Commanding Officer of Naval Air Station Pensacola "temporarily removed"

Captain William P. Reavey (EA-6B/NFO), an Aviation Officer Candidate School graduate in Pensacola in 1984, who returned to Pensacola as its Commanding Officer in 2008 was "temporarily removed" on 26 February by Rear Adm. Tim Alexander. The admiral is the commander of Navy region southeast. Captain Reavey's Executive Officer, Commander Greg A. Thomas, will serve as acting commanding officer until completion of the inquiry into allegations of misconduct by the Commanding Officer.

VIDEO ANNOUNCEMENT HERE.

Let's hope this really is a temporary thing and that they complete their investigation quickly and Captain Reavey is returned to his command. It's not often that the Navy makes the comment that a CO has been "temporarily removed" from command. The expectation must be that he will be exonerated, though much damage has already been done.

It is important to remember that more than 1500 officers carry the title of Commanding Officer in the Navy and less that 30 of those officers are relieved of their duties each year. Captain Reavey is the 6th, this year.

One of my favorite new OPSEC posters

The use of social media in the Navy is gaining greater and greater acceptance and with its use comes additional responsibility. We are increasingly co-mingling our personal and professional lives. Some of the early adopters within the cryptologic community continue to break new ground in adapting social media to enhance their already effective Navy leadership methods. This is increasing their ability to connect with and influence more and more Sailors. From my perspective, it's all good. Check out RDML Leigher's FACEBOOK presence - maybe you can sign up for his tweets.

What every Marine knows

When you are looking for compromise, the United States Marine Corps can save you some time. Don't look for it there. Marine Corps standards are immutable. They are forged in steel, tempered by the blood of patriots. Semper Fidelis. They mean what they say. Thank you, General James T. Conway.

What every Sailor in the Navy already knows

"You will find as you get older and more senior, finding out what's really going on at the deck plates becomes much more elusive than it used to be when you were sort of living there."

Admiral Mike Mullen

It really bothers me that CJCS says something like this. Knowing that he knows this, why would he remove the guy (Senior Enlisted Advisor) who is responsible for keeping his pulse on the deck plates????

Chiefs - Anchor Up

We as leaders have the responsibility to uphold the credibility this mess has earned over the course of a century. Leadership is counting on you, your Sailors are counting on you and I am counting on you.

Keep an eye on one another, take swift and appropriate action if you see someone steering the wrong course, don’t be afraid to ask questions if you see something that your instincts tell you may be unusual, and always set the standards for the Sailors you serve.

Chiefs, anchor up.

MCPON West

And, again, in a shameless act of self promotion, here is my PROCEEDINGS article, "Anchor Up" posted by the Chiefs in their GOATLOCKER about 3 years ago.

Great opportunties ahead

Navy Information Operations Command San Diego, California hosted Captain Will Metts (Senior Information Dominance Corps/Information Warfare Detailer) as the Guest of Honor at their Black History Month celebration last week. He shared insightful words of wisdom regarding overcoming obstacles and the lessons of history in his address to the audience and then spoke about the changing future of the community as part of the Information Dominance Corps.

Captain Metts was considered for selection to Flag rank and is awaiting the results of the FY11 Information Warfare Flag officer selection board with his eligible contemporaries, potentially the single most diverse group ever considered for Information Warfare Officer Flag at the same time.

REAR ADMIRAL LOWER HALF
-----INFORMATION WARFARE (161X)------
SR INITIAL ELIGIBLE - HAWS, G. J. 018363-00 01 DEC 06
JR INITIAL ELIGIBLE - DOLLAN, J. A. 018596-00 01 OCT 07

If selected, he will be the first Black Flag officer in the Information Warfare/cryptologic community. The board also had the opportunity to select the community's first female, its first PhD, and its first Japanese American Flag officer. Announcement of the selection results for that board are pending. Last year's results were announced in June. Standing by.

