"My personal attitude is important to understand. I am very strong on the "well-rounded" officer and Sailor. I fully recognize that our world of cryptology requires a great deal of technical skill but the Navy requires men and women who can lead. When they cannot, we must clearly identify them so their talents are properly channeled and they are not placed in position of command or supervision."J. S. McFarland
Rear Admiral
Commander, Naval Security Group Command
But you can't lead if you don't know where you are going (i.e., some measure of technical knowledge). The "officers are managers" types with their Univ. of Phoenix Online MBAs might understand this better with some bridge time or land-nav experience. You can't just use buzzwords and "promote synergy" until you and your people magically arrive at the destination. ;)
ReplyDeleteI didn't take the time to read the linked Rand report in the post that preceded this one, but:
ReplyDeleteIt's a sure thing that the taxpayers --and navy senior leaders trying to plot a course to the future== got a better return on investment from whatever Jim McFarland was doing when he wrote that than from the efforts of a high priced think tank...
I'm just sayin'...