15th Navy Commanding Officer Fired

Commander Martin Arriola at sea.

Earlier today Rear Admiral David Thomas fired Commander Martin Arriola following the USS PORTER's collision with a Japanese oil tanker earlier this month just outside the Strait of Hormuz.  This is not a surprise as the  Commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic was awaiting results of the official investigation of the collision to be concluded.  Rear Admiral Thomas reassigned Commander Arriola to the staff of Naval Surface Force Atlantic because of his loss of confidence in Commander Arriola's ability to command.

Commander Dave Richardson is the new commanding officer of USS PORTER.

Character - a reflection of a man's grip upon himself

John Maxwell's 5 Levels of Leadership

Assuming that there are three officers each of whom respects, and is respected, by a group of men, what qualities will one possess that will inspire the men to look upon him as their leader? They will lean toward the one officer possessing the strongest character. By character is meant integrity, courage, morality, humility, and unswerving determination. Character is a spiritual force. It is a reflection of a man's grip upon himself, the degree to which he is able to dominate the baser instincts that beset us all.

Because men know that the conquest of one's own weaknesses is a far, far more difficult task than any other, they tend to believe that he who can conquer himself, can also conquer whatever problem is at hand. That is why, in civilian life, the masses look to a man of character to lead them.

Your first job, then, is to learn to know your own weaknesses and conquer them. Our fears are a key to our weakness, because we fear only the things which we feel we cannot do well. We all have fears. Force yourself to conquer and to face squarely every situation you are afraid to meet. It is not being afraid but running away that weakens character. When you have accomplished this, you will have developed character. 

RADM Harley Cope
Navy Cross 1941

Some Don'ts for junior officers

Don't take a man to task in front of his juniors.  It humiliates him and arouses a feeling of resentment.  Censure in private.

Don't criticize the orders given to your division.

Don't criticize or belittle your ship, the Skipper, or any of the officers, ever.

Don't permit juniors to make such criticisms in your presence.  Teach them, as well as yourself, if you don't like something, to work hard to improve it.  Don't tear down.  Build up.

Don't use filthy or obscene language.  Don't let men use it in your presence.  People who use such language simply prove that they are unable to express themselves otherwise.

THE NAVAL OFFICER'S MANUAL
RADM Harley Cope (USNA '20)
July 1951

Congratulations to these superstar IW leaders

IW O6 Command

SHAUL FRANK ALBERT                    

ELAM DONALD EMMET                  

SCHEIDT JEFFREY S                           

BERG HEIDI KRISTEN                      

STEWART ANDREW DONALD        

IW O5 Command               

SLATTERY CHRISTOPHER PAUL    

FRANKLIN CLARENCE JR                

ELLIOT MICHAEL CHARLTON        

LIND RACHEL JOY VELASCO          

RATKUS MARC W                               

BRYANT CHRISTOPHER GLEN        

IW O5 Milestone               

BOWMAN STACY A                            

DROTAR JOHN RONALD                    

SUH ROBERT JOON                             

CAVER LEONARD WAYNE              

WOODCOCK NORMAN B  

WEECH CHRISTOPHER A        

LOCK KEVIN R                        

LOVELLO DOMINIC R                

DANIELS WILLIAM A                  

CHIPS interview with Captain Susan K. Cerovsky, CO Center for Information Dominance

Capt. Susan K. Cervosky was selected for lateral transfer to the Information Warfare community in 2003 and was reassigned to Naval Network Warfare Command where she worked computer network defense initiatives. In May 2005, she reported as executive officer to the Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command (NCDOC). Next, she was the executive assistant to the Commander, Naval Network Warfare Command and most recently served as the Joint Forces Command J2 Chief of Staff from June 2010 until September 2011 prior to reporting to the Center for Information Dominance. Cerovsky became commanding officer of CID in October 2011. 

The Center for Information Dominance, based at Corry Station, in Pensacola, Fla., is the Navy’s learning center that leads, manages and delivers Navy and joint force training in information operations, information warfare, information technology, cryptology and intelligence. The CID domain comprises nearly 1,300 military, civilian and contracted personnel; CID oversees the development and administration of more than 223 courses at four commands, two detachments and 16 learning sites throughout the United States and in Japan. CID provides training for approximately 24,000 members of the U.S. Armed Services and allied forces each year.

• Q: You’ve been the commanding officer of CID since October 2011 — what is your overall impression of the job? 
• Q: The mission of the Center for Information Dominance is "to deliver full spectrum Cyber Information Warfare, and Intelligence Training to achieve decision superiority." Can you explain what this means? 
• Q: What sort of skills or background would a person need if they were thinking of becoming a cryptologic technician (CT), information systems technician (IT) or intelligence specialist (IS)? 
• Q: Approximately how many students (officers and enlisted) are trained at CID annually? 
• Q: CID is headquartered at Corry Station in Pensacola, Fla., but the domain is large. Can you elaborate on what rates and curriculum fall under CID? 
• Q: What does the merger of Center for Naval Intelligence (CNI) and CID mean for CID; for the Navy? 
• Q: What is the significance of the IDC and do you think it will change the way CID operates? 
• Q: Technology is changing so quickly, how does the Navy update its training to keep pace? 
• Q: How often do you perform HPRRs and what happens to all the data created during the HPRR? 
• Q: What role do you think CID will play in the future for the Navy?

Her answers are available HERE in CHIPS Magazine.

Apologies to Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you

are losing theirs...

Then, it may not be your head that they are after.

To achieve success, the most important thing you must be able to change is -

YOUR MIND.

If you are stubbornly clutching your own opinions and ideas, you may not be able to change anything.

If you truly want to change your life, you must first be able to change your mind.

