Force Shaping - Some of You Must Go - Time To Figure Out Who the Performers Are

"In the next several months I'm going to be working to determine the best means to ensure those of you working the hardest on behalf of our Sailors have strong opportunities to advance," said Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Rick West. ((Does this mean the Navy hasn't been doing this??))

MCPON emphasized quality over quantity and said the time had come to determine who the performers are. ((Does this mean the Navy hasn't been doing this??)) He said that the Navy's end strength was close to the intended level (in other words "we have all the people we need") and that greater focus will now be on different means to ensure excellence across the CPO community.

"That means force shaping or molding at the senior enlisted level." ((Does this mean we need to get rid of some dead weight??))

MCPON said there are too many "hard chargers" not getting promoted ((Why aren't they getting promoted??) from the senior enlisted level down to the youngest petty officers, and that he expects opportunities for them to open up as the senior ranks thin from the top down.

Using Admiral Vern Clark's analogy of message/action alignment, I think we have misaligned what we are saying with what we actually want to say. Essentially, the economy is in a downturn, we are meeting our recruiting quota, we are keeping more 2nd and 3rd term Sailors - we have more Sailors, Chiefs and officers than we can keep or need. (Perform to Serve has been expanded for junior Sailors, there will be E7/8/9 continuation boards and TIR waivers are available so Commanders and Captains can go home a year earlier than previously allowed.)Time to cull the wheat from the chaff. Some of you are going to have to go home. Thank you for your service.

From NAVY NEWS www.navy.mil

A bit of older news from NPC said:

"Although the overriding element in the Force Shaping campaign is reduction, Force Shaping should not be misconstrued as downsizing. NPC does not want it to be looked at as the Navy becoming a smaller fleet, but as the Navy becoming a more efficient and effective fighting force. Downsizing means you are cutting people, you're cutting jobs and you're doing it for cost savings. What we are doing is determining the true requirement for work, creating a better and a broader opportunity for Sailors so that we can do our mission better, and there is a big difference there."