Attributes of success in the Information Dominance Corps

I believe there is a set of fundamental attributes that members of the Information Dominance Corps should possess, they include:

• Professional Competence
• Dedication
• Sense of Urgency
• Leadership
• Vision
• The Highest Ethical Standards
• Attention to Detail
• Humility

If you possess all, or even most, of these attributes, you will be successful in the Information Dominance Corps.

VADM Jack Dorsett

The entire brochure is HERE.

Sometimes your FOIA requests go into the Navy Blackhole

I received this response today from the Navy's FOIA office about CTs killed or wounded in the GWOT/OCO. Note that my request was sent to them via their online processing system 6 months ago.

"Your message


To: FOIA

Subject: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

Sent: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:22:38 -0400

was not read Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:46:20 -0400਍"

Damning words about our great Navy

"Poor training, impenetrable bureaucracy and cultural resignation have caused a spike in the number of technical problems and a dip in the operational performance in"... _______________ (fill in the blank; the problems are widespread).

"it can be assumed that less important systems could well be in worse material condition."

The findings came in the report of the "fleet review panel," convened last September by Adm. John Harvey, head of Fleet Forces Command, to conduct an outside assessment into the readiness of the surface force.

Men of principle

"God grant that men of principle be our principal men."

Thomas Jefferson

Take up a pen and write

“There are a thousand thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up a pen to write.”

William Makepeace Thackeray

Public trust

When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property.

Success is available

to every officer-indeed to every Sailor in the Navy. Success, up to the limits of one's innate abilities, is available to all who dedicate themselves to their career, who are willing to work long and hard to prepare themselves, who recognize and develop the high character necessary to successful leadership, who love their fellow humans and show concern for their well-being, and who can communicate with other officers in a manner that inspires confidence and devotion to duty.

From Edgar Puryear's book "AMERICAN ADMIRALSHIP".

RDML (SEL) Jan E. Tighe, PhD

From INFO DOMAIN MAGAZINE. Full magazine is HERE.

Virtual FOSE - 21 July 2010

Virtual FOSE briefing HERE.

Time: July 21, 2010 from 8am to 4pm
Location: Your Computer!
Website or Map: http://virtual.fose.com
Event Type: virtual, technology, event, for, government., it
Organized By: 1105 Government Information Group

Unfortunately - Number 9 is in the books

Commander Herman Pfaeffle is the 9th commanding officer to be fired in 2010. He was the skipper of FFG-32 - USS John L. Hall. The ship hit a pier nearly a month after he assumed command. His photo and bio have been removed from the official USS JOHN L. HALL website and the Chain of Command page is listed as "UNDER CONSTRUCTION".

Commander Pfaeffle was fired by Vice Adm. Harry Harris, 6th Fleet commander. The pier strike occurred during a port visit to Batumi, Georgia (part of the former Soviet Union).

USS John L. Hall was conducting joint drills with Ukrainian naval pilots and the Georgian coast guard in the Black Sea.

The ship's Executive Officer has assumed temporary command.

Commander Pfaeffle is a former enlisted submarine Sailor mustang. He entered the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps through the Navy’s Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training (BOOST) Program and received his commission in 1993.

World Class Professionals

Navy Information Warfare Officers and cryptologic technicians are world class professionals and I'm not saying that just because they work for me and they wear the same uniform. I went around the world and visited them in their workspaces. These people are incredible.

VADM Bernard McCullough
Commander, TENTH Fleet
Commander, Fleet Cyber Command

Navy Information Dominance Industry Day
22 June 2010

VFA-14 Tophatters' Mission, Vision and Guiding Principles -

"TO INTERCEPT AND DESTROY ENEMY AIRCRAFT IN ALL WEATHER CONDITIONS, ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN AIR SUPERIORITY AND DELIVER ORDNANCE ON TARGET, ON TIME, FIRST PASS"

And, CDR Salamander would add, this must be done "Proactively From the Sea; leveraging the littoral best practices for a paradigm breaking six-sigma best business case in the global commons, rightsizing the core values supporting our mission statement via the 5-vector model through cultural diversity."

My good friend and former Joint Staff intern extraordinaire - Commander Kevin M. McLaughlin (callsign PROTON) just reported aboard as Executive Officer. He is one mission focused son of a gun.

Nota Bene (n.b.)

Commander Stone Davis concluded his 22 year Navy career with a retirement ceremony at Commander, 10th Fleet/Commander, Fleet Cyber Command on Friday 18 June 2010.

Fair winds...

....following seas.

Command Tour - Success

On the other side of failure is success. Upon conclusion of my command tour, I received this kind letter from the former Commander, SEVENTH Fleet Cryptologist and Commanding Officer of NSGA Kunia, Hawaii - Captain Jerome P. Rapin.

This kind of validation from a fellow Commanding Officer is a nice thing.

Not long after I received this letter, my former command, U.S. Naval Security Group Activity Yokosuka, Japan received its reward for the great job those Sailors did - a Secretary of the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation and the Gold Anchor for retention excellence.

Command Screen - FAIL

As a Lieutenant Commander, I assumed command of Naval Security Group Activity Yokosuka, Japan (a Commander command) in January 1997 from LCDR Eric Newhouse (the interim CO). The CO previous to Eric had been relieved 6 months earlier, after failing two successive Inspector General inspections.

The letter on the right arrived after I had been in command for 23 months and a few days before I put on Commander. Twelve years later, it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth - as you can tell.

I was not completely surprised by the letter because a Lieutenant from BUPERS had called two weeks earlier to inform me that I had "FAILED TO SCREEN FOR COMMAND". What did surprise me was the fact that I had failed to screen for command - a job that I had held for two years, already.

Thankfully, I didn't lose my day job. I post this letter for those who have had to deal with the pain of "Failure of Selection" - whether it be for promotion, command or some other program you desperately want. It's a very painful and emotional thing. One which we try very hard to comprehend. No one ever explained how I failed to screen for a job I already had and was ranked #1 at. A year later, I "successfully screened" for the assignment that I had been doing for 35 months.