10 Success Principles We Often Forget

1. You are the only person responsible for your success.   
2. Success is a journey of countless baby steps.
3. You don’t have to invent the wheel.  
4. There is no progress without action.  
5. Persistence always wins. 
6. Focus is everything. 
7. Failure is necessary. 
8. Positivity fuels productivity.  
9. You must believe you can.
10. Helping others is a big part of being successful. 

The full details from "Marc and Angel Hack Life" are HERE.

You will shine as a Navy leader

"The essence of leadership is making people better. In most cases, people will sense what your expectations are and meet them. If you believe in your people, support them, and challenge them, they will almost always rise up to the occasion and perform superbly.

On the other hand, if you are suspicious, quick to criticize, and unsupportive, they will frequently perform poorly. believe in your people, let them know you trust them, listen to them, be biased toward change and improvement, and you will shine as a Navy leader. In a phrase, people will almost always be what you expect them to be. If one of your principle objectives is to develop those who work for you, success will be assured."

Admiral James Stavridis, DIVISION OFFICER'S GUIDE

Leading with an open (but not bleeding) heart

Michael Hyatt over at Intentional Leadership shares the following...

The most important thing you can do as a leader is to keep your heart open. What do I mean? Think of it this way. When your heart is closed:

• You are distant and aloof.
• You don’t connect to people.
• Communication shuts down.
• You leave people to fend for themselves.
• You focus on what people are doing wrong.
• You are critical and demanding.
• People feel oppressed.

The result? Possibility dries up and the organization begins to die.
Conversely, when your heart is open:

• You are fully present and accessible.
• You connect to people.
• Communication is wide open.
• You are a resource to your people.
• You may focus on what is missing, but not on who is wrong.
• You are affirming and encouraging.
• People feel free.

The result? Possibility flows through the organization and the organization grows and develops.

Bill Campbell's advice - "Don't continue to suffer in a poor organization"

This is where you want to be
“Let me break it down for you. In good organizations, people can focus on their work and have confidence that if they get their work done, good things will happen for both the company and them personally. It is a true pleasure to work in an organization such as this. Every person can wake up knowing that the work they do will be efficient, effective and make a difference both for the organization and themselves. These things make their jobs both motivating and fulfilling."

Avoid this at all costs
“In a poor organization, on the other hand, people spend much of their time fighting organizational boundaries, infighting and broken processes. They are not even clear on what their jobs are, so there is no way to know if they are getting the job done or not. In the miracle case that they work ridiculous hours and get the job done, they have no idea what it means for the company or their careers. To make it all much worse and rub salt in the wound, when they finally work up the courage to tell management how fucked up their situation is, management denies there is a problem, then defends the status quo, then ignores the problem.” 

Bill Campbell
CEO Intuit

More over at Ben's blog HERE.  Hat tip to Liz Wiseman who retweeted from HERE.

NAVIOCOM Georgia

Captain James Brokaw relieved Captain John Post as Commanding Officer of Navy Information Operations Command Georgia on 17 August 2012.  Captain John Post also retired.  Vice Admiral Michael S. Rogers, Commander Fleet Cyber Command/TENTH Fleet was the presiding officer.

Playing the numbers game

I posted a few days ago about Commander Mike Ward's firing as CO of USS PITTSBURGH and pointed readers to a good article written by Captain Mark Light HERE.  Various Navy spokesmen have cited that there are over 1500 Navy COs at any given time and only the smallest percentage (cited as between 1% to 3%) are fired in any given year.  The Navy has fired 13 Commanding Officers so far this year and a lessor number of executive officers and senior enlisted leaders.  Some, including Galrahn over at Information Dissemination express their satisfaction that this percentage is acceptable and it reflects the Navy's 'pretty good job of evaluating people' for command.  I think social media and information technology are helping the Navy do a better job of identifying misfit COs because Sailors have so many avenues now to report abhorrent behavior by their seniors to the proper authorities for action.

What we see in the CO firings is really a much smaller cross-section of the commanding officer domain than the reported "1500 individuals in command at any one time".  The population we are really talking about are the COs in command of ships, submarines, aviation squadrons and significant shore commands.  That number is much smaller than 1500 and is certainly closer to 400 than 1500 and effectively triples the percentage of COs being fired annually.

So, while some in the Navy are reportedly content with the percentage of CO and other senior leader firings, I promise you that the Chief of Naval Operations is not content and feels the pain in a personal way when each Commanding Officer is relieved for cause (any cause).  Our CNO is a former VADM James Bond Stockdale Inspirational Leadership Award winner.  He knows what leadership is all about.  He expects more from his COs - and the majority are meeting his expectations.  But, is that enough?   It may not be.

Congratulations Commander Sean Heritage and Commander Pat Count

Commander Pat Count relieves Commander Sean Heritage as Commanding Officer of Navy Information Operations Command Pensacola today.  BZ gentlemen.  BZ men and women of NIOC Pensacola!

More Jeff Bacon awesomeness can be found HERE.

I like this thought from LT Rob McFall on 'innovation' in small things

Through this constant movement of people from one command to another, we can refine our practices and improve our systems. Innovations do no have to be Revolutions in Military Affairs. Innovations can be a new way to hook up an IPOD to the 1MC, a better XO tickler, an easier way to clean a P-way, or a better way to execute the daily schedule. The little things add up.

This is about changing a mindset, which costs nothing. To be more efficient in how we proceed we need to cherry pick the best practices from every ship, squadron and boat. People are the best source of institutional knowledge that we have. By being more aware of our new arrivals, while taking advantage of the career paths that are already in place, we can harness the innovative nature of our people and our service.

His entire post is available HERE at the USNI Blog.