WANTED - Ensign Steven E. Shaw - and his sister Becky too!

By every Commanding Officer in the Navy. You can read why here.

As a former Midn LCDR, member of 10th Company and the Honor Advisor on the 1st Regimental Staff in 2009, this young man gets it. I suspect his parents have helped him 'get it' from a very young age.

America's families are sending us men and women like him with a decent upbringing and we owe it to them not to mess it up with the way we conduct our education and training, or by the poor example that we sometimes provide. I think he has it just about right. To the Navy's great advantage, his twin sister Becky is also a USNA graduate. The Navy is twice blessed by this patriotic family !!

Please join my wardroom Ensign Shaw - and bring similar minded classmates with you - and your sister, if you can swing it.

Ensign Shaw is a young officer in the mold of Admiral Stavridis' "THINK, READ, WRITE, PUBLISH". I like that a lot.

Information Dominance Corps Warfare Program and Insignia Approved by CNO

The CNO has approved the Information Dominance Corps Warfare program and insignia for Officer and Enlisted personnel (see attached). The CNO specifically designated the Information Dominance Corps a Warfare specialty. This recognition of the importance of information/ intelligence is a major acknowledgement of the professional skills and capabilities that members of our Corps bring to the fight.

Members of the IDC will now be authorized to wear this new warfare insignia after successful completion of the warfare qualification requirements outlined in a forthcoming PQS/OPNAV Instruction. The new insignia is expected to be available in August 2010.

We are also moving forward with efforts to consolidate all of the IDC officer communities under a single 18XX series of designators enabling further synergy across the communities and establishing a common designator for cross-detailing assignments. The proposed new numbering scheme is as follows:

1800 - Meteorology/Oceanography
1810 - Information Warfare
1820 - Information Professional
1830 - Intelligence
1840 - Cyber Warfare Engineer
1850 - Any IDC qualified officer billet

The approval of these new warfare insignias is a significant and historic milestone for all of us. I hope you share CNO's and my enthusiasm about clearly establishing Information Dominance as a key warfighting capability of the U.S. Navy.

VR DJD (VADM Jack Dorsett)

Historically Accurate ?

At the direction of the Chief of Naval Operations (ADM Gary Roughead), Commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command (VADM Barry McCullough), assumed Service Cryptologic Element (SCE) authority and responsibility for the Navy on Friday, 19 February 2010. It is believed that this is the first time this authority has been borne by an unrestricted line officer outside the cryptologic/information warfare community.

Unnamed Lieutnant Commander

BRAVO ZULU to an unnamed Commander 10th Fleet Lieutenant Commander who has recently moved over to the OPNAV staff to serve as Deputy Executive Assistant to Vice Admiral Jack Dorsett.

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S !!

Remember, this tour is not a half-marathon. PACE YOURSELF for the long haul. Do great things for the boss !!

"Navy Cryptology and Technology" on FACEBOOK

"Navy Cryptology and Technology" http://www.facebook.com/navycryptologyandtechnology

The link above takes you to Navy Recruiting Command's latest Facebook fan page, "Navy Cryptology and Technology", featuring the Cryptologic Technician community. The page went live last week. The Information System Technician (IT) and Submarine Electronics Computer Field (SCEF) ratings are also highlighted.

We anticipate members of the Information Dominance Corps, Information Warfare, CT, IT and SECF communities will visit the site, help to populate the page, and respond to questions and comments. Our goal is to bring potential future Sailors and future Sailors in the Delayed Entry (Enlistment) Program into contact with those who already know about the Navy (today's Sailors, retirees, veterans, etc); and ultimately provide a friendly environment for potential recruits to research the many opportunities available in America's Navy. The more authentic the conversations, the more the site will be perceived as a credible source of information; therefore, the engagement of your CT's, IT's, and SECF's is vital.

USS TRUXTUN (DDG103) Commanding Officer is fired for...wait for it...."loss of confidence".

Number 5 in our countdown.

