Thursday, June 30, 2011

Diversity Thursday II: Electric Boogaloo

A member of the Salamander underground found a goodie. Here is the all-important Diversity presentation, given at the Navy-wide Career Counselor Symposium this week, can be found here, or just enjoy it below.

Our insurgent though is a happy warrior. He has decided to help us digest it a bit by making a drinking game out of it. Here are the rules:
  • Slide which contradicts another slide: 1 shot
  • Slide which utilizes quotation marks to emphasize exclusivity: 1 shot
  • Slide which introduces the definition of an acronym which has been used for the prior 4 slides: 1 shot
  • Slide in which the term "minority" is represented with more than 50% of the pie chart: 2 shots:
Oh, as for Slide-10. I owe URR a beer. Yep - empire building. I wonder though if they will ever consider the genetic fact that most "Hispanics" are as "White" as Sven Hammerstrom? No, that would be too hard for them to get their heads around. I wonder if they also understand that a much greater percentage of us are mixed. Heck, my family is White, Hispanic, and/or Amerid depending on the needs.

That makes their numbers messy. Funny thing too - they don't mention Asians in their academic stats much, do they? I wonder why? Ahem - then again - this is never about truth anyway, is it?

Sigh. Enjoy.

UPDATE: As this blog's readers continue to leave me gobsmacked with their attention to detail in outlining an unbending parade of fail that is this PPT. In case you were wondering if this was some poor NC1 who only had a few minutes to push this out in time to brief it - well - here is the CV for the author. Read it and cry the beloved Navy.

Diversity Thursday

I want you to think when the problem of inadequately designed, funded, and deployed Joint communications equipment resulted in the unnecessary death of American servicemembers. For me, I became aware of it before I could drive during the invasion of Grenada.

Think about the fact that throughout recorded history - bad communication or lack of effective communications have led to loss on the battlefield, loss of campaigns, defeat of nations and empires. This is fact.

Priorities.

I know a lot of people in the squishy middle tire of DivThu and think, "No sweat off my back. I have more important things to think about. Anyway, what does it cost?"

Well, I think back to those nice lists of "unfunded priorities" we produced each year. Important but dull things that could not get funding. Things that could make a difference of life and death. They never got funded though - because of ... priorities.

For my forward deployed readers - ponder what your community could do with just a few million dollars?

Now, put that to the side for a moment. Now ponder all the times on DivThu (new folks click the lable below for examples) we have covered the slime of the Diversity Industry and how we feed those fetid sores of Cultural Marxism, sectarianism, and discrimination.

What is more important - tactical communications or feeding the beast that encourages the most base of human behavior?

BEHOLD.
SEC. 549. DIVERSITY RECRUITMENT EFFORTS FOR THE MILITARY SERVICE ACADEMIES.

(a) Funds for Diversity Recruitment Efforts- The amounts authorized to be appropriated by section 301 for operation and maintenance for the Army, Navy, and Air Force for officer acquisition, as specified in the corresponding funding table in section 4301, are each increased by $1,400,000 to expand diversity recruitment efforts for the United States Military Academy, the United States Naval Academy, and the United States Air Force Academy.
(b) Offset From Joint Tactical Radio System- Notwithstanding the amounts set forth in the funding tables in division D, the amount authorized to be appropriated in section 101 for other procurement, Air Force, as specified in the corresponding funding table in division D, is hereby reduced by $4,200,000, with the amount of the reduction to be derived from Joint Tactical Radio System Maritime-Fixed radios under Line 049 Tactical Communications-Electronic Equipment as set forth in the table under section 4101.
(c) Merit-based or Competitive Decisions- A decision to commit, obligate, or expend funds referred to in subsection (a) with or to a specific entity shall--
(1) be based on merit-based selection procedures in accordance with the requirements of sections 2304(k) and 2374 of title 10, United States Code, or on competitive procedures; and
(2) comply with other applicable provisions of law.
If you find this objectionable, then you need to get in touch with your Senators now as I understand that this is out of the House and has been sent over to the Senate. Reference H.R. 1540, Section 549 and follow the directions our former staffer gave us on Midrats earlier this year; state your zip code to show you are a voter in their State, give them the reference above, and tell them you oppose it and that you would like the section removed and the money given back to support combat forces.

Awww, heck. Get in touch with your Congressman too.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

USA vs. PRC: we win

There is more to global conflict than armies and economics. Culture matters.

Basketball: check.
Cheerleaders: check.
Dudes that like dressing like chicks: check.

BEHOLD, yet be not afraid.

All of a sudden - the Red Chinese menace doesn't quite feel the same.

All we need to do is to take care of our internal problems. Any issues with our global competitor could, it seems, simply be settled by a dance-off.

Hat tip Hotair.

Firescout, UAS/V and their dirty little secret


As a few people have mentioned in comments last week - we had some Transformational News!
A Navy unmanned helicopter crashed while flying a reconnaissance mission over Libya on Tuesday, Navy and NATO officials said.

At 7:20 a.m. local time, the MQ-8B Fire Scout, which was flying over Libya’s central coast, lost contact with a command center and crashed.

It is unclear exactly from where the unmanned helicopter was being controlled, where it was attached, or where it flew from. The Navy referred inquiries to NATO. NATO would not provide details about the aircraft’s origin or operators. NATO, for its part, would only say that it was an unmanned aircraft that crashed on the coast and that an investigation is underway.
There has been, as with most ideas embraced by the Transformationalist cult, a lot of blinkered thought, half-truths, and general lack of open discussion about unmanned systems. Big Navy and their industry/future employer bedfellows continue to try to sell the false economy of the unmanned future above, on, and under the sea as if unmanned systems are something radical and new. Balderdash.

From DASH to Firebee, and even earlier - the modern military experience with unmanned systems predates even my birth by over a decade. This is evolutionary, not revolutionary.

As computers/navigation/data processing improve, so do the abilities of unmanned systems. They are just a tool though, just a tool. They cannot and will not replace the balance of our tactical requirements.

... but evolutionary isn't cool - and transformational items must seem magical ... so ... we have to wade through all the panting from the Transformationalists about capabilities.

There is one thing they do not like to talk about though, and that is the loss rate. The first I heard of the problem was about eight years ago when going over Navy UAS (nee UAV) options as part of a planning group. We had a nice civilian engineer as part of our team, forget who he was with, who - darn it - had all these facts with him about loss rates and maintenance requirements based on present UAS experience. I think he was working on UAS back well before I even had a license to drive. He kept telling us that our numbers were bad as we were not making allowances for loss rates and the need for replacements.

