Hello Hello, but I must go!

It's been fun, but it's time to hang up the hat on this blog. I've met plenty of cool people through here, but of late it's harder to get motivated to write articles. Between spending more time with the family and work, and the lack of engagement I get through here, it's just not worth it for me to keep writing here.

So I'm done. I'll leave the blog up for a while, just in case I change my mind, but I doubt it. I'll keep writing at Da Tech Guy, and I may start something new in the future, but as of now this is the last post.

You can keep your draft

(x-posted from Da Tech Guy)

No, not the NFL draft...that one where we take people and put them in the military.  Well, most people anyway...

Dennis Laich seems to think bringing back the draft is a great idea, as he is quoted  saying so here in this Military Times article.  He argues that it will be cheaper (due to making pay cheaper), close the civil-military gap, and bring in talent from Ivy League and other places.  I'm in the military and live it every day, and I personally think the draft (and the current Selective Service) should go away completely.

Getting Respect: Communicating Well

Yes, I note the irony of "communicating well" and posting this quite later than I wanted to...

What you learn quickly in any leadership position is that communication is hard. You may think you're crystal clear on something, only to have your Sailors go off half-cocked on something and bring on unintended consequences.

Getting Respect: Differentiating between people

You would think the phrase "I treat people all the same" would be a good mark of true equality, but when I hear someone say it, I shudder. You're not supposed to treat people the same. In fact, doing so is a key reason why junior personnel are losing respect for the chain of command.

Let's start with giving mentoring time. Personnel that have lots of problems tend to consume our time. You have to write counseling chits, which get stored in a binder. Then when you realize a Sailor isn't going to last, you have to bring in legal, which involves more paperwork. Then, since Sailors have rights, you have to give them time to talk to the defense legal people, even when it is painfully obvious that the Sailor is in the wrong. When it's all said and done, you've dumped a lot of time on a crappy Sailor, only to have them swear at you in a final form of disrespect on their way out the door.

Yup, been there, done that. And good leaders will continue to do this.

Getting respect: Sometimes you just need to do

The last few months, I keep hearing about "respect," typically as in "someone is not respecting me as a (chief/division officer/naval officer/petty officer/whatever)." I am told that Millenials don't respect their chain of command, and that if we could only harken back to the old days, we would be far better for it.

To that I say, bullshit.

Hey, NPC is updating pictures!

So I was looking up uniform requirements, expecting to see the old black and white pictures that have been on NPC's website since...forever, when low and behold

Not all are updated, but this is a good start. Well done NPC!

Trump's pivot to the Pacific

Perhaps we're really pivoting to the Pacific? Check out my latest post at Da Tech Guy!

What an ADSEP board looks like

Courtroom photo, from Wikipedia

This past week I sat on my first ever Administrative Separation (ADSEP) board.  Having never been on an ADSEP board before, I wanted to share my experience to try and remove some of the myths out there about this process.  Please note, I am NOT going to give any specifics on the people involved, as that is privacy act information.

Who it's really about

To all my readers, thank you for the love and support shown over the last few days. Unfortunately, Rebecca didn't survive her surgery. After dwelling on it the past few days, I realized I might have missed a lesson.

http://datechguyblog.com/2017/02/17/who-its-really-about/

If you went to MSOC, you may be eligible for JPME credit

Sharing a helpful email.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have gotten a truly overwhelming response to the initiative that gets partial JPME credit for graduating from MSOC. To make this easier for all, particularly OLP's Admin folks, please read the following that addresses most of the questions we've received via email and on the phone:

1. This applies to only those taking JPME I distance education through the Naval War College.  If you are taking distance ed from Air War College, there is no transferable credit.

2. It applies only to those taking distance ed through the web enabled and CD ROM methodologies.  It does not apply to Fleet Seminar Program students (including those at NPS).

3. MSOC counts toward distance ed JMO Blocks 4 & 5.

4. This initiative is grand-fathered back through MSOC class 12-16, that is all classes in NWC Academic Year 2012/13 and later. These are all classes that began after 1 July 2012.

5. To get the MSOC credit, we need to create a profile for you in distance education's data base.  To do that, we need the the data in the attached document. Please fill it out (minus PII: SSN and DoD number off ID card) and e-mail back to me. Before you start JMO call OLP Admin (401-841-3690/3685) to provide SSN and DoD# over the phone and your record will be complete.

6. Because we are working to catch up several years worth of data, your records will not be ready until you are starting JMO.

7. Call or e-mail me (NOT Admin) if you have questions, however, I do not have the ability to change eligibility dates or add Fleet Seminar Program students.

Crosspost from Da tech guy: Our Broken Millenials

Millenials are doing worse compared to their parents. Is it the economy, or something else? I explore that topic here: http://datechguyblog.com/2017/01/14/our-broken-millenials/

Working on a book!

My posting has been sporadic due to Christmas break (and I took more days than normal, gotta use up that leave balance!) but also because I'm working on a book, ideally part of a series on leadership. I'm on the ethics section, and wanted to share a small part of what I've written so far:

Our moral compass is built slowly over time.  You accumulate experiences, training and guidance that tells you what is right and wrong.  Drastic changes are rare and easy to spot.

     Your moral compass is more likely to suffer death by a thousand cuts than a sudden brittle fracture.  Worse, you are heavily influenced by those around you.  If your command climate permits questionable ethics, you'll be more likely to make poor ethical decisions.