Commander Tim Weber was relieved as commanding officer of USS TRUXTUN for "loss of confidence," by Captain Rick Rogers, commander of Destroyer Squadron 22. Commander Weber was fired by Captain Rogers (on the 255th anniversary of Thomas Truxtun's birth) after allegations surfaced that the skipper was involved in an inappropriate relationship with one of his subordinates - a USS TRUXTUN female junior officer.

Team Truxtun no longer includes Commander Weber. He has been removed from the official U.S. Navy USS TRUXTUN website. Weber graduated from Vanderbilt University and was commissioned via their NROTC program.

Of note, Thomas Truxtun (17 Feb 1955 - 5 May 1822) wrote and published several books, including the Navy's first book of signals (in 1797) titled: Instructions, Signals, and Explanations, Ordered for the United States Fleet.

Iwo Jima - 65th Anniversary

65 years ago today a young Seaman named Wallace Louis Exum, a native of Akron, Ohio was wounded aboard LCI-457 while landing Marines at Iwo Jima. For his combat wounds he received the Purple Heart. He went on to serve in the Navy until 1985, when he retired - having served 43 years (1942-1985) through WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam and the Cold War. In those 43 years, he earned one personal award - the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (NAM) for saving a ship from burning and sinking in San Francisco Bay. He earned that award in his final year of Naval service. More so than the NAM, he has earned the respect of every Sailor he served with, every Sailor he trained and every Commanding Officer he supported. He was my Navigation Instructor at Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island in 1982. We've exchanged more than 100 letters since then. I spoke to him yesterday and he is doing great for a man who still carries lead and shrapnel in his hip from Iwo Jima. Thankfully, he has a loving wife (Joyce) to care for him. He is a Pulitzer Prize nominated author and has written three books.

CWO4 Exum, today, as every day, I salute you!

Number Four On Our Countdown - Another Skipper Fired

Commander Scott Merritt received (was awarded) NJP from RADM Pat Lorge, the 87th Commandant - Naval District Washington (the oldest continuously operated Navy installation in the nation) on 12 February. CDR Merritt was the commanding officer of Naval Support Activity (NSA) - North Potomac.

An unspecified complaint was lodged against CDR Merritt in November. RDML Lorge fired the commander on 12 February for "loss of confidence in his ability to command".

He is still listed as CO on the Navy's NSA-North Potomac website.


2010 CO firings by the numbers:

1. Captain John Titus - Navy Supply Corps School Athens, Georgia
2. Captain Holly Graf - USS Cowpens
3. Captain Glen Little - Charleston, South Carolina Naval Weapons Center
4. Commander Scott Merritt - NSA North Potomac

Captain Van Valkenburgh was a letter writer

On February 5, 1941, Van Valkenburgh relieved Capt. Harold C. Train as commanding officer of the battleship USS ARIZONA (BB-39).

In a letter to a relative, Faith Van Valkenburgh Vilas, Dated November 4, 1941, Captain Van Valkenburgh wrote: "We are training, preparing, maneuvering, doing everything we can do to be ready. The work is intensive, continuous, and carefully planned. We never go to sea without being completely ready to move on to Singapore if need be, without further preparation. Most of our work we are not allowed to talk about off of the ship. I have spent 16 to 20 hours a day on the bridge for a week at a time,then a week of rest, then at it again.

"Our eyes are constantly trained Westward, and we keep the guns ready for instant use against aircraft or submarines whenever we are at sea. We have no intention of being caught napping."

He was killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 while 'fighting his ship'.

The only remains they found of his was his United States Naval Academy class ring.

His Medal of Honor citation reads:

"For conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and complete disregard of his own life, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor T.H., by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. As commanding officer of the U.S.S. Arizona, Capt. Van Valkenburgh gallantly fought his ship until the U.S.S. Arizona blew up from magazine explosions and a direct bomb hit on the bridge which resulted in the loss of his life."