You have served long and hard and soon you will be done

Word from Norfolk is that Commander, Naval Network Warfare Command - Rear Admiral Edward H. Deets III has requested to retire on 1 October 2011.A retirement ceremony has been scheduled for 5 August 2011.

“Sooner or later ... everyone, even the most successful admirals and generals, eventually will arrive at the point where the Navy or Marine Corps says, enough, you have served well and long but now you are done. Understanding the meaning of the long progression of faces can make that moment understandable, if not entirely pleasant. It leads to acceptance and to satisfaction with a job well done and a career well led. In a word, that parade of faces (those men and women with whom you have served long and faithfully) provides perspective."

Admiral James Stavridis

Reflections on leadership

In the military, as at every university or company in America, there is a focus on teamwork, consensus-building, and collaboration. Yet make no mistake, the time will come when a leader in today’s military must stand alone and make a difficult, unpopular decision, or challenge the opinion of superiors and tell them that they cannot get the job done with the time and the resources available—a difficult charge in an organization built on a “can-do” ethos like America’s Army; or a time when a member of the military will knowthat what superiors are telling the press or the Congress or the American people is inaccurate. These are the moments when an officer’s entire career may be at risk. What will they do? These are difficult questions that require serious thought over the course of any officer’s career. There are no easy answers.

If they will follow the dictates of their conscience and maintain the courage of their convictions while being respectfully candid with superiors and encouraging candor in others, they will be in good stead to meet the challenges facing them as officers and leaders in the years ahead.

Robert M. Gates
Secretary of Defense
click on the link below for the full article
REFLECTIONS ON LEADERSHIP
U.S. Army PARAMETERS magazine

Rear Admiral Gretchen Herbert

Today the Secretary of the Navy and the 

Chief of Naval Operations 

announced that

Rear Admiral Gretchen Herbert will become the 

Commander, Navy Cyber Forces Command. 

A native of Rochester, N.Y., Rear Admiral Herbert graduated from the University of Rochester in 1984. She holds a Masters degree in Systems Technology (Space Systems Operations) from the Naval Postgraduate School (1991) and a Masters degree in Military Studies from the Marine Corps Command and Staff College (1998).

Herbert served within the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System at Naval Facility Bermuda; at commander, Oceanographic Systems Atlantic; and at Naval Ocean Processing Facility, Dam Neck.

Additional shore assignments include satellite communications officer at Headquarters, U.S. Naval Forces Europe; executive officer, Fleet Surveillance Support Command; Joint Command, Control, Communications, Computer and Intelligence instructor at the Joint Forces Staff College; commanding officer, Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Washington; branch head, Naval Networks for OPNAV N6; and assistant chief of Naval Operations for the Next Generation Enterprise Network.

Fleet assignments include combat systems officer embarked in USS George Washington (CVN 73) where she deployed to the Arabian Gulf in support of Operations Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom; and assistant chief of staff for Communications and Information Systems (N6) to commander, Carrier Strike Group 7 embarked in USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) where she deployed to the Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf with Ronald Reagan Strike Group.

Herbert assumed duties as director, Net-Centric Capabilities for Information Dominance (OPNAV N2/N6) in October 2010.

118th Anniversary of the U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer

"My fellow chief petty officers,

On April 1st, our entire Mess will pause to celebrate 118 years of the United States Navy Chief Petty Officer, and we're not just celebrating another year of chiefs serving the Navy, we're celebrating everything it means to wear the fouled anchors we all cherish.

Those anchors are the symbol of a culture and a way of life, representing character, loyalty, a strong commitment to leadership, our core values, and Navy ethos. Our anchors carry with them a responsibility to live up to the tradition of selfless service, while remembering our proud heritage that we've spent 118 years building as we look toward our future.

Thank you Chiefs! Through your leadership of our Sailors, you continue to keep our heritage alive and our Navy strong — and as you know our Navy is the best it has ever been. Continue to make a positive impact on your command, your Sailors, yourself and our Mess.

Remember those who have gone before us and those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to our great nation.

