Navy to RE-establish COMTENTH FLEET

The previous Tenth Fleet was a special anti submarine organization formed during the Second World War to counter convoy and shipping losses from German U-boat wolf packs. During the Battle of the Atlantic in 1942 these amounted to more than half of all ships lost to the U-boats in the whole period of the war, most of which were sunk in the American defense zone. Tenth Fleet, with headquarters in Washington DC, was established under Commander in Chief United States Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King on 20 May 1943 to control United States antisubmarine operations in the Atlantic. Although the Tenth Fleet brought needed order to the American anti submarine effort, by this time Germany had lost the strategic initiative in the Battle of the Atlantic. Tenth Fleet was a unique organization within the United States Navy -- it never put to sea, it had no ships, and never had more than about 50 people in its organization. After the surrender of Germany in May 1945 Tenth Fleet was disbanded in June 1945.

The new 10th Fleet will have quite the historic legacy to live up to. Smart people are working the issue hard now.

Naval Officer - Code of Ethics - The Last 5

11. We will not allow others to be misled by incorrect or unspoken information.

12. We will ensure our seniors know our faults as well as our accomplishments.

13. We will only take action which we're prepared to have reported to our seniors and those whose opinion of us we respect.

14. We will remember, while performing our military duties, that our families depend on us and deserve special consideration.

15. In case of doubt about whether an action is ethical or not, we will seek counsel with our chain of command, a Legal Officer, and/or the Command Chaplain.

From: NAVAL LEADERSHIP - Voices of Experience

Naval Officer Code of Ethics - next 5

6. We will relentlessly pursue the welfare of our subordinates.

7. We will encourage both seniors and subordinates to provide us with inputs that will improve unit performance.

8. We will constantly strive for professional and personal improvement, on both the part of ourselves and our subordinates.

9. Seniors will ensure that all hands recognize the senior's commitment to ethical behavior.

10. Subordinates will make sure they advise their seniors when the senior is contemplating acting on an unethical recommendation.

From: NAVAL LEADERSHIP - Voices of Experience

Naval Officer Code of Ethics - 5 at a time

1. We will put our country, organization, seniors, and subordinates before ourselves.

2. We will never forget that all of our efforts are directed at making us successful in both peace and war and reflecting positively on the military and the United States.

3. We will work for efficiency, timeliness, and economy in performing our duties.

4. We will treat all equipment and material entrusted to us as if it were our own most prized possession.

5. We will set the example and require its meeting by our juniors; and take action against those who do not meet our profession's standards.

From: NAVAL LEADERSHIP - Voices of Experience

From the Commander, NETWARCOM

I have a very interesting group of people who have come together to form this one command, and my challenge to these folks as we mature is to not think of yourself as a former communicator or a former network guy. That's backward-looking; I want people looking forward.

... we try to emphasize not just inside NETWARCOM but inside the Navy is that everyone who sits down in front of a computer is a cyber warrior.

...Every time you sit down at your computer, you enter the battlespace portion of cyberspace...

...we told people that it was OK to use their government computer to do other things when they weren't doing their business. That is a policy we have not stepped around from today. I do my banking online...

VADM Denby Starling in DEFENSE SYSTEMS Knowledge Technologies and Net-Centric Warfare

Chief Petty Officer Results Are Coming Soon

Therefore...a reminder -

Chief Petty Officer Mess Mission:

Provide leadership to the Enlisted Force and advice to Navy leadership to create combat-ready Naval Forces.

Chief Petty Officer Mess Vision:

A senior enlisted force that serves first and foremost as Deck-plate Leaders committed to developing Sailors and enforcing standards; remains responsive, aligned and well-connected to both Leadership and Sailors; and conducts itself in a consistently professional, ethical and traditional manner.

Deck-plate Leadership

Chiefs are visible leaders who set the tone. We will know the mission, know our Sailors, and develop them beyond their expectations as a team and as individuals.

Institutional and Technical Expertise

Chiefs are the experts in their field. We will use experience and technical knowledge to produce a well trained enlisted and officer team.

Professionalism

Chiefs will actively teach, uphold, and enforce standards.

We will measure ourselves by the success of our Sailors.

We will remain invested in the Navy through self-motivated military and academic education and training and will provide proactive solutions that are well founded, thoroughly considered, and linked to mission accomplishment.

Character

Chiefs abide by an uncompromising code of integrity, take full responsibility for their actions and keep their word.

This will set a positive tone for the command, unify the Mess, and create esprit de corps.

Loyalty

Chiefs remember that loyalty must be demonstrated to seniors, peers and subordinates alike, and that it must never be blind.

Few things are more important than people who have the moral courage to question the appropriate direction in which an organization is headed and then the strength to support whatever final decisions are made.

Active Communication

Chiefs encourage open and frank dialog, listen to Sailors and energize the communication flow up and down the chain of command.

This will increase unit efficiency, mission readiness, and mutual respect.

Sense of Heritage

Defines our past and guides our future.

Chiefs will use heritage to connect Sailors to their past, teach values and enhance pride in service to our country.

