PERMIT US TO OPERATE THE NAVY AND MARINE CORPS THROUGH THE REST OF THIS FISCAL YEAR IF THE CR IS EXTENDED.  EACH OF THESE STEPS ARE DESIGNED TO BE REVERSIBLE, AT LEAST TO SOME EXTENT, SHOULD CONGRESS PASS AN FY-13 BUDGET.  ACCORDINGLY, NAVY AND MARINE CORPS LEADERSHIP HAS ADVISED THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE THAT THEY ARE CONSIDERING A SERIES OF ACTIONS, EACH SUBJECT TO EXCEPTIONS FOR MISSION-CRITICAL ACTIVITIES.  ACTIONS INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:

- CURTAIL ADMINISTRATIVE CONTRACTING SUPPORT SERVICES

- REDUCE TRAVEL

- DELAY ALL DECOMMISSIONINGS AND ANY DISPOSALS OR LAY-UPS

- REDUCE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND ADMINISTRATIVE BUDGETS

- CURTAIL REMAINING FACILITY SUSTAINMENT RESTORATION AND MODERNIZATION PROGRAMS

- CUT FACILITIES SUSTAINMENT, EXCEPT FOR SAFETY OF LIFE

- REDUCE SPENDING ON BASE OPERATING SUPPORT

- CANCEL ANY PLANNED FACILITIES DEMOLITION

- TERMINATE TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES, EXCEPT THOSE SUPPORTING MISSION-CRITICAL ACTIVITIES SUPPORTING THE WARFIGHTER

- IMPLEMENT A CIVILIAN HIRING FREEZE

7.  THESE STEPS WILL NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM COMPLETELY.  WE WILL ONLY BE ABLE TO SUSTAIN CURRENT FLEET OPERATIONS.  WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SUFFICIENTLY MAINTAIN AND RESET OUR FORCES FOR FUTURE OPERATIONS.

8.  WITH A YEARLONG CR, THE POTENTIAL FOR CIVILIAN FURLOUGHS EXISTS, BUT ALL DECISIONS IN THAT REGARD WILL BE MADE AT THE DOD LEVEL.  WE WILL FOLLOW WHATEVER GUIDANCE WE RECEIVE. 

9.  THIS GUIDANCE IS PROVIDED FOR YOUR INFORMATION.  SHORTLY, YOU WILL BE HEARING SPECIFICS FROM SERVICE LEADERSHIP ABOUT THEIR PLANS FOR THE AMOUNT OF THESE ADJUSTMENTS AND WHAT ACTIONS ARE BEING TAKEN TO LIMIT THE IMPACT ON OUR MILITARY PERSONNEL, CIVILIANS, AND FAMILIES.

10.  RELEASED BY RAY MABUS, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.//
BT

Hat tip FrontPorch.

The SAPR FLAILEX

Sexual assault is very serious - but we are not addressing this in a serious manner. We are simply going through the process like a fonctionnaire. 

Who is driving the SAPR clown car?

You can usually measure the uselessness, especially if it is politically motivated, of any endeavor by how much goofy activity surrounds it, and how much it makes otherwise sound, balanced professionals act like they forgot to take their meds.

For the uninitiated, SAPR training is;

SAPR-L training provided command leadership triads (Commanding Officer / Officer in Charge, Executive Officer / Assistant Officer in Charge and Command Master Chief / Chief of the Boat / Senior Enlisted) the skills to promote a culture of change through interactive video and facilitated face-to-face (F2F) discussion. Deployed command leadership triads that were not able to participate in F2F SAPR-L Preparation or Defense Connect Online (DCO) / Teleconference training can still complete the training by attending a SAPR-L training session conducted by their parent command or viewing a DVD recorded Master Mobile Training Team led training session. Contact the SAPR Task Force (via link below) to obtain a DVD copy in the mail.
...
Based on the success of the SAPR-L delivery model and positive feedback received, the SAPR-F delivery plan has changed. Master Mobile Training Teams (MMTT), certified by the Center for Personal and Professional Development, will now deploy to fleet concentration areas in December 2012 to begin SAPR-F Preparation Training. Commands cannot begin SAPR-F training until their training team has attended SAPR-F Preparation Training. In order to allow ample time for this change to be executed, the deadline for active and reserve E-6 and below completion of SAPR-F has been extended from 31 December 2012 to 31 March 2013. Additional information and execution guidance is included in NAVADMIN 336/12.

