What I told my CO. Ensigns don't try this at your command. My boss and I were the same paygrade.

This is a summary of my 360 degree feedback to a former commanding officer. Skipper, there's no doubt you're going to be a leader in the community; these things may help you.

• You are a great speaker. Be careful not to lose the feeling behind the words. Words have meaning; actions have con­sequences. Ensure your actions match your words. Some Sailors actually listen to every word. They can sense any hint of insincerity. 
• Your command philosophy should be written down and distributed widely in the command. This is a huge reason for the CNO's success in the Navy. We all know where he's going and we talk about it. The command wants to follow you. Tell us where you want to go. 
• Respect our time. Typically, ten or more people are always awaiting your late arrival at some function (staff meeting, wardroom meetings, dinners, graduations, etc). If people believe that you are willing to consistently waste their time, they will stop feeling guilty about wasting yours. 
• Be consistent with your administration of military justice. It's easy to punish junior members in the command for trivial violations. Applying the same standards across the board does not always work. In fact, the more senior the individual is, the more accountable they should be held for their action or inaction. Everyone is watching and judging. 
• When senior officers visit the command, maximize their exposure to the junior Sailors of the command. They will benefit the most. 
• Take your junior officers, Chiefs, and Sailors to lunch or simply go have lunch with them in their mess. Everyone will learn a lot, especially you. 
• Invite your key command leaders to your home for a social event so they can see how it's done. Juniors need to see how their seniors do this. It's part of the learning process. 
• Share information with your department heads. It is astounding how much information a commanding officer is exposed to and that is not shared with the department heads. Distributed information is enormously powerful. Your department heads can keep a secret if there is a requirement for secrecy. Trust them. 
• Don't play favorites with members of the wardroom. It hurts the wardroom and it hurts you. 
• Focus your calendar on the command 's mission. Ceremonial events and public relations are important, but your time should be spent on those areas the commanding officer can directly influence for the greatest benefit to the command's mission. 

From my January 2007 PROCEEDINGS magazine article "360-Degree Feedback: Can We Handle the Truth?"  You can subscribe to PROCEEDINGS (the professional journal of the U.S. Navy) HERE.

You can read the latest article about this in Navy Times HERE.

Stay tuned to this blog for the 360-degree feedback I received from everyone following my command tour. It's a very interesting and eye opening experience.

You can count on your Sailors to do the impossible

I have never found Sailors to be at a loss. Tell them to do anything  and you can depend on them to get it done. Their manner of life creates in them a complete self-reliance which you seldom find in other men.

The Duke of Wellington

Congratulations to these new Information Warfare Captains (Navy Reserve) and the Reserve IW Flag selectee

Victor Alan White
Ingrid M. Rader
Mark Thomas Smith
Glenn Earl Murray


CAPT Dan MacDonnell, Commanding Officer of Navy Reserve, Commander TENTH Fleet was recently selected as the next IW Reserve Flag (pins on on the USS Constitution in Oct - he's from Boston!).

Hat tip to Captain Greg Rowe, Commanding Officer, Navy Reserve Navy Information Operations Command Maryland, 87176

Correct language

Navigating A New Course To Command Excellence - Antithesis to the status quo

In the Model for Command Excellence, between the inputs and results, were factors the model termed intermediate outputs. The intermediate outputs of superior commands also distinguished them. Sailors in the command had a sense of mission. They were motivated and committed to the command. Morale, pride, and teamwork were evident throughout the command. Attitudes and values of Sailors on board reflected this. These intermediate outputs directly affected the final outputs.

What accounts for the differences between them in superior and average commands?

Three areas make a difference between the results of superior and average commands:

• the Sailors in the command,
• the relationships between them
• the activities they perform

"Sailors" refers to the different people in the command. This includes the Commanding Officer (CO), the Executive Officer (XO), the Wardroom, the Chiefs Quarters (Mess), and the Crew.

"Relationships" refers to the relationships between different groups of Sailors and the ways these groups of people interact with each other. "Activities" include those things that people do that make the biggest differences between average and top commands.