He also kept reminding us that - darn it - we were overestimating the ability of these systems to carry all the kit we wanted them to. We weren't - darn it - fully examining range and altitude losses from the type of mission packages being proposed. Our lack of a discussion about bandwidth access also bothered him.

UAS are good - but as with all things - be sober and factual when talking about them.

Firescout is simply an unmanned helicopter. It is delicate with limited range. Unlike a manned system, it cannot effectively counter any threat coming its way. If there is a mechanical problem, most of the time there is no way to trouble shoot it while in the air or to recognize a problem early enough to get back to the ship before the problem becomes terminal. If there is a problem with navigation or communication, as there isn't a human in the loop - odds are you will lose the UAS. If they go down - there is no one there to make sure any classified items are destroyed first. Loss rates of UAS are not small.

No one should really find this a surprise. All the above - as that nice engineer reminded us almost a decade ago - are well known shortcomings from unmanned systems. Let's just hope that the engineer in the last decade succeeded with other groups more than he did ours. The senior person in our little group did not include any of the engineer's unpleasant truths in our evaluation/recommendations. Why? Something about how "they" didn't want to hear about potential problems, only our recommendation.

I can hear you now, "Oh Sal - you are just being a fussbucket!"

OK, guilty as charged .... but ....

Ahem
,
Their dependence on a constant control signal has contributed to a UAS accident rate 100 times greater than manned aircraft A threat could exploit this need for an uninterrupted data feed by using Electronic Warfare to disrupt this signal, potentially crippling unmanned systems.
Ummmmmmm,
Because UMSs may not have a human in the loop, they possess unique safety concerns and issues. Autonomous UMSs are inherently hazardous to humans for many different reasons, ranging from unpredictable movements, to inherently hazardous components/subsystems, to loss of absolute control, to potential failures in both hardware and software. Weaponized UMSs present even more significant and complex dangers to humans.
Ehhhhh,

... the lifetime Class A ($1 million in damage or death) mishap rate for the Predator/Reaper — as of December 2009 — was “multiples” above that of, say, the F-15 fleet. It takes a little finessing, but combining the lifetime totals of flight hours for the RQ-1 Predator (which begins in 1997) and the MQ-9 Reaper (which starts in 2004), we get a Class A mishap rate of 10.2 per 1,000 flight hours. [CLARIFICATION: The services’ safety centers canlculate mishap “rates” per 100,000 flight hours, typically. But I made my calculations based on Winslow’s 1,000 hour benchmark. Running the numbers, the Predator/Reaper official mishap rate would be 9.7 per 100K flight hours — still very high] The Air Force says it lost a total of 57 Predators since 1997 and seven Reapers. Both aircraft have flown a total of nearly 655,000 flight hours.

Looking at the F-15 rate, USAF stats show over the lifetime (since 1972), the F-15 platform has a Class A mishap rate of 2.42, with 140 aircraft damaged. It’s lifetime destroyed rate is 2.04 with 118 aircraft lost — and that’s over a lifetime total of almost 6 million flight hours. But the stat that 43 pilots have died behind the stick of an F-15 and two of those were killed in fiscal 2009, speaks volumes to the family and loved ones of the fallen. Despite the high mishap rate of the MQ-9, no pilots are dead because of it.

But, yes, the Predator/Reaper mishap rate is more than five times that of the F-15.

... butumm,
The reliability aspect of the project is directly tied up to cost. Repairing and refurbishing UAV platforms quickly are an expensive proposition. As redundant subsystems are incorporated in the UAV to prevent accidents, reliability will increase. For example, most current UAV and RPA platforms are single-engine systems. Twin-engine systems may prove to be more reliable in the battlefield. But the need for reliability must be balanced against the added cost to the overall program, weight and complexity.
Do we need more? No - dad'l do. Remember - everything in moderation.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

A beautiful girl regardless of what she is wearing ...



Sigh. Her sporty older sister is in the background too. I still think we made a huge mistake not going with the F-14D new production. Range, range, range; payload, payload, payload.

H/T B.

Nothings has changed - you just forgot

As a result of the Libyan operation, there has been a lot of discussion in the European - and especially the British - press along these lines.
The Arab spring has irrevocably changed the security landscape. While many debate how the civilian surge started, no one knows where it will end and what the impact will be on the international balance of power, security and liberty
No, it hasn't. Even a rudimentary review of history will tell you that things arise on a regular basis that are best addressed with a robust expeditionary capability based on flexible platforms who can bring with them all they need to operate - and that nation needs a deep enough bench to replace initial forces with new forces on a rotational basis.
Our response must be integrated, internationalist and interventionist. Integrated so that defence priorities apply across government. Internationalist because we gain strength through our partnerships, and must deepen relations across Europe. And they must be interventionist by better co-ordinating defence and development policy as a means of conflict prevention.

A full assessment of the impact of the Arab spring on UK security, the resultant threats we face, our response at home and abroad and the capabilities required should form a new chapter to the defence review. This is not about looking backwards, but about turning hindsight into foresight.

William Hague, the foreign secretary, has said that the Arab spring is as significant as 9/11. It is worth considering how the previous government responded then: a new chapter was added to the defence review in 2002, with a new strategy for fighting terror at home and overseas. Even Margaret Thatcher reopened the Nott review in 1982 as a result of the Falklands conflict.

This government is ignoring the tide of history. Our role in the world has become more complex and demanding and we have responsibilities beyond our borders that we cannot duck. It is not just resources that we need, but the right strategy.
Did I just agree with The Guardian? Strange ... sure they are doing it mostly because the Tories are in power, but that doesn't mean it is wrong.

Monday, June 27, 2011

If Perry runs ....

... I might have to shift my support from T-Paw to him.

Why? Simple - we have similar tastes in toys.
Perry ... carr(ies) his .380 Ruger - loaded with hollow-point bullets - when jogging on trails because he is afraid of snakes. He'd also seen coyotes in the undeveloped area.
...
"I'm enjoying the run when something catches my eye and it's this coyote. I know he knows I'm there. He never looks at me, he is laser-locked on that dog," Perry said.

