Summer is usually the time for some turnover at a several of our Navy Information Operations Commands at home and abroad. This is a good time to go back and review what your command, your Sailors and you have achieved over these past few years.
How have you helped your Sailors get to the next level in their careers? What significant improvements have you made in mission accomplishment? Did you behave as if Sailors were our Navy's most important asset? What specific actions did you take to improve the Quality of Life for them and their families? What genuine legacy do you leave behind? What bridges have you built to the command's future? How many Sailors have you helped achieve their personal/professional goals? In the end, what difference have you made?
I hope you can answer these questions to your own satisfaction when one of our Flag officers pins on a Meritorious Service Medal or Legion of Merit on your chest and tells "All Hands assembled" what a great man/woman you are. Be the great man/woman that you are said to be.
Like you Captain, I have always been troubled that our best CO and our worst CO received the same award. Live through the tour and get your MSM and move on.
ReplyDeleteRelates well to your previous post.
ReplyDeleteThe attributes the Navy expects from its O5/O6 Inspirational Leaders:
Is a gifted communicator who inspires a shared vision within the command, by providing purpose, direction, and motivation.
Embraces the authority, responsibility, and accountability of command with enthusiasm, selfless devotion, and total commitment to mission readiness and accomplishment.
Instills in his/her Sailors the warrior’s spirit and will to win.
Develops a positive command climate based on mutual trust, loyalty, and respect, resulting in unity of purpose and unparalleled esprit de corps.
Exercises discernment and acts boldly yet prudently in making sound decisions with due consideration of attendant risks.
Virtuous in habit, infusing Navy Core Values into the command culture; the moral arbiter for the command.
Is a self-aware, innovative critical thinker, and skilled joint warfighter.
Is effective in leading up tactfully, confidently, and with cooperative abilities.
"Make a difference." How has this existentialist angst crept into our naval lexicon? Just discharge your naval duties and responsibilities with excellence, alacrity, and cheerfulness and you will indeed "make the difference" you desire without obsessing about whether or not "you made a difference."
ReplyDeleteLT Albert Camus,
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff !!
Well said. Love your other works.
If you're going to make anything at all for your Sailors - make a difference !!
ReplyDeleteI don't see anything existential in that.
I'm with Al on this one ... "Standing the Watch" is making a difference.
ReplyDeleteMike
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought you were heavy handed here. I thought about it a bit more and you are close to the mark.
We do have a high standard of performance. Our COs must live up to that standard. Frankly, not all of them do.
CAPTAIN, awards are expected in this day and age. No longer is the awards manual reviewed for level of award deserved. Did you complete the tour unscathed if you're 05 MSM 06 LOM CMC MSM etc...
ReplyDeleteCut and paste the previous CO/XO awards change the dates (ensure you change the dates)