Five activities were identified:

• Planning
• Maintaining Standards
• Communicating
• Building Esprit de Corps
• Training and Development

The book is available HERE. Check the document properties; this is a 2005 update of our original version from 1997.  There are two companion summaries: Command Excellence and the Wardroom and Charting the course to Command Excellence.

XO Blast - Answer your mail !!

 

I've been a strong advocate for the Command Excellence program for quite some time.  I've sent out several thousands of dollars worth of printed and bound materials to our community's Commanding Officers/Executive Officers and Officers in Charge over the past decade.  It's money well spent.  I attended the first Command Excellence Seminar in the mid-1980s.  It made quite an impression!

The principles are timeless and well-founded.  The materials the Navy used back in the mid-1980s were poorly prepared and xeroxed.  My XO (LT Bob Duncan) and I recreated & updated the materials in their entirety and provided them to the Command Leadership Course in Rhode Island in 1997. These materials are still in use there today. These materials are part of the student desk loads for all Perspective Commanding Officers and Executive Officers.  Even the MCPON has adopted the principles in his ZEROING IN ON EXCELLENCE program.  There is lots of value in this.

My note above is an expression of frustration with one of our Navy Information Operations Command Executive Officers who has not learned how to "answer the mail".  My own U.S. NSGA Misawa Executive Officer in days past (some may remember "MAD DOG MURPHY" who redefined what being an XO was all about) taught me that "If a Naval officer can't be bothered to answer the mail, you have to wonder what he can be bothered 'to do'.  Probably, not too much.

My plea - "Answer your mail".

Communication is number ONE!

 

As a leader, there is one single thing you can do that will make, or break, command morale. The key is communication.

And while that's true in "normal" times, it's become even more important when a command is in transition.

Regular communication with Sailors is always integral to a command's success, especially during periods of uncertainty, Lack of communication with Sailors is the number one cause of low morale.

As the Navy is undergoing change during all the budget uncertainty, the best thing to do is communicate with your Sailors even if you yourself aren't sure exactly what's about to happen. It's foremost just to bring Sailors together. And continue to talk to them one on one also. You've got to manage the scuttlebutt. You need to address these things so that Sailors are not preoccupied with worrying about rumors that may not be true.

More Valuable Than Money

It would seem that most Navy leaders already know this answer. Navy leaders were asked, "In your opinion, what is the best remedy for low morale?" Their responses:

Communication 48%
Recognition programs 19%
Monetary awards for exceptional performance 13%
Unexpected rewards 11%
Team-building events or meetings 5%
Additional days off 3%

Bottom line: Tell your Sailors what happened, what is happening and what will be happening.

Everything is not of equal importance

"If everything is so critical it requires your personal intervention as a leader, you are destined to failure. First, you lose your followers. No one can maintain a pace of everything being of equal importance. Things simply are not. "

"Leadership is often about just standing back. Standing back and deliberately moving your branches aside so some sunlight get down to the saplings. Giving your subordinates the time and nourishment necessary for growth."

Leadership guru - Rear Admiral Dave R. Oliver Jr. - in "LEAD ON - A Practical Approach to Leadership"

What can be more important ?

"Mike,

Thanks for your continuing engagement on the vital issue of leadership -- at the end of the day, what can be more important to our Navy and our nation?"

Admiral James Stavridis

Congratulations to these new IW Captains

Bill Lintz
Sean Heritage
Mike Douglas
Bill Ekblad
Doug Schelb
Joe Johnson

A few words about those not selected to IWO Captain by this year's promotion board

This is a repost of my April 2010 note.

We have gone through another very challenging selection board cycle for promotion to Information Warfare Officer Captain and selection means a great deal of joy and satisfaction to an absolutely outstanding group of selectees, their families, friends and Shipmates. It also means that there is a group of sadly disappointed non-selects and those who are close to them, as well. The joy for the selectees is as normal as the grave disappointment is to the non-selects. This is an extremely painful time for a few of the non-selects who were “selects” on everyone’s list but the actual selection board’s. There are two or three (not usually more than that) superb candidates for selection who are somehow set aside in the crunch and “seemingly” lessor candidates make it on the “select” list. This is all understandable and usually unavoidable. Our selection board members are faced with a nearly impossible job and they do a masterful job in selecting the right individuals capable of providing the senior leadership our community needs to lead us in the future.