"I holler and the coyote stopped. I holler again. By this time I had taken my weapon out and charged it. It is now staring dead at me. Either me or the dog are in imminent danger. I did the appropriate thing and sent it to where coyotes go," he said.

Perry said the laser-pointer helped make a quick, clean kill.

"It was not in a lot of pain," he said. "It pretty much went down at that particular juncture."
...
The governor left the coyote where it fell.

"He became mulch," Perry said.
I'm sorry - how can I not vote for him?

Prince, the culture war bottom


We saw this with the apologists for the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. The intellectual cowardice of the lazy.

Coming from a guy who made individual expression his trademark - this reeks of narcissistic hypocrisy.
Prince, the Grammy Award-winning artist behind “Purple Rain,” told the Guardian in an interview that women forced to wear burqas in Islamic countries are “happy” to wear them.

“It’s fun being in Islamic countries, to know there’s only one religion,” Prince told the British newspaper. “There’s order. You wear a burqa. There’s no choice. People are happy with that.”
So, I guess he is cool with religious apartheid, pushing walls on top of homosexuals, cutting hands off of thieves, stoning "Darling Nikki" for adultery, and burning Jehovah's Witness Halls; maybe the one he goes to.

Maybe we can get some new Prince songs like, "Raspberry Burka." "Little Red Beheading Sword." "Purple Lashing Scars."

Then again - who cares what he thinks but a few million fans, right?

Test driving Influence Squadrons?


Though I am still iffy on the name - the concept is solid.

Strip out the DDGs ... and what do you have? CAPT Hendrix, call your office.
... diving and salvage ship USNS Safegurd (T-ARS 50), ... US Navy Seabees, representatives from the US Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST), the US Navy Mobile Security Squadron, a US Navy Riverine Force and Medical Support personnel.
...
Ashore training includes Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) exercises; diver training; salvage operations; joint medical, dental and civic action projects, and aircrew familiarization exchanges.
...
The at-sea phase of CARAT focuses on developing maritime security capabilities in areas such as maritime interdiction, information sharing, combined operations at sea, patrol operations and gunnery exercises, to include the anti-piracy and anti-smuggling exercises.
... and liberty - one hopes - in The Philippines.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Oh hai! Just me, widdle 'ole Big E

Hmmmmmm.....
Egyptian shipping sources said US aircraft carrier USS Enterprise crossed the Suez Canal on Friday coming from the Red Sea en route to the Mediterranean.

Sunday Funnies

Saturday, June 25, 2011

What does Disney think of LCS-2?

No, I'm not goof'n on 'ya. If you've seen Cars 2 - then you know it isn't one of the good guys.

Even has the hull number right - and I do find it funny that even they didn't think the 57mm was mean enough looking.



Hat tip FCC.

Watchdogs over the Potomac, on Midrats

What is the role of organizations with mission statements that include phrases such as,
"... investigat(e) ... corruption, misconduct, and conflicts of interest (to) achieve a more effective, accountable, open, and ethical federal government. "?
Where do they exist in the media ecosystem of traditional media, new media, think tanks, and advocacy organizations? Why are they needed, and how do they shape the debate?

Join my co-host EagleOne from "EagleSpeak" and me for the full hour this Sunday, 26 JUN at 4pm EST with Mandy Smithberger, investigator with the Project on Government Oversight (POGO).

Mandy joined POGO as a Picker intern in 2006 and became a National Security Investigator in 2008. She has worked on investigations into multi-year procurement of the troubled F-22A Raptor, federal contracting in response to Hurricane Katrina, inherently governmental functions, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), and the Department of Interior's Royalty-In-Kind program. She has also written about the federal government's collection of oil and natural gas drilling royalties for the Multinational Monitor, been quoted on National Public Radio, and spoken at an international conference on the subject.

Ms. Smithberger received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Smith College in 2008, where she also won the Dawes Prize for the best undergraduate work on political science.

Join us live if you can and join in with the usual suspects in the chat room where you can contribute your thoughts and observation - and suggest to us questions for our guests.

If you miss the show you can always listen to the archive at blogtalkradio - but 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.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Congress goes Salamander

Behold the fusillade of WIN by Rep. Kelly (R-PA).

That is the kind of Representative our founders wanted.
"The house of representatives... can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as the great mass of society. This has always been deemed one of the strongest bonds by which human policy can connect the rulers and the people together. It creates between them that communion of interest, and sympathy of sentiments, of which few governments have furnished examples; but without which every government degenerates into tyranny." - Federalist Papers, No. 57, February 19, 1788; James Madison
Nothing more needs to be said.

Fullbore Friday

An encore FbF from SEP07.

So, don't think you can do what you are not trained for? Think a beat up old ship can't be put in harm's way? Can you really think "out of the box?" Can a ship run aground, over and over, and still get an award? How about a Presidential Unit Citation? How about a destroyer that captures an airfield?

USS Dallas (DD-199), tell us all about it.
On 25 October she cleared Norfolk to rendezvous with TP 34 bound for the invasion landings on North Africa. Dallas was to carry a U.S. Army Raider battalion, and land them up the narrow, shallow, obstructed river to take a strategic airport near Port Lyautey, French Morocco. On 10 November she began her run up the Oued Sebou under the masterful guidance of Rene Malavergne, a civilian pilot who was to be the first foreign civilian to receive the Navy Cross. Under fire by cannon and small arms during the entire run, she plowed her way through mud and shallow water, narrowly missing the many sunken ships and other obstructions, and sliced through a cable crossing the river, to land her troops safely just off the airport. Her brilliant success in completing this mission with its many unexpected complications won her the Presidential Unit Citation.
That is the airfield on the right. Oh, and they fought the French the whole way.
On the night of 9-10 November a tactical innovation involving the Navy raised American spirits. On the Sebou River the destroyer-transport Dallas pushed aside a barricade and sneaked upstream with a raider detachment to spearhead the assault on the airfield. As the night wore on, some colonial units gave up the fight, but Foreign Legion units continued to resist. Several companies of the 1st and 3d Battalion Landing Teams made progress, though slow, toward the airfield.

In bypassing a French machine-gun position, three companies of the 1st Team became disoriented and unintentionally provided some comic relief to a difficult night. At 0430 the companies reached a building they thought housed the airfield garrison. Intent on maintaining surprise, the troops crept up to doors and windows, weapons at the ready. Bursting in, the embarrassed Americans discovered they had captured a French cafe. Some 75 patrons put down wine glasses and surrendered. Patrols rounded up about 100 more prisoners in the area.