Happy birthday Shipmates! I truly appreciate your leadership and the hard work you do every day.

Anchor Up and Hooyah Navy Chiefs!"

Permanent promotions

Congratulations to Karla Joy Nemec on her promotion to Captain.

Congratulations to Greg Alan Braaten on his promotion to Commander.

Commander Albert Angel - Can the Navy's TENTH Fleet Effectively Combat the Cyber Threat?

Abstract: During World War II, the U.S. faced a burgeoning technological threat to its security with the advent of Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare. The U.S. Navy faced this danger head on and stood up Tenth Fleet to protect allied shipping and convoys through the expanded use of intelligence and information to significantly diminish the U-boat threat. In 2009, the U.S. Navy reconstituted its Tenth Fleet to again confront a dangerous and growing threat, this time in cyberspace. Although cyberspace has greatly enhanced the way people communicate, conduct business and relate to each other, it has also allowed for some severe unintended consequences, namely the ability for state and non-state actors to use this domain to cause us harm. This modern cyber threat is growing rapidly and poses a serious risk to our nation’s economic and national security interests. This paper explores the historical roots of Tenth Fleet and the innovation and lessons learned during WWII to better enable the reconstituted Tenth Fleet to protect, deter and defend against the growing cyber threat.

Commander Albert Angel is the Executive Officer of Navy Information Operations Command Texas in San Antonio, Texas.

You can read his complete U.S. Army War College thesis Strategy Research Project HERE.

Writing

"The pen is the tongue of the mind."

Cervantes

Commander Joe Nadeau and USS SHOUP (DDG86) return to homeport

Commander Joe Nadeau and USS SHOUP (DDG86) returned home from a six month deployment with the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN strike group. While supporting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, USS SHOUP also foiled an attack by Somali pirates in November on a merchant ship off Africa. USS SHOUP dispatched a helicopter, and the pirates fled by the time a team from USS  SHOUP boarded the ship and found the crew unharmed.

Some may recall that USS SHOUP and a civilian vessel collided in the late hours of 1 August 2010.  The Navy conducted a thorough investigation. USS SHOUP and her crew were cleared of responsibility in that collision.

Effective leaders...

Michael Fullen

I identified five action-and-mind sets that effective leaders combine:

• a strong sense of moral purpose,
• an understanding of the dynamics of change,
• an emotional intelligence as they build relationships,
• a commitment to developing and sharing new knowledge, and
• a capacity for coherence making (enough coherence on the edge of chaos to still be creative).

Leadership Attributes

The Army Leader Development Strategy identifies three critical leadership attributes for all Army leaders: character, presence and intellect. In addition to those three foundational attributes, we assert that strategic leaders must be inquisitive and open-minded. They must be able to think critically and be capable of developing creative solutions to complex problems. They must be historically minded; that is, they must be able to see and articulate issues in historical context. Possessed of a strong personal and professional ethic, strategic leaders must be able to navigate successfully in ethical “gray zones,” where absolutes may be elusive. Similarly, they must be comfortable with ambiguity and able to provide advice and make decisions with less, not more, information. While all leaders need these qualities, the complexity of problems will increase over the course of an officer’s career and require strategic leaders to develop greater sophistication of thought. 

General Martin Dempsey
His article, Building Critical Thinkers, is HERE.

CNO Notes Fusion of Intelligence, Operations

By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The fusion of intelligence and operations is an important advance that has taken shape during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the chief of naval operations (CNO) told the Defense Writers Group March 23.

CNO Adm. Gary Roughead said the ability for intelligence to be in the hands of operators and decision-makers in almost real time has been extraordinary.

He said advances during the wars have brought together the intelligence, and command and control organizations at all levels.

"I really do think that we have the potential ... to change how we fuse intelligence and operations," Roughead said.

CNO pointed to communications as an example of this melding, noting to the audience of defense journalists that their access to information, and the ways they disseminate it have changed markedly.

"We're seeing the same thing," he said. "How do you fold that into structures and processes is the next step."