Our most senior leadership has the very painful and absolutely unpleasant job of letting the non-selects know what their status is, at least 48 hours (Note: the 48 hr notification is no longer required. In the information age, the word gets out too fast and most candidates learn of their selection or non-selection from some unofficial source) before the official message list is released. This requires some extraordinary planning by the Flag staffs and has to be well coordinated. These non-selects are as important to the future of our community and have contributed to the “past success” of the community as much as the “selects” have, some perhaps even more so.

These people deserve SIGNIFICANT senior officer attention, but rarely get it. It's tough! Speaking the absolute truth about an individual's true potential for selection to Captain is a difficult discussion to have. But, that discussion has to fit into that 25% of the time that Admiral Stavridis says should be devoted to taking care of people. (His paper about how he spends his time is HERE.)

Those selected for promotion will get plenty of attention. Accolades will come in from around the world. The selects deserve your congratulations, but the non-selects deserve your significant attention, counsel, and understanding. These fine men and women are confronted by feelings of failure and betrayal by the system (Navy) to which they have devoted 20+ of the best years of their lives. It does not mean they are failures or that they have been betrayed. But that doesn’t matter, that is what they feel. We need to reach out and talk to each and every one of these people before the message hits the street. Perhaps some of them had no possible chance of being selected. That doesn’t matter on the day the list comes out. There are juniors and seniors who honestly thought that “their” O5 was worthy of selection to O6 (Captain).

Ten Simple Rules for Social Acceptability

1. Get an etiquette book and read it. Do it now.
2. Be quiet and listen. Not everyone wants to hear what you have to say. Conversation among ladies and gentlemen is a multisided affair. Listening well is not only an official but also a social necessity.
3. Stand up. This elementary courtesy is the hallmark of a gentleman or lady when addressed by a senior (in rank or age).
4. Defer to others in social matters-in conversation, dining, and precedence. Make the effort to see that others are seated or served first, given the right-of-way, and so on.
5. Pay attention to what is going on around you. You might learn how to conduct yourself and learn what is required. Officers who are unaware are of no use to anyone and a source of embarrassment to their
shipmates.
6. Pay attention to your grooming. You should wear a well-turned-out uniform and civilian clothing and maintain hair, nails, and basic body cleanliness.
7. Treat your associates as ladies and gentlemen (even if they are not). Even one or two ladies or gentlemen in a group raise the tone of the gathering.
8. Do not draw attention to yourself-in dress, voice, or actions. Boisterous and exhibitionist behavior does not define the lady or gentleman.
9. Pay attention to your language. You should eliminate not only cursing and profanity but also the crudities in common usage: rough, trendy, "with it" slang. Listen to what you are saying. If you use two to three "you know" expressions a minute in your speech, you have said too much.
10. Do not complain or whine. If you cannot or will not change matters, do not comment on what is wrong with you or the world.

From: Career Compass: Navigating the Navy's Officer Promotion and Assignment System
James A. Winnefeld Sr.

Effective Cryptologic/Information Warfare community management is a shared responsibility

Vice Admiral Rogers and the rest of the IW/Cryptologic leadership team know that effective community management is a shared responsibility.  It is about creating and engaging the right workforce to meet Navy objectives and achieve sustainable competitive advantage against our adversaries (internal and external). They are all actively involved in the IDC cross detailing and IWO slating process to ensure that we are getting the right people in the right place at the right time to get the right things done.  When people are engaged, and are given clear direction and the right kind of support—everything from effective leadership to valuable training to rewards that drive the right behaviors and results—there is not anything that they cannot achieve.

Vice Admiral Rogers and the rest of the IW/Cryptologic leadership team are engaging the community, giving clear direction and providing the right kind of support. 