At daylight on 10 November the 1st Team mounted a new drive, this time with tanks, and by 1045 reached the west side of the airfield. On the river the Dallas passed a gauntlet of artillery fire and debarked the raiders on the east side of the airfield. American troops now occupied three sides of their objective.

Serious opposition still came from the Mehdia fortress. Although naval gunfire had silenced the larger batteries earlier, machine-gun and rifle fire continued. Navy dive bombers were called in, and after only one bombing run the garrison quit. After claiming the fort and gathering prisoners, the 2d Battalion Landing Team moved on to close the ring around the airport. By nightfall the American victory was assured' and the local French commander requested a parlay with General Truscott. At 0400 on 11 November a cease-fire went into effect, the terms of which brought all GOALPOST objectives under American control.
Yes Virginia, we had to fight against the French before we would fight with them in WWII. One other thing, when looking up the Dallas, I noticed one of her then Junior Officers on that day who is buried at Arlington, Randall T. Boyd, Jr., CDR USN. Just for reference - what a career and life he had.
Commander Boyd saw combat as a naval artillery officer during World War II and as a pilot during the Korean War. He was awarded a Silver Star for his exploits during World War II and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his activities during the Korean War.

Born in Hingham, Masschusetts, and raised in Weymouth, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1941. He also earned a master's degree in aeronautical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

On November 10, 1942, he was artillery officer aboard the destroyer Dallas when it made a treacherous 10-mile run up the Sebou River to land an Army Ranger detachment to capture Port Lyautey Airport during the assault and occupation of French Morocco.

According to the citation for the Silver Star he was awarded for the engagement, he displayed "remarkable courage under heavy hostile fire during the perilous journey" and "played a large part in providing protective gunfire for our Army Ranger troops and controlled and directed the fire of the ship so efficiently that hostile shore batteries were silenced before they were able to inflict any damage on the Dallas."

After World War II, he trained as a pilot in Pensacola, Florida, then served in the Korean War.

The first citation for his Flying Cross described him as "a skilled airman and cool leader in the face of hostile opposition."

According to the citation, he was flying a mission over Korea on October 12, 1950, "when enemy shore batteries attacked US mine sweepers with intense fire.

"Commander Boyd spotted hostile targets, took them under fire and held them down while the vessels escaped from the area. Braving heavy fire sent up from the ground, he controlled naval gunfire and vectored carrier-based aircraft to the enemy positions."

After the Korean War, he was commanding officer of Naval Patrol Squadron 34, and later was second in command at the Naval Base in Rota, Spain.

After retiring from the Navy, he was an engineer at MIT's Draper Laboratory, where he worked on the Gemini and Apollo space programs, and a senior engineer at Brown and Root Inc. in Houston, where he oversaw shipbuilding projects.
Ship and man. Benchmark both.

UPDATE: BTW - here is a modern day pic of the river they took that DD up at night. Ballsy? Yep.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

The Kung Fu of Freedom

That would be - of course, Mark Steyn.

UPDATE: Great news on the freedom front. The Dutch have made the right decision to support free thought.
Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders was acquitted of inciting hatred of Muslims in a court ruling on Thursday that may strengthen his political influence and exacerbate tensions over immigration policy.

The case was seen by some as a test of free speech in a country which has a long tradition of tolerance and blunt talk, but where opposition to immigration, particularly from Muslim or predominantly Muslim countries, is on the rise.

Instantly recognizable by his mane of dyed blond hair, Wilders, 47, is one of the most outspoken critics of Islam and immigration in the Netherlands.

His Freedom Party is now the third-largest in parliament, a measure of support for its anti-immigrant stance, and is the minority government's chief ally. But many of Wilders' comments -- such as likening Islam to Nazism -- are socially divisive.

The presiding judge said Wilders' remarks were sometimes "hurtful," "shocking" or "offensive," but that they were made in the context of a public debate about Muslim integration and multi-culturalism, and therefore not a criminal act.
It is a shame that it takes a judge to remind everyone of that - but such a place the Left has brought us.

Huzzah!

Diversity Thursday


A fairly accepted example of institutional discrimination is when an organization has something of value, or a benefit or special consideration, that is distributed on an unequal basis intentionally on the basis of race, creed, color or national origin.

It divides its people in to groups based on DNA and a bigot's view of the role of ethnicity.

Another thing that I think we can all agree on, I think, is that mentoring (vice seedaddyism) is a good. OPNAVISNT 1500.78 says so.
Mentoring is widely recognized as a beneficial career development tool that not only affects career health and longevity, but also positively impacts mission accomplishment. As the documents in enclosure (1) demonstrate, mentoring is a difficult term to define as it manifests itself in many forms. One useful definition of mentoring is as a mutually beneficial relationship between a mentor and protégé in which resources, time, experiences, and expertise are exchanged to help with personal and professional growth. Regardless of the formal definition, the positive influence quality mentoring has on the success of an individual’s career cannot be overstated.
... and who should you use to help you find your mentors?
c. Professional Associations/Affinity Groups. These associations connect mentors and protégés of similar interests, backgrounds, cultures, or fields to support each other personally and professionally. Professional associations meet periodically to share best practices and to afford junior personnel access to senior members who have succeeded in their careers. These meetings provide exceptional forums for career development guidance on both an individual and group level. Commanders should make every effort to support their Sailors’ or employees’ participation with these groups.
Yes, of course - "Affinity" Groups; the fetid clusters of division, hate, and ethnic strife. The ones with their little "select" lists they pimp around to potential board members.

Don't know who I am talking about? Here you go. Behold the bitter harvest of sectarianism, hypocrisy, and patronizing. I'll let you break it out.

Where does the Navy get an idea that it is good to encourage leaders to pick the people they want to mentor based simply on ethnicity? They are just following orders - don't 'cha know.

In case you don't get it. Let the OPNAV be clear.
b. Fleet readiness and enabler enterprises and communities will develop and implement a formal mentoring program suited to their unique leadership, career development, retention, and diversity challenges. Enterprise leaders will:
...
(3) Include a diversity component that fosters the mentoring of minorities and women. Ensure collecting data on milestone attainment is part of this component. Enterprises with few minority and or women mentors should coordinate with other enterprises, ideally within the same geographic area, to develop mentor networks within these Navy populations regardless of community affiliation.
Race/ethnicity trumps all. Is that the 21st Century Navy you want?