So, here is the first clown out of the car. A little detail here, this is written by an O6 selected for Command. He knows a few things about leadership. He has been in this rodeo before.

He does this by email.

He/she does this to CAPT, CDR, CMDCM, and all sorts of other senior swinging Johnsons and Joannas in a leadership positions he owns paper on.

BEHOLD THE MADNESS

-----Original Message-----
From: [redacted] Commanding Officer [redacted]
Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2013 8:58 AM
To: [redacted]
Cc:[redacted]
Subject: Last Chance SAPR-L Training

I wanted to reach out one last time before beginning Administrative
action as a result of your non-compliance with the CNO's order to
complete SAPR-L Training. I will provide one last opportunity for
training on January 13 and 27 from 0900-1100 in the CO's conference
room. Keep in mind that your failure to complete the required training
will be considered a violation of the UCMJ and will be treated as such.
If I am contacting you in error, please let me know.

COs,
Please let me know if there is a specific reason your member in the To
line has not been able to complete the training.


Vr
CAPT [redacted]
Commanding Officer
[redacted]
O [redacted]
C [redacted]
[redacted]@navy.mil
[redacted]@navy.smil.mil


-----Original Message-----
From: [redacted] Commanding Officer [redacted]
Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 12:55
To: [redacted]
Subject: Non-compliance Warning
Importance: High

Presently, [redacted] has no record of SAPR-L completion for those of
you in the "To: line". It is your responsibility to complete SAPR-L
training by the end of January. If you have already attended the
training, I will need documentation to enter it into FLTMPS.

[redacted] will provide training on both weekends in January and you
are welcome to complete training there or with your Unit. Your COs are
copied and they have all completed the training required to ensure you
are able to comply with this simple requirement mandated by the CNO.
Failure to complete will result in administrative processing for failure
to obey a direct order.

COs,
As with the others in your unit, this training needs to be recorded on a
3500 and entered into FLTMPS. If you conduct the training, please let me
know when and how it was completed. As always, if you need any support,
please ask.

Vr
CAPT [redacted]
Commanding Officer
[redacted]
O [redacted]
C [redacted]
[redacted]@navy.mil
[redacted]@navy.smil.mil

Oh, wait. We are not even close to being done. 

So, like all good officers, another member of the Salamander Underground heads in to listen to what the Zampolit has to say. This comrade though did not have the good sense to sit down and shut up. 

From a small, cold cell in re-education camp deep in the Irkutsk Oblast he found himself at this weekend, he managed to sneak a note to me via a courier we have in the fur trade;

Today we had SAPR-F training. During the training (which overall I thought was better and more realistic than previous years training), the following statistic was brought up:

90% of sexual assaults go unreported

I raised my hand and asked where that statistic comes from, because it seemed very high and I wanted to know where it was calculated. The Staff Judge Advocate giving the training responded with:

"It's a Congressional figure. If you can't support the CNO's message, we can take you off of the CTT. I realize that nukes and cryppies want numbers, but the point is you need to recognize that sexual assault is a problem."

So, there you go.

Actual figures are here. Zampolit did not do his homework and is acting like an a55hat to boot.

On a very serious note. You want professionals to take your priorities as their priorities? Show them something they will respect and that shows them you respect them.

If you have some politically driven BS that only makes sense inside the Beltway or in the fever swamps of Gender Studies programs in academia, yet has no reflection to what the Fleet sees day in and day out - then don't be shocked when you get indifference, and when you can't even handle a follow-on question - anything but contempt.

Next time when you need their attention on something really important and fact based, think you might have a little trouble getting traction? I wonder why?

Hat tip M&G.

Sal's General Board ... on Midrats

It is a salon full of win! 

Join us this Sunday form 5-6pm EST to celebrate Midrat's 3rd Anniversary with a free-ranging panel discussion with some of your favorite guests from the past three seasons. 

In addition to my illustrious co-host EagleOne, for at least an hour we will have a free-for-all panel with regular guests; Captain Henry J. Hendrix, Jr. USN; Captain Will Dossel, USN (Ret); LCDR Claude Berube, USNR; and YN2 H. Lucien Gauthier, III (SW) USN. 

We will be asking each other questions on the above-the-fold subjects of the last year and what we see in the next. Join in the chat room for to suggest your own questions as well.

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