Here's the line-up for the Cryptologic/Information Warfare Community Flag Leadership:

VADM Mike Rogers - Commander, Fleet Cyber Command/TENTH Fleet

RADM Bill Leigher - Director of Warfare Integration for Information Dominance (OPNAV N2/N6F)

RDML Sean Filipowski - Director of Intelligence, U.S. Cyber Command

RDML Jan Tighe - Interim President, Naval Postgraduate School/Director, Decision Superiority (OPNAV N2/N6F4)

RDML Will Metts - Deputy Chief of Tailored Access Operations, National Security Agency

Captain Tim White - CO, NIOC Maryland

Balancing Truth and Fiction

"Truth is so hard to tell, it sometimes needs fiction to make it plausible."

Francis Bacon

Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) picks new Provost - Also RDML Tighe Video

The dean of Wichita State University's business school, Doug Hensler of Wichita, Kansas., will serve as NPS's 14th provost, the school said Friday.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said, "I appreciate Admiral (Jan) Tighe's leadership during this time of transition and welcome Dr. Hensler as we begin the next chapter in this storied institution's history."

Mabus told the staff last week that Rear Admiral Tighe, interim president since November, was needed "in the fleet" and a president would only be selected after the provost.  There has been no word yet on which fleet assignment RDML Tighe would receive.

RDML Jan Tighe is featured HERE on The Pentagon Channel's "Inside NPS" segment.   Her portion of the video starts at the 10:30 mark.

2nd Anniversary of these changes

RTTUZYUW RUEWMCS0000 1051633-UUUU--RUCRNAD.
ZNR UUUUU
R 151633Z APR 11
FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//N00//
TO NAVADMIN
INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC//N00//
BT 
UNCLAS//N05400//

NAVADMIN 130/11

MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N00/APR//

SUBJ/NAVY CYBER ORGANIZATION REALIGNMENT//

REF/A/DOC/CNO/29JAN2010//
REF/B/DOC/CNO/OCT2010//
NARR/REF A IS FLEET CYBER COMMAND/TENTH FLEET AND NAVY CYBER FORCES 
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN AND COMMAND RELATIONSHIPS DIRECTIVE.  REF B IS 
CNO GUIDANCE FOR 2011.//
POC/SCOTT ROBINSON/CAPT/FLTCYBERCOM COS//TEL:240-373-3640/
EMAIL:SCOTT.A.ROBINSON1@NAVY.MIL//
POC/ERIC EXNER/CAPT/NAVCYBERFOR COS/TEL:757-417-6744/
EMAIL:ERIC.EXNER@NAVY.MIL//

RMKS/1.  TO ENSURE THE NAVY REMAINS A LEADER IN CYBERSPACE OPERATIONS 
AND HAS THE COMMAND AND CONTROL STRUCTURE NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE 
DECISION SUPERIORITY IN THE INFORMATION DOMAIN, I HAVE APPROVED A 
CHANGE TO THE COMMAND ALIGNMENT, OUTLINED IN REF A, AS RECOMMENDED BY 
COMMANDER, U.S. FLEET FORCES COMMAND (USFF) AND COMMANDER, U.S. FLEET 
CYBER COMMAND (FLTCYBERCOM).  THIS CHANGE WILL REALIGN ADMINISTRATIVE 
CONTROL (ADCON) OF NAVY SHORE ORGANIZATIONS IN THE MISSION AREAS OF 
CYBER, NETWORK OPERATIONS, INFORMATION OPERATIONS, CRYPTOLOGIC, AND 
SPACE FOR UNITY OF COMMAND AND OPTIMAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.     