While you are at it - check the references at the end of the document - it tells you more of where this program is coming from.

Oh - and supporting this "Affinity" is just happy talk, right? There isn't actually a cost is there?
R 091905Z JUN 11
FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1//
TO NAVADMIN
INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1//
BT
UNCLAS //N05354//
NAVADMIN 179/11
MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N1/JUN//
SUBJ/2011 NATIONAL NAVAL OFFICERS ASSOCIATION PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING CONFERENCE//
REF/A/DOC/DOD/06AUG1998//
REF/B/DOC/DOD/14APR2009//
REF/C/DOC/BUPERS/17SEP2007//
NARR/REF A IS DOD PUBLICATION 5500.7-R - JOINT ETHICS REGULATION REGARDING OFFICIAL PARTICIPATION IN NON-FEDERAL ENTITIES. REF B IS DOD DIRECTIVE 4500.56 - POLICY ON THE USE OF GOVERNMENT AIRCRAFT AND AIR TRAVEL. REF C IS BUPERSINST 1001.39F, AIR TRAVEL.//

RMKS/1. THIS NAVADMIN ANNOUNCES THE NATIONAL NAVAL OFFICERS ASSOCIATION (NNOA) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING CONFERENCE BEING HELD 1-5 AUGUST 2011 AT THE SHERATON HOTEL AND MARINA IN SAN DIEGO, CA.

2. NNOA IS THE LARGEST AFRICAN-AMERICAN OFFICER AFFINITY GROUP THAT FOSTERS THE ADVANCEMENT AND RECOGNITION OF MINORITY OFFICERS IN THE UNIFORMED NAVAL SERVICES. THE 2011 CONFERENCE THEME IS "NNOA: ENHANCING MISSION READINESS FOR THE SEA SERVICES THROUGH LEADERSHIP, MENTORSHIP AND DIVERSITY."

3. THE UNIFORM WILL BE SUMMER WHITE FOR NAVY PERSONNEL AND BUSINESS ATTIRE FOR CIVILIANS. NAVY UNIFORM FOR THE FORMAL AWARDS BANQUET WILL BE DINNER DRESS WHITE JACKET (OR OPTIONAL SERVICE DRESS WHITE FOR O3 AND BELOW) AND BLACK TIE (OR EQUIVALENT) FOR CIVILIANS AND GUESTS.

4. COMMANDING OFFICERS ARE AUTHORIZED TO SUPPORT ATTENDANCE. COMMANDING OFFICERS MAY AUTHORIZE AND ISSUE TAD ORDERS, TO INCLUDE REGISTRATION.
(editorial comment: @ $600 a pop !!!)

5. REGISTRATION, TRANSPORTATION, AND LODGING INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND ON THE NNOA WEBSITE AT WWW.NNOA.ORG. CONFERENCE FEES ARE $450 FOR LIFE MEMBERS, $475 FOR MEMBERS, AND $600 FOR NON-MEMBERS. AN ADDITIONAL FEE WILL BE APPLIED FOR ATTENDEES WHO REGISTER AFTER 16 JULY 2011. NNOA IS WAIVING REGISTRATION FEES FOR THE FIRST 100 JUNIOR OFFICERS, THE RANKS OF LIEUTENANT COMMANDER OR BELOW. OFFICERS WHO ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND SHOULD REGISTER EARLY FOR THE CONFERENCE AND THE HOTEL TO ENSURE RESERVATIONS ARE AVAILABLE.

6. POINTS OF CONTACT:
A. CAPT WILL TRIPLETT AT (571) 256-
[redacted] OR VIA E-MAIL AT NAVY-REP(AT)NNOA.ORG OR WILL.[redacted](AT)NAVY.MIL.
B. LCDR BEULAH
[redacted] (RET), AT (703) 231-[redacted] OR VIA E-MAIL AT [redacted](AT)NNOA.ORG.

7. RELEASED BY VADM MARK FERGUSON, N1.//
BT
#0000
NNNN

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Executive Summary on the CINC's AFG Speech

If you come here on the regular basis, then you read my stuff here over at Big Peace as well on our switch from Conditions to Calendar based planning for AFG.

What was the meaning of the President's speech on AFG? Here is the executive summary - nothing new really. At the height of fighting season we have announced the first step in our slow retreat under fire from AFG.

The Taliban know it and they are doing exactly what they should be doing when their enemy has announced a calendar based retreat; fight enough to claim you kicked them out, but husband most of your resolve and forces for when they leave, set the conditions for surrender and acceptance of your power by those either on the fence or on the other side - then take power.

We are no longer in this to win, as the President announced at West Point 18-months ago. All we are doing is closing our eyes and hoping that the AFG forces we are training will be able to ... do something ok; maybe.

Recoverable, perhaps. The trendlines though are not in our favor.

Lutefisk Farfalle


I should read Scorpion & Frog every day.

I threw the Italians a bone the other day - and they now they do this.
Italy called for a suspension of hostilities in Libya on Wednesday in the latest sign of dissent within NATO as the civilian death toll mounts and Moamer Kadhafi shows no signs of quitting power.

"We have seen the effects of the crisis and therefore also of NATO action not only in eastern and southwestern regions but also in Tripoli," Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told a parliamentary committee meeting.

"I believe an immediate humanitarian suspension of hostilities is required in order to create effective humanitarian corridors," while negotiations should also continue on a more formal ceasefire and peace talks, he said.

"I think this is the most urgent and dramatic point," Frattini continued.

"I think it is legitimate to request ever more detailed information on the results" of the NATO mission, he added, condemning "the dramatic errors that hit civilians, which is clearly not an objective of the NATO mission."
After the Norwegians showed them the way, we shouldn't be shocked.

If you want more of my thoughts on NATO and Libya, go visit my post from earlier this week on USNIBlog.

Oh, that Ghandi

So, you think you know Ghandi?

There was much tut-tn'n recently about lack of historical knowledge. Most of that has to do with the choices we have let our schools make - the other has to do with the fact that as some think The Daily Show is a place to get our news - others think Hollywierd is the place to get our history.