Roughead said the fusion is more than simply putting intelligence people and operations specialists in the same room. The fusion allows intelligence professionals to see what types of information are most helpful to operations personnel, while operations personnel have a closer knowledge of what is possible and what questions to ask their intelligence brethren.

He said it goes beyond combat information centers or brigade operations offices. Roughead said he merged his service's intelligence and command and control career fields. He also created the 10th Fleet – a global fleet that has cyberspace at its battleground.

From www.navy.mil

CYBERCOM Commander's Strategic Initiatives

We will pursue resolution of the capacity, resources, and information technology efficiencies issues we face through the five strategic initiatives of the department’s strategy. We intend to:

• Treat cyberspace as a domain for the purposes of organizing, training, and equipping, so that DoD can take full advantage of cyberspace’s potential in military, intelligence, and business operations
• Employ new defense operating concepts, including active cyber defenses, such as screening traffic, to protect DoD networks and systems
• Partner closely with other U.S. government departments and agencies and the private sector to enable a whole-of-government strategy and an integrated national approach to cyber security
• Build robust relationships with U.S. allies and international partners to enable information sharing and strengthen collective cyber security.
• Leverage the Nation’s ingenuity by recruiting and retaining an exceptional cyber workforce and to enable rapid technological innovation.  

From General Alexander's testimony to the HASC HERE.

Maine Native Helps Navy Chart New Frontier--Cyber Security

The strength of the U.S. Navy, historically, has been measured by the might of its ships on seas around the world. But, Rear Admiral Bill Leigher's command is truly uncharted territory.

Rear Admiral William E. Leigher , a graduate of Camden Rockport High School and University of Southern Maine, is deputy commander, U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/ U.S. 10th Fleet. He will be the guest speaker at USM's monthly Corporate Partners Breakfast, discussing cyber threats and national security.


Click on the link in the column to the left to listen to Admiral Leigher.

THIRD STAR - Some are saying...N2/N6 replacement for VADM Dorsett

Commander, Navy Cyber Forces 

Rear Admiral Thomas P. Meek assumed command of Navy Cyber Forces in May 2010.

A native of Michigan, RADM Meek graduated from the University of Michigan in 1979, completed graduate school at Michigan State University in 1981, and was commissioned through Aviation Officer Candidate School in 1982.  He is a 1995 graduate of both the Naval War College and the Joint Forces Staff College.

RADM Meek’s sea duty assignments include Attack Squadron 165; Commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet staff and USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75).  

Shore duty assignments include Fleet Ocean Surveillance Information Facility, WESTPAC in Japan; CTG 168.0, an overt human intelligence collection organization in Washington DC; intelligence detailer and placement officer at the Bureau of Naval Personnel; Attaché assignments in Germany and Albania; Deputy Director of Intelligence at U.S Atlantic Fleet/Fleet Forces Command; Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence at U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/Commander, U.S. Fifth Fleet; Executive Assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence; and Deputy Chief of Staff/Director for Intelligence at U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Previous flag assignments include Deputy Director for Customer Relationships at the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Md.; Senior Intelligence Officer at U.S. Southern Command in Miami, Fla.; and Director of the National Maritime Intelligence Center in Washington DC.

RADM Meek is the recipient of various individual, campaign and unit awards, including three Defense Superior Service Medals, two awards of the Legion of Merit, and the National Intelligence Reform Medal.

Resistance to change - FUTILE !

Change breeds resistance. As with any head to toe transformation, organizations face institutional barriers they must overcome in order to achieve success. “It brings to mind a quote from Niccolo Machiavelli,” ponders VADM Dorsett.“Machiavelli said, ‘There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.’” Dorsett acknowledges that the creation of Information Dominance focus is truly a revolutionary idea, and that it took Admiral Roughead’s leadership to bring it all to bear and to move boldly into this arena. “The institutional barriers,” admits Dorsett, “are nothing unique to the Navy; they are barriers you will see anywhere when you are trying to transform an institution. We can overcome them with progress, with momentum, and with success. Success builds on success.” 

IBM - The Business of Government Fall-Winter Issue is HERE.