2.  EFFECTIVE 18 APRIL 2011, THE FOLLOWING COMMAND RELATIONSHIPS
ARE ESTABLISHED:
A.  THE SHORE ACTIVITIES CURRENTLY ADCON TO COMMANDER, NAVY CYBER 
FORCES (NAVCYBERFOR) AND OPERATIONALLY EMPLOYED BY COMMANDER, 
FLTCYBERCOM ARE ASSIGNED ADCON TO FLTCYBERCOM.  THESE COMMANDS 
INCLUDE NAVAL NETWORK WARFARE COMMAND, NAVAL COMPUTER 
TELECOMMUNICATIONS AREA MASTER STATIONS ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC, NAVY 
CYBER DEFENSE OPERATIONS COMMAND, NAVY CYBER WARFARE DEVELOPMENT 
GROUP, ALL NAVY INFORMATION OPERATIONS COMMANDS, NAVAL SATELLITE 
OPERATIONS CENTER, AND ALL SUBORDINATE COMMANDS AND DETACHMENTS TO 
THESE COMMANDS.
B.  NAVCYBERFOR RETAINS ADCON OF NAVY AND MARINE CORPS SPECTRUM 
CENTER, NAVY COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY MATERIAL SYSTEM COMMAND, ALL 
FLEET INTELLIGENCE DETACHMENTS AND ALL FLEET INTELLIGENCE ADAPTIVE 
FORCE ACTIVITIES.
C.  NAVCYBERFOR, AS DELEGATED BY COMMANDER, USFF, REMAINS THE GLOBAL 
C5I TYCOM RESPONSIBLE TO MAN, TRAIN, AND EQUIP (MT&E) ALL CYBER 
FORCES AFLOAT AND ASHORE TO GENERATE REQUIRED LEVELS OF CURRENT AND 
FUTURE CYBER FORCE READINESS.
D.  COMMANDER, FLTCYBERCOM, AS THE DESIGNATED COMMANDER OF THE NAVY'S 
SERVICE CRYPTOLOGIC COMPONENT, IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MT&E FUNCTIONS OF 
THE CONSOLIDATED CRYPTOLOGIC PROGRAM RESOURCED CRYPTOLOGIC WORKFORCE. 

3.  AS DIRECTED IN REF B, FLTCYBERCOM WILL BE DESIGNATED AS THE 
NAVY'S CYBER CLAIMANT, BSO 60C, IN FY2012.  WITH FUTURE DELEGATION OF 
1517 AUTHORITY BY COMMANDER, USFF, FLTCYBERCOM WILL HAVE THE 
FINANCIAL AUTHORITIES NECESSARY TO QUICKLY SHIFT FINANCIAL RESOURCES 
TO PREPARE FOR AND COMBAT THE RAPIDLY EVOLVING CYBER THREAT. 

4.  RELEASED BY ADM G. ROUGHEAD, CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS.//
BT
#0000
NNNN

Watch your conversations

Rear Admiral Gaouette, former JOHN C STENNIS Strike Group Command was relieved of his command for a number of reasons, including: "...he spoke in a manner that tended to diminish confidence in or respect due to three other admirals."

Thankfully, to our knowledge, no one else has spoken in a manner which might tend to diminish the confidence in or respect due to our Flag officers. Whew!

Blessing of the Fleets

Today (Saturday, 13 April 2013) from 1-5 PM at the Navy Memorial in Washington D.C.  Don't miss it.

The Navy Memorial celebrates its annual “Blessing of the Fleets” ceremony.  Passed down through generations of sailors and navies around the world, the centuries-old ceremony is intended to safeguard crews and ships from the danger of the seas through a traditional blessing given by a clergyman at the water’s edge.  

As a tribute to our nation’s rich maritime heritage and the men and women who have contributed to its growth and success, the Navy Memorial hosts its annual Blessing of the Fleets ceremony each spring.  The event is free and open to the public.  

The ceremony’s highlight occurs when sailors from the US Navy’s Ceremonial Guard proceed across the Memorial Plaza’s “granite sea” to pour water from the Seven Seas and the Great Lakes into the surrounding fountains “charging” them to life and ushering in the spring season.

From the archives

 

Herding a group of cryptologic/Information Warfare officers through any program of instruction is a generally thankless job.  We used to give these inscribed photos mounted on a plaque to our class leaders at the Center for Naval Cryptology (now the Center for Information Dominance) at Corry Station 'back in the day' to acknowledge their herding efforts.