Ghandi is a perfect example. From back in 1983 - read it all. Here is a taste.
As it happens, the government of India openly admits to having provided one-third of the financing of Gandhi out of state funds, straight out of the national treasury—and after close study of the finished product I would not be a bit surprised to hear that it was 100 percent. If Pandit Nehru is portrayed flatteringly in the film, one must remember that Nehru himself took part in the initial story conferences (he originally wanted Gandhi to be played by Alec Guinness) and that his daughter Indira Gandhi is, after all, Prime Minister of India (though no relation to Mohandas Gandhi). The screenplay was checked and rechecked by Indian officials at every stage, often by the Prime Minister herself, with close consultations on plot and even casting. If the movie contains a particularly poisonous portrait of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, the Indian reply, I suppose, would be that if the Pakistanis want an attractive portrayal of Jinnah let them pay for their own movie. A friend of mine, highly sophisticated in political matters but innocent about film-making, declared that Gandhi should be preceded by the legend: The following film is a paid political advertisement by the government of India.

...

I cannot honestly say I had any reasonable expectation that the film would show scenes of Gandhi’s pretty teenage girl followers fighting “hysterically” (the word was used) for the honor of sleeping naked with the Mahatma and cuddling the nude septuagenarian in their arms. (Gandhi was “testing” his vow of chastity in order to gain moral strength for his mighty struggle with Jinnah.) When told there was a man named Freud who said that, despite his declared intention, Gandhi might actually be enjoying the caresses of the naked girls, Gandhi continued, unperturbed. Nor, frankly, did I expect to see Gandhi giving daily enemas to all the young girls in his ashrams (his daily greeting was, “Have you had a good bowel movement this morning, sisters?”), nor see the girls giving him his daily enema. Although Gandhi seems to have written less about home rule for India than he did about enemas, and excrement, and latrine cleaning (“The bathroom is a temple. It should be so clean and inviting that anyone would enjoy eating there”), I confess such scenes might pose problems for a Western director.
Always mistrust what you see delivered through others' filters - question motivations. Seek opposing ideas and points of view. Always search for primary sources.

Hat tip VDH

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Test your LCS concepts here ...

More LCS fun. Just that kind of week I guess.

Lee sent this video along this week for a different reason, but I made me think of the Little Crappy Ship after reading another Potemkin article about LCS's Mission Modules and unmanned-offboard systems. You know the ones I am talking about, like this. Along with even goofier friends here. Deploy and operate this for sustained operations? Really?

Notice they all seem to be tested in bathtub water? That isn't the sea we know, is it? This is.



Test your little toys in those seas for 4 straight days of continual operations as a start, then we'll talk about tactical utility.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Can this be operationalized?

I think this press release from Austal gives us some hints on what the problem is with LCS-2. Read it all - but this is the question I have for you.
An integral part of any post-delivery support program for a high-performance, high-speed vessel such as the Independence-variant LCS is to provide a cadre of qualified maintainers who can help our Navy partners to deploy temporary sacrificial anodes every time the vessel is moored, and ensure that high-voltage maintenance equipment is properly grounded before use aboard ship. These are services that Austal’s skilled aluminum specialists, operating from six maintenance hubs in the Asia-Pacific, North America, South America, Europe and the Middle East, offer Austal customers every day.
Are they thinking about having Austal contractors at every port LCS-2 Class will pull in to, or are they just going to train Sailors to do it? Hopefully it is the latter and not the former. ... and this isn't being done now why?

What a china doll. Sad; I always liked the LCS-2 design over LCS-1 like I enjoy a bee sting over a kick in the groin - but if you need to give it a deep tissue massage and olive oil enema every time it enters port - ungh.

NATO's Hourglass ...

Has about 90-days left methinks.

I'm pondering in detail over at USNIBlog.

Captain Roman Shchury - Salamander hero of the day ...

You love your crew. Your crew performs better than anyone else in the division. They know it - you know it.

Your crew has been insulted by some shore-duty Staff pogue. Do we really need a translator?

Actually - anyone know enough Russian to give me a transcript in English? Mine isn't up to snuff for this rant and all its Sailor-speak goodness. The face of the XO or COB at the 3-minute marks speaks to me as well.

Who is he yelling at?
Shchury, commander of the K-295 Samara nuclear submarine, was filmed telling off Sergei Bondarenko, the senior disciplinary officer with the vessel's division, for not congratulating his crew on Navy Day.

The disgruntled captain, speaking in a hoarse roar, denounces the perceived snub to his crew — which he says is one of only two units in the division that do any actual work — in expressions unfit for publication.

Shchury also stresses — with obscenities — that the crewmen are ready to die for their motherland. Curiously, he never directly targets Bondarenko over the course of the three-minute footage. ... Bondarenko — whose job is informally known as "political officer"...
They still have those?!?

Captain Shchury - if you are as old as I think you are, as JOs good chance we played on the opposite side of the game a few times - at least it is fun to think so. In any event - I salute you! I can't stand those oxygen thieves either.


Hat tip FCC.

Italy shames the Royal Navy


The Royal Navy speaks so it can sleep at night.
Adml Sir Mark Stanhope said the campaign would have been more effective without the Government's defence cuts.

The aircraft carrier and the Harrier jump-jets scrapped under last year's strategic defence review would have made the mission more effective, faster and cheaper, he said.

Sir Mark warned that the Navy would not be able to sustain its operations in Libya for another three months without making cuts elsewhere.
...
"The pros would have been a much more reactive force," he said. "Rather than deploying from Gioia del Colle, we would deploy within 20 minutes as opposed to an hour and a half, so obviously there are some advantages. It's cheaper to fly an aircraft from an aircraft carrier than from the shore." Scrapping Ark Royal and its Harriers was perhaps the most controversial decision made in last year's Strategic Defence and Security Review. The Coalition has said it could not afford to maintain the ship or the planes. Military analysts and retired defence chiefs have said the cuts have limited Britain's military capabilities.
The later exactly spells out what I discussed over at USNIBlog back in March and how this operation has played out.

That is a very substantial argument - but it looks like the politicians over in the UK are a bit more interested in saving face than facing their error.
Dr Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, defended the defence review last night. He said: "We continue to have the resources necessary to carry out the operations we are undertaking."