     Germany was a perfect example of this.  I recommend reading Erik Larson's book "In The Garden of Beasts."  The book shows the perspective of Germany from the American ambassador, who watched it slowly decay over the reign of Hitler as Chancellor.  His daughter and wife noticed that although the German's were nice people, slowly over time they became increasingly harsh towards the Jews.  One quote is particularly telling:

     “Coordination' occurred with astonishing speed, even in sectors of life not directly targeted by specific laws, as Germans willingly placed themselves under the sway of Nazi rule, a phenomenon that became known as Selbtsgleichschaltung, or 'self-coordination.' Change came to Germany so quickly and across such a wide front that German citizens who left the country for business or travel returned to find everything around them altered, as if they were characters in a horror movie who come back to find that people who once were their friends, clients, patients, and customers have become different in ways hard to discern.”

     Remember that these people started off just like you and me.  Hitler's desire to exterminate the Jews eventually crept into most of his soldiers, no matter what their upbringing.  Or, in more blunt terms, you can't be a diamond in the mud, because at some point you become just another mud covered diamond.

     This isn't a defense of Germany's actions.  We can guard ourselves from ethical problems.  It starts with properly identifying the problem.  You won't face ethical dilemmas on some big scale, instead, it will be a small ethical decisions on a day to day basis that you need to be constantly getting right in order to maintain your moral compass.

Your BAH is going away

Yup, you heard me.  The National Defense Authorization passed.  You can read it here:

http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20161128/CRPT-114HRPT-S2943.pdf

Everyone seems focused on the 2.1% pay increase.  I caught this note in the executive summary:

REPORTS ON A NEW SINGLE-SALARY PAY SYSTEM FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES (SEC 604) - Not later than March 1, 2017, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representative a report that sets forth a plan to implement a new pay system. The new pay structure described shall assume the repeal of the basic allowance for housing and basic allowance subsistence for members of the Armed Forces in favor of a single-salary pay system.

Now that we have ratings...

...can we refocus on technical training?

While we can go back and forth about whether the rating removal was aimed at the word "man," or helping Sailors land civilian jobs, or some other reason, we missed that ratings were more than just a nice way to address ourselves.  Enlisted ratings linked Sailors to a promotion exam, which required them (at least up to E-6) to be knowledgeable in their rating.  The whole point of that was to keep our Sailors studying and staying sharp in their job.

Guest blogging all over the place

So it's been light here because I've been guest blogging a lot:

Why Trump's call to Taiwan isn't random

and

The Future of IW at Sea

If I had to fix the VFW

I used to drive by this all the time going to school. Image from wikipedia.

If you follow my weekly article on Da Tech Guy, my latest post is a bit of a rant about the VFW.  And while I'm sort of picking on one organization, I could probably say the same things about more than a few other fraternal-order type organizations designed for veterans.  Most of the them, like the VFW, are struggling for membership and can't seem to figure out why.  Even the Duffel Blog makes fun of it.

The VFW isn't unlike the NRA in terms of it's initial demographics, quick rise in popularity and then facing a membership and relevance challenge.  But unlike the NRA, which adapted to it's environment, the VFW, American Legion, Submarine Veterans and others haven't.  How could these organizations change to better recruit?  I have some ideas.

I got a chance to hear the FBI director speak

Enjoy my post here at Da Tech Guy!

Did you contribute to rating elimination?

The elimination of Navy ratings caught me, like most others, by surprise. I had heard that there was a move to add letters to the end of NECs to capture the level of expertise, which would help bring better fit to our billets, which I thought was an excellent idea. The fact that this wasn't brought up makes me think that it was really a decision held at the highest levels. The lack of guidance we are getting from those at PERS is telling, because I honestly believe they are as surprised as we are.

One reason that was brought up for the change was that Navy personnel struggle to integrate into civilian jobs when they leave the service. I'm surprised to hear this. The Navy, probably more than any other service, makes a pretty concerted effort to set you up for success outside the Navy. Let's look at what we do right:

The REAL reason behind Navy rating elimination

Punishment and behavior

Two recent news items grated on my nerves:

Ft. Gordon official arrested following child porn investigation

http://wjbf.com/2016/09/19/ft-gordon-official-arrested-following-child-porn-investigation/

and

Strike Group Boss watched porn for hours on Navy computer

https://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2016/03/08/strike-group-boss-watched-porn-hours-navy-computer-report/81510180/

I'm not angered by the fact this happened. Unfortunately, you can never screen well enough to weed out behavior like this. The majority of our O-6 and above officers are great people that serve America honorably.

No, my problem is that these two people, along with countless others, will never be properly punished. They will get fired, but it is unlikely that they will lose benefits, rank or anything of that nature. For some reason, we're OK as a military protecting these people.

Funny enough, how many times have you heard that you have to send a strong message at Captain's Mast? I've heard it plenty. That was the subject of more than a few debates at my Leadership school, where we talked about what was appropriate. There were plenty of people that believed a one-time offense, like a DUI, should be punished, but allow a Sailor to bounce back. There were others that were "One and your done." In all the talk, nobody once said "Well, we should just fire the guy and be done with it."

Why am I so harsh on the above two officers? First, they've been in forever, so they know the rules. Second, their offenses were severe. And most importantly, they repeated them. It's not like they clicked a bad link once, or violated a rule that was minor. They committed a serious offense multiple times. I'm more forgiving to a guy who collides with a buoy...at the very least, it was a one time event.

But the most we'll do is fire these two and give them a retirement. And we wonder why the Navy Times runs stories about double standards.

If you want to send a message, if these two are found guilty, tear them down to O-1 and give them a dishonorable discharge. You'll send a strong message about standards of behavior, and maybe restore some honor in the process.