Origin of the Captain Joseph Rochefort Distinguished Leadership Award 2011

This is proof that a Sailor with an idea, and the ability to express it, can make things happen on a grand scale (i.e., on the community level).  Put some action into your ideas.  Make them happen.

And, I like it.

I go anywhere in the world they tell me to go, any time they tell me to, to fight anybody they want me to fight. I move my family anywhere they tell me to move, on a day’s notice,and live in whatever quarters they assign me. I work whenever they tell me to work....And I like it.

James H. Webb

Former U.S. Marine and Secretary of the Navy (1987-1988)

U.S. Senator representing Virginia

Quotable quotes

"Need something said, ask an officer; need something done, ask a Sailor."

With apologies to Iron Lady/Baroness Margaret Thatcher

Navy on FaceBook

The choice of whether or not to participate (in Social Media) is a false one.  Opting against using social media cedes the conversation to others.  People will be talking about your command and forging your public reputation, but without your input.  Choosing not to participate simply means you surrender your stake in the outcome...For some, interactive communication is not that important."

Join the United States Naval Institute HERE to read the rest of Lieutenant William B. Tisdale's Professional Note.  It's important in today's Navy where it appears that the information is dominating us rather than the other way around.

CNO would like for you to look at your daily routine

 

I ask each of you to look at your daily routine through the lens of “Warfighting First.” Think about how your work impacts warfighting. Fielding the right systems, honing our skills and knowing our contribution to the fight is how we achieve Warfighting First.

Check out his blog HERE.

Admiral  Jonathan Greenert
Chief of Naval Operations

Use the pile driver

“If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. 

Use the pile driver.”

Winston Churchill

Sweat the small stuff

Disciplined military professionals do not allow themselves or their shipmates to ignore minor requirements even when there is no direct mission impact. They understand that even the simplest regulations matter. And they are more likely to follow rules that do affect mission success.

Whenever we allow someone to get away with a small infraction, however trivial, we encourage disobedience through our inaction. Every time we ignore the small stuff, we make apparently minor requirements less important. Eventually the less important things become unimportant; and small stuff ignored becomes nothing at all. This leads to bigger and more important items becoming the small stuff, and the stage has been set for those requirements to be ignored as well. 

From retired CTICS Jim Murphy's article in PROCEEDINGS magazine HERE.

Hey, if your CO can ignore SECNAV, your Sailor should not be faulted for ignoring the CO.

We have really smart people in the Navy

We have really smart people working in the Navy. Junior Petty Officer and Junior Officers can offer a lot of new ideas and improve on our tactics, techniques and procedures. But we treat them like robots and don't provide the right incentives. Why are we surprised then?

Read more HERE from the Navy's Grade 36 Bureaucrat.

Navy announces firing of USS GUARDIAN CO

The Navy announced yesterday that the commanding officer of the former minesweeper USS GUARDIAN (MCM-5) and three others have been relieved of duty following the initial investigation into the grounding of the Sasebo-based ship on a reef in the Philippines.

Former CO, Lieutenant Commander Mark Rice, XO Lieutenant Daniel Tyler, the ship’s enlisted assistant navigator and the officer of the deck at the time of the ship’s grounding were all relieved because they “did not adhere to the standard navy navigation procedures.”

LCDR Mark Rice and the others were relieved by Rear Admiral Jeffrey Harley, commander of the Sasebo, Japan-based Amphibious Force 7th Fleet. Harley cited a “loss of confidence” in Rice’s ability to command.

LCDR Rice had screened for early command and was assigned to USS GUARDIAN (MCM 5) serving as the Executive Officer in October 2011 and fleeted up to CO in December 2012. The USS GUARDIAN was run aground in January 2013.

The First Component of Naval Leadership - PERSONAL EXAMPLE

According to Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, "The first component of Naval leadership is personal example. Your subordinates will reflect your sincerity, enthusiasm, smart appearance, military behavior, technical competence, and coolness and courage under stress. To be an effective leader you must first look and act like one." Perry instinctively understood this principle.