An MoD source said: "Unfortunately Harriers wouldn't have been able to carry the precision weapons needed for these operations."
Did that get your targeteering senses a'ting'n? It did mine. Shall we fact check the Honorable Gentelman? Yes - let's.
The Harrier GR9 is an avionics and weapons upgrade of the standard GR7. The £500m Joint Update and Maintenance Programme (JUMP) upgraded the Harrier fleet during normal maintenance periods, in a series of incremental capabilities.[14] These started with software upgrades to the communications, ground proximity warning and navigation systems, followed by the integration of the AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missile.[14] Capability C added the RAF's Rangeless Airborne Instrumentation Debriefing System (RAIDS), Raytheon's Successor Identification Friend or Foe (SIFF) system and the Paveway guided bombs. The Digital Joint Reconnaissance Pod (DJRP) was added as part of Capability D and handling trials of the MBDA Brimstone missile started on 14 February 2007. However the Brimstone was still not cleared for the GR9 as of November 2010.
Sharkey Ward says it better.
... it was disgraceful for the MoD to contradict Sir Mark Stanhope in a most blatant manner by saying, “Unfortunately Harriers wouldn’t have been able to carry the precision weapons needed for these operations.”

“Disgraceful”, because the MoD source responsible for this statement was not telling the truth (there appears to be a pattern here, does there not?). The Tornado is now delivering the Paveway Mk III 2000 lb bunker-busting bomb instead of the unreliable Storm Shadow missile. Harrier delivers Paveway Mk III and Paveway Mk IV with the same or better accuracy as Tornado. Harrier also delivers the Maverick anti-tank missile and the CRV7 rocket – neither of which is carried by Tornado. It is true that Harrier does not carry Brimstone – it was to be fitted with the same prior to SDSR 2010. But the Apache helicopter deploys Hellfire, the equivalent of Brimstone, as well as 30 mm cannon fire.

Harrier and Apache are both maritime capable aircraft that have been designed specifically for the Close Air Support task. Both have supported our ground forces in Afghanistan extremely well – unlike the Tornado which is not fully suited to the Close Air Support task.

Official MoD sources (RAF?) should be taken to task on the lies and obfuscation that they present to the press.
What does Italy have to do with this?
As the Harrier II Plus fighter rips down the runway and launches into the skies on a mission to Libya, chaplain Vincenzo Caiazzo is on deck in his dog collar to see it safely off.

The amiable chaplain has been with the ITS Garibaldi — the flagship for NATO's embargo mission — since October, when he signed up to provide troops on the light aircraft carrier with psychological support.

"It's a whole other world. There are exciting moments and others when some of the guys feel frustrated or homesick," said Don Vincenzo, who swapped his parish in southern Italy for masses held amidst acrid oil fumes in the bowels of the flattop.

"He brings us a welcome oasis of calm," said one young officer as another fighter shot off down the 174 metre long runway with a shuddering roar, sending shock waves through the Garibaldi.

Normality, for those manning the enormous carrier, is blaring sirens, blinking warning lights and sailors sprinting up ladders, down warren-like corridors and into crowded control rooms.

Political spats about the cost and wisdom of taking on Libya are not an issue on board ship, where radars scan the sea for suspect vessels and helicopters and fighters engaged in civilian protection touch base.

"I've just got back off a mission, we're going to have a quick debrief and then a much-needed wind down," said a tired-looking pilot after clambering out of his tiny cockpit and collapsing in a chair in the mess room.

Though the details of his sortie were confidential, an official in the command centre who asked to remain anonymous said it had been "successful", though he would not confirm reports the jet had deployed one of its missiles.
There should be a Royal Navy Carrier there right now. Instead - we have the Italians and the French using what little they have. Carriers cannot deploy forever.

When they leave?

One final note - listen to Admiral Lord West.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Fathers Day in Korea - on Midrats

Like many of my generation - my father came of age in the Korean War Era. In tribute to my father, his friends, and the millions of the Forgotten Generation who served in the Forgotten War, today at 5pm EST we are going to replay Episode 22 with our guests, holder of the Medal of Honor from the Korean War, CAPT Thomas J. Hudner, Jr., USN (Ret.) and author of SUCH MEN AS THESE, David Sears.

We will cover the role of Naval Aviation in the Korean War.

When the average person thinks of the role of Navy Air in the Korean War, they think of James Michener's novel and movie THE BRIDGES OF TOKI-RI. As usual, the real story is better than fiction. We will talk to CAPT Hudner about his and his shipmates experiences - and will finish up with David Sears exploring what he discovered in researching his book on what happened in the skies over Korea in the early 1950's.

Even though this is a pre-recorded show, join us live if you can, I have the chat room up, but if you miss the show you can always listen to the archive at blogtalkradio - or do the easy thing and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes so you can catch it anytime you want to.

Sunday Funnies

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Rust never sleeps ... on LCS-2

I think we know one of the reasons why LCS-2 has an open tab at Singleton's.
The U.S. Navy has discovered “aggressive” corrosion in Austal Ltd. (ASB)’s first new combat ship designed for operating close to shore.

The corrosion is in the propulsion areas of the USS Independence, the Littoral Combat Ship built by the Mobile, Alabama-based subsidiary of Australia’s Austal and General Dynamics Corp. (GD)

“This could be a very serious setback,” said Norman Polmar, an independent naval analyst and author in Alexandria, Virginia. “If the ship develops a serious flaw, you’re not going to continue producing them.”

Permanent repair will require drydocking the ship and removing its “water jets,” a key component of the propulsion system, the Navy said in a written statement to congressional appropriations committees provided to Bloomberg News.

Aluminum-hulled ships such as Austal’s tend to rust faster than steel-hulled ships, Polmar said. “But I’m surprised it happened so early,” he said. “This ship is brand new.”
And they want to operate this for a couple of decades + with minimal manning in tropical seas ....

Sigh.

Speaking of sub-optimal. Our pal Craig Hooper needs to go to PAO school.
While not discussing LCS-2, U.S.S. Independence, specifically, Craig Hooper, Austal’s vice president for sales, marketing and external communication said that “dynamic corrosion is a common problem for any ship.

“It’s a known issue,” Hooper said, “and fixes are widely known in the maritime community.”
Craig. Dude.

Byron, call you office.
Navy officials were concerned about the potential for corrosion during construction of the ship because of “dissimilar metals,” particularly near the steel propulsion shafts, Bloomberg reported.
We were discussing this problem with the design what - well over four years ago?

There never was an anti-war movement

Deep down, I think - most of us knew that anyway. It was an anti-Bush movement. War had nothing to do with it - it was all about the Left finding a way to regain power. By and large, 85% of the "anti-war" movement, with its manufactured International A.N.S.W.E.R./Code Pink rent-a-mob and their bannermen .