Advice to the CO from the Executive Officer

Maguire’s Magnanimous Maxims

1. “Leadership by walking around” is a good thing. Do lots of it. The Sailors love it.

2. Remember when reviewing reports, messages, etc., there are many ways to say the same thing.

3. Don’t do things yourself. If there is a problem with something that the Department Heads, Division Officers, Executive Officer give you, push it back down. Don’t do it yourself.

4. Maintain your commanding officer’s detachment. Let your Department Heads, Chiefs, etc. be passionate in defense or condemnation of their Sailors. The CO needs to be rigorously dispassionate in dealing with an issue to do what’s best for the Command and the Navy.

5. Be decisive. Sailors respect decisiveness even if the actions are initially viewed as harsh. They then know what to expect.

6. Don’t take action or make pronouncements/policy decisions before you have all the facts. If you make that mistake, be decisive anyway. Sailors immediately key on oscillation.

7. In case you didn’t hear it the first time: be dispassionate. Every decision I have seen bite a CO had been made based on anger and emotion.

8. Depend on the input from Medical and Legal, but remember they are just recommendations.

9. Always listen to your XO. Make sure your XO knows on a gut level he can disagree with you as strongly as he feels the need to be. Let the XO be the only one to see your doubts and concerns.

10. Be clear as a bell about the direction you want to go and your standards. Say what you mean and mean what you say.

11. Let your Sailors/Khaki do their jobs to the best way they know how. And hold them accountable when they don’t meet your standards.

12. Communications are everything.

13. Feedback is everything.

14. Never base decisions on that you may have “gotten away with” in the past or present. Sometimes hypocrisy is a necessary evil.

15. Be consistent.

16. No “smiley” or “frowny” faces.

Worth a Visit

Admiral Harvey is up and online in the blogosphere as Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command.

Imperatives for the Commanding Officer

BE ALWAYS FAIR AND CONSISTENT AT ALL COSTS
Do what you say you are going to do, inspect regularly, and avoid even the semblance of favoritism.

LEAD BY EXAMPLE
It must never be, “Do as I say.” It must always be, “Do as I do.”

MAKE A DECISION
Listen to all inputs - - - good, bad, or indifferent; and, weigh them before committing. But, make a decision regardless. Delegate responsibility but never accountability. An indecisive leader or one without the moral courage to stand by his decisions or the integrity to hold himself accountable causes immeasurable harm to morale.

EARN RESPECT, BUT DEMAND ABSOLUTE LOYALTY
Involve your staff, but exercise the final authority for big decisions. Then, expect your staff to carry out your orders as if they were their own.

THE GOOD OF THE COMMAND ALWAYS COMES FIRST; TAKE CARE OF YOUR PEOPLE
You are their voice and their champion. Your job is to represent their best interests as well as that of the command and to ensure their good health, welfare, and morale even if what you have to say is not what your seniors want to hear.

PRAISE IN PUBLIC OFTEN, BUT ALWAYS CENSURE IN PRIVATE
Give your people pride of ownership for command accomplishments as well as for their individual achievements.

ORCHESTRATE; DO NOT MICROMANAGE
Give clear direction, provide guidance when required, and delegate the needed authority. Then, let your people do their jobs. But, demand a little more than they think that they are capable of achieving. Most will be motivated to rise to the challenge, exceeding even their own expectations.

A GOOD SAILOR SHAVES ONCE A DAY AND GETS A HAIRCUT ONCE A WEEK, WHETHER HE NEEDS IT OR NOT
A sharp command has Sailors who look and feel good. That attitude manifests itself in their professional performance.

ATTENTION TO DETAIL IS CRUCIAL
Preciseness, even in such mundane matters as outgoing command correspondence, is essential. It is in the details that the attitude and self esteem of the command and its people are mirrored.

ESPRIT DE CORPS IS ESSENTIAL
A sociable command is as critical to achieving command esprit as is a close watch section, division, or department.

NO GOOD COMMAND WITHOUT GOOD ORDER AND DISCIPLINE
Be understanding and tolerant, but hold everyone equally accountable for their own actions. Allow nothing to reflect poorly on the command or on its people.

KEEP THE CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS
Your Sailors may consider them trivial at the time but will remember them long after all else is forgotten.

Captain Charles F. Authement
Commanding Officer
Naval Security Group Activity Kunia Hawaii
Naval Security Group Activity Adak Alaska

Navy Leader Responsibilities

Navy leaders have a responsibility to make sure that their subordinates are challenged, rewarded, promoted and moved on to more demanding and more senior assignments in the most thoughtful and deliberate manner possible. This CAN NOT be done in a vacuum. Outside input is absolutely essential.

Navy leaders should identify the best and brightest in their organizations and make those people known to the most senior leaders in the Navy. This is where service reputation becomes so important.

Navy leaders should be careful not to overlook some of their "late blooming" subordinates. Within the Navy, there are some people of enormous talent who may have been overlooked or who might have matured professionally a bit later than their peer group. Don't discount these people. The Navy needs them, also. Very likely they have been too busy getting the job done to toot their own horns.