According to an Army officer who had frequent contact with him: "the commodore was blunt, yet dignified... heavy and not graceful...held in awe by the junior officers and having little to do with them, seriously courteous to others... The ship seemed to have a sense of importance because he was on board."

From LEADERSHIP EMBODIED,
Chapter 7, Mathew Calbraith Perry
by Dr. Michael J. Crawford

Commanding Officers are responsible for Helping Prevent Suicide

In superior performing commands, Commanding Officers (COs) have written suicide prevention and crisis intervention plans that include the process for identification, referral, access to treatment and

follow-up procedures for personnel who indicate a heightened risk of suicide.

In superior commands, COs foster a command climate that supports and promotes psychological health consistent with operational stress control principles. For example:

(a) Foster unit morale and cohesion;
(b) Promote physical fitness;
(c) Provide clear direction and sense of mission;
(d) Deglamorize alcohol use;
(e) Know their Sailors;
(f) Ensure adequate time for rest;
(g) Encourage good communication;
(h) Help Sailors maintain a work-life balance;
(i) Do positive after-action reviews;
(j) Reward accomplishments;
(k) Refer early for intervention;
(l) Communicate/coordinate with mental health providers; and
(m) Reintegrate Sailors back into the unit after treatment.

Does your CO do (a) through (m)?  What are you doing to help hold him accountable to these standards?  He can't do it all himself.  Find out where you can help.
 

In superior commands, COs provide support for those Sailors who seek help with personal problems. Access is provided to prevention, counseling and treatment programs and services supporting the early resolution of mental health, and family and personal problems that underlie suicidal behavior.

From the OPNAVINST 1720.4A HERE.

Ask to see your CO's suicide prevention and crisis intervention plans.  It may motivate her/him to write one and comply with Navy policy.

Navy Core Values add value

Mark Miller wrote about core values on his blog - GREAT LEADERS SERVE

Paraphrasing from his blog and applying his ideas to our Navy core values, he suggests that for "Honor, Courage and Commitment" to add value, Navy leaders must:

Know the values. Share the values. Live the values.

Assuming all three of these conditions are met, he suggests that there are 10 ways that Navy Core Values add value.

1. Core Values create a common language within the Navy and among its Sailors. Once those Navy core values were established, the Navy and her Sailors began the journey to ensure the ideas and concepts were clearly understood. Publishing the words alone is NOT sufficient to add value.
2. Core Values establish norms of conduct and approach. By definition, Navy Core Values are the beliefs that we want to inform/drive the behavior within the Navy. As we continue to communicate these values, our Sailors will respond accordingly.
3. Core Values set the priorities of the organization. Not operating priorities – cultural priorities. Culture is the most powerful force in any organization - think about it, the culture of aviation, surface warfare, submarines, across the shore establishment. Navy core values, once firmly rooted, are the Navy culture.
4. Core Values, when rank ordered, establish behavioral priorities as well. Honor is first among equals.  Courage and Commitment follow.
5. Core Values can be used to screen potential employees. The Navy hires from the whole of American society and then must teach them Navy core values.  Mark Miller suggests that the Navy would be more successful if we selected people who already embodied the Navy's core values.
6. Core Values provide a standard against which people can be evaluated. The Navy should be evaluating Sailors on both traditional performance metrics and adherence to the Navy Core Values.
7. Core Values accelerate the contribution of new Sailors. There is a natural tentativeness in Sailors when they don’t know what is valued in the Navy culture. Without overt declaration of Navy Core Values at each command, new Sailors at your command may spend many months attempting to figure them out.
8. Core Values create a platform for leaders to articulate and demonstrate what matters most. Done well, this builds the Sailors’s trust and confidence in their navy leaders.
9. Core Values provide strategic opportunities for recognition. The behavior you recognize and reward will be repeated.
10. Nothing will shape a culture faster than Navy Core Values articulated, modeled and recognized in practice.

Do all the Sailors in your organization know and practice Navy Core Values? Think about the power of getting everyone in your command aligned around what matters most.