No - we knew this already. In case you needed more proof - imagine is GWB did this.

The streets would be filled with large-puppets as we speak.
President Obama rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he decided that he had the legal authority to continue American military participation in the air war in Libya without Congressional authorization, according to officials familiar with internal administration deliberations.

Jeh C. Johnson, the Pentagon general counsel, and Caroline D. Krass, the acting head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, had told the White House that they believed that the United States military’s activities in the NATO-led air war amounted to “hostilities.” Under the War Powers Resolution, that would have required Mr. Obama to terminate or scale back the mission after May 20.

But Mr. Obama decided instead to adopt the legal analysis of several other senior members of his legal team — including the White House counsel, Robert Bauer, and the State Department legal adviser, Harold H. Koh — who argued that the United States military’s activities fell short of “hostilities.” Under that view, Mr. Obama needed no permission from Congress to continue the mission unchanged.
...
The administration followed an unusual process in developing its position. Traditionally, the Office of Legal Counsel solicits views from different agencies and then decides what the best interpretation of the law is. The attorney general or the president can overrule its views, but rarely do.

In this case, however, Ms. Krass was asked to submit the Office of Legal Counsel’s thoughts in a less formal way to the White House, along with the views of lawyers at other agencies. After several meetings and phone calls, the rival legal analyses were submitted to Mr. Obama, who is a constitutional lawyer, and he made the decision.
Who could be President Obama's muse?

Friday, June 17, 2011

Fullbore Friday


Last week we lost the last half of one of the great teams of WWII; a local boy and father of USAF Special Operations. If what they did took place in Europe, they would have had a movie made out of it. As it took place in the Burma theater - well - at least we can cover it here.
John R. Alison, a World War II fighter pilot who helped lead a daring and unprecedented Allied air invasion of Burma, has died, a son said Wednesday.

The retired Air Force major general and former Northrop Corp. executive died of natural causes Monday at his home in Washington, John R. Alison III said.

Alison's wartime achievements included seven victories, six in the air, qualifying him as an ace, according to the Air Force Association, an independent organization in Arlington, Va., that promotes public understanding of aerospace power.
What did he do?
Operation THURSDAY began on March 5, 1944, when the first C-47 launched from India towing two overloaded gliders filled with Wingate's troops, equipment, and supplies. A total of 26 transports towing gliders comprised the first wave. The gliders, carrying from 1,000 to 2,000 pounds of excess weight, strained the C-47 tow planes and ropes and caused significant problems. With eight of the first wave of C-47s each losing a glider, Colonel Cochran decided to limit one glider to each remaining transport. This decision allowed the air commandos to successfully deliver Wingate's initial and succeeding forces to the jungle clearings over 200 miles behind Japanese lines in Burma.

During the first day the strip, designated "Broadway," was improved so transport, glider, and liaison aircraft could land safely. They brought supplies, equipment and reinforcements, and evacuated the injured. A second strip, opened by glider assault, relieved congestion at Broadway. Airlift inserted almost 10,000 men, well over 1,000 mules, and approximately 250 tons of supplies. Casualties from the high-risk, untested concept, including missing, were less than 150, and for the first time in military history aircraft evacuated all killed, wounded, and sick from behind enemy lines.

The air commandos also protected the British ground forces by harassing the Japanese. This harassment, conducted by P-51s and B-25s equipped with a 75mm cannon in the nose and 12 .50 caliber machine guns, included bombing bridges, strafing and bombing parked aircraft, air-to-air combat, and destroying the communications, transportation, and military infrastructure.
Wait, who is that Cochran character? Funny you should ask.

See that guy to the left - that was then Lt. Col. Philip Cochran, USAAC. He passed away in 1979. He was - wrap this around your head PCO pipeline guys and gals - 1st USAAF Air Commando Group Co-Commander with Alison. Co-Commander. I guess if Hap Arnold tells you, you work it out.

See him and his men in action below. Remember - he was only 34 in 1944. Alison was 32.

Remember that next time you dismiss the capabilities and opinion of your senior LTs and junior LCDR.

Ponder a lot.



One more bit about Cochran - talk about character.
Cochran was the inspiration behind characters in the Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon by Milton Caniff.
...
Cochran dated actress Betty White in the early 1960s after being introduced by Jack Paar. White declined his marriage proposal; later dating Cochran and her future husband Allen Ludden simultaneously, until her romance with Ludden became serious.
Hat tip GOH.
UPDATE: Our friend LCDR B.J. Armstrong sent along a reminder that if you are interested in this, you need to read William Y'Blood's Air Commandos Against Japan by USNI Press. He reviewed it a few years ago at The Journal of Military History.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Metaphor of the day

We'll make it a Rorschach (and I mean chach) test. Skippy may be able to help - but the universal translator can be found at the 1:33 mark.



Don't tell the SUPPO.

Hat tip HotAir.

Greenert it is....

So. There you go.
Adm. Jonathan Greenert, a career submariner and current vice chief of naval operations, has been tapped to become the 30th chief of naval operations, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Thursday afternoon.

If confirmed by the Senate, Greenert would relieve Adm. Gary Roughead, whose tenure ends in late September. Greenert would be the first submariner to hold the Navy’s top billet in 17 years and is widely regarded as someone with the budgeting prowess to steer the Navy through what are expected to be shrinking budgets in the next few years.
Not in my top-5, but that's just me.

Given some of the history involved - I think we should all wish Admiral Greenert and our Navy the best of luck going forward.

Hat tip Byron.

Pentagon calls LCS "unreasonably expensive" and "impractical"

Wait .... let me put that in better context.

From our buddy over at ELP.
On another note, this from insidedefense.com (subscription).
Pentagon Waives Testing Requirement For Navy's Littoral Combat Ship

The Pentagon has waived the statutory requirement for full-up, system-level survivability testing of the Littoral Combat Ship because it would be "unreasonably expensive" and "impractical," a decision blessed by the Defense Department's top weapons tester, DOD officials say.
LCS - the gift that keeps giving. Roll in the fail.

I guess putting Sailors in combat not knowing the ability of their "warship" to actually do that "overseas contingency operation" thingy is asking too much. Making sure you can explain to the family members of those killed in combat why their sons and daughters are at the bottom of the sea is "unreasonably expensive" and "impractical."

I'll let you answer that question in front of a Senate investigation committee sometime later this decade or next.