Finally, if the Navy leader has done his job well and been a good teacher, the Navy will be in better shape. If the leader has spent most of his time teaching and only a bit of his time solving problems, the leader probably has enabled his subordinates to learn how to solve problems on their own. That is a good thing.

Take Time to Visit The King - 5 years running

The Phib is here.

Mandatory Warfare Qualifications

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) Rick West wants all Sailors to be warfare qualified. This is a commendable goal. This is NOT a new idea.

Back in 1995, Admiral Jeremy Boorda wanted the same thing. And he told us so when he visited our ship which was forward deployed to Japan. Khaki leadership convinced him that we ought to start at the First Class Petty Officer level. On board our ship (USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19 - with Commander, SEVENTH Fleet embarked) it was mandatory for ALL PO1s to "earn" their warfare qualification (Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist - ESWS) pin.

The PO1s didn't have much time to get this done and we ended up with half of our PO1s on Extra Military Instruction (EMI) til they qualified. This improved morale considerably and generally uplifted everyones spirits. Already doing the work of 5 men, our PO1s took on the additional 90 minutes of EMI each day with great relish.

To give those Sailors their 90 minutes back and to relieve the stigma of some of our best PO1s being on EMI, "the powers that be" started GIVING away signatures and gundecking qualification boards. In no time at all we met Admiral Boorda's goal of 100% ESWS qualification for our First Class Petty Officers.

Now, every one of our CPO Board eligible E-6s had a warfare pin to show for their initiative and motivation. This made it much easier for the CPO Board to separate the wheat from the chaff among our high-performing First Class Petty Officers.

Somehow, mandatory warfare qualification had some rather nasty unintended consequences.

ROCK STAR in the IW Community

Master Chief Jennifer Moody enlisted in 1992 from Illinois. She attended recruit training in Orlando, Florida and completed Cryptologic Technician Maintenance “A” school at Naval Technical Training Center Corry Station Pensacola, Florida. She continued her military and technical education with the completion of Streamliner Maintenance school San Angelo, Texas; Network Maintenance school Fort Meade, Maryland; Network Security Vulnerability and Threats school Pensacola, Florida; Basic Digital Network Analysis school Pensacola, Florida; Information Professional Senior Officer’s Course Monterrey, California and the U.S Navy Senior Enlisted Academy, Newport, Rhode Island.

Master Chief Moody’s tours include Naval Security Group Activity Sabana Seca, Puerto Rico; Naval Security Group Activity Kunia, Hawaii; Naval Technical Training Center Corry Station Pensacola, Florida; Fleet Information Warfare Center Norfolk, Virginia and Navy Information Operations Command Norfolk, Virginia where she is a plank owner. During her tour at Navy Information Operations Command Norfolk she cross-rated to Cryptologic Technician Networks.

Since reporting to the Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command in April 2007 she has served as the Operations Directorate Leading Chief Petty Officer, Senior Watch Officer and Command Master Chief.

Master Chief Moody is a Master Training Specialist, holds various industry certifications and graduated with honors from Hawaii Pacific University earning an AS in Business Management. Her personal awards include the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (two awards), the Navy Achievement Medal (five awards), and various unit and personal awards.

Note: In 2000, when I was the Director of Training, CTM1 Jennifer Moody was an instructor at the Naval Technical Training Center (now the Center for Information Dominance) at Corry Station - Pensacola, Florida. This woman is a 'go getter'. She's married to a rock star, also. The Navy is VERY fortunate to have people like the Moody Chiefs among the crew.

Protecting Your Signature/Endorsement

Since most of the letters, memoranda, staff papers, messages, regulations, directives that leaders sign will be prepared by members of their staff, leaders should do an "integrity check" before they sign the paper. The most common violation of integrity is in the personnel system. The admiral who states "this is the best Captain, Commander, or Lieutenant that works for me" can only do this once a year, or he undermines his credibility with the personnel and promotion system. Carelessness in this process hurts all the officers because his signature and endorsement lose all value, and, in fact, sometimes becomes more of a negative factor.

In a similar vein, Naval officers should never be in the business of writing their own personal awards for Fitness Reports/evaluations for approval by higher authority. Most can hide behind the idea of "I just provided bullet input." If your immediate boss doesn't know enough about your performance to write your award himself, maybe you shouldn't get one.

Paraphrased from Maj Gen Perry Smith's Assignment Pentagon

General George Washington said it best:
"Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called - conscience!"

Challenge Cherished Beliefs

Rank can give validity to decisions, but too often it stifles contrary opinions from subordinates. Successful leaders and decision makers need the inputs and thoughts of those who work for them, and must create an atmosphere and relationship that allows for free exchange of ideas until such time as a decision is made.

Very few leaders are successful when deprived of the opinions of their subordinates. There must be a willingness to challenge cherished beliefs without disparagement and without equivocation. The greatest deterrent to the development of dedicated young leaders is a system that encourages our young officers to be yes men and not to "rock the boat."

Edgar F. Puryear Jr.
The Moral Imperatives of Naval Command