Category: Navy

ROS sends us a link from the Navy Times which reports that the Navy Intelligence chief, Vice Admiral Ted “Twig” Branch, lost his security clearance last November, pending an investigation into possible misconduct. No charges have been filed and there are none in sight according to the article;

If classified information is being discussed at a meeting, the director of naval intelligence has to leave the room.

If Branch drops by a subordinate’s office, the space must be sanitized of any secrets before he enters.

Branch can’t attend morning intelligence briefs, or sit with the other services’ intel chiefs when they meet with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, said a naval intelligence source, who spoke on background because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

So, that makes sense – “Twig” Branch is as effective as the rest of the perfumed princes in the Puzzle Palace. His deputy, Rear Adm. Bruce Loveless, the director of intelligence operations, has had his clearance suspended as well. It’s all related to “inappropriate conduct” charges in the Glenn Defense Marine Asia bribery scandal investigation.

If they want, I still have my TS clearance that I’m not using and I can fill in for them for half of their pay.

So, when you joined the Navy, did you think you’d be stationed in Romania? Probably not, but it’s a possibility now, according to the Associated Press;

The U.S. Navy has taken control of a new missile defense base in southern Romania, one of two European land-based interceptor sites for a NATO missile shield that Russia strongly opposes.

The base at Deveselu is scheduled to be operational in 2015 as part of NATO’s ballistic missile defense system.

Rear Adm. John Scorby, commander of Navy Region Europe, Africa and Southwest Asia said Friday that “ballistic missile threats to the U.S. and our allies are real and growing.”

Funny how the world has changed since this administration scrapped the Bush plan to station missile defenses in Eastern Europe. My son, who is stationed in Germany, went to Romania on one of his vacations this past year and reports that folks there are very friendly and helpful.

Apparently, someone thinks that Millennials are an entirely different race of humans who need to be handled differently than their predecessors in Naval service according to a link sent to us by Louis to Military.com;

The U.S. Navy is looking for ways to adapt its training for millennials, young people raised in a child-centric culture who want and expect nurturing relationships with their bosses, the commanding officer of the submarine school in Groton said Friday.

Navy Capt. Andrew Jarrett, a self-described member of ‘Generation X,’ said that as commander of the submarine school he has made it a priority to focus on mentoring.

“For millennials, it’s very important for them to have a relationship with their boss, just like they had with their parents,” Jarrett said during a talk with a submarine veterans’ group. “They don’t want to be friends but they want you to care about them and give them feedback.”

While some see the craving for feedback as a weakness, Jarrett said it could be a benefit if it’s embraced by the Navy. He said the chief of naval operations has indicated his office is reviewing changes that may help tailor training for the new generation of sailors and officers.

The thing that has made the military culture so successful is that we’ve always made newbies to adapt to the existing culture, not adapting the culture to some civilian standard of behavior. I think the Navy is getting this backwards. But, you know, this what I’ve come to expect from Mabus and the boys in the damper services. They’re so fricken smart that they know better than history.

AW1Ed sends a link to the Military Times in which we learn that for some odd reason, sailors don’t trust the navy to act in their interests anymore;

Respondents also had a problem with ongoing discussions to reduce sailor pay and benefits, the survey found. As many as 80 percent rank the current retirement system and 74 percent rank pay and compensation as two of the most important reasons to remain in uniform.

About 63 percent of respondents said they believe it would be easy to get hired if they left the Navy.

What was striking to survey officials was how few sailors strived to earn more senior positions in the Navy. Nearly 50 percent of survey respondents said they did not want their boss’ job.

“The comments indicate an increasing belief that positions of senior leadership, specifically operational command, is less desirable because of increasing risk aversion, high administrative burden and, in some cases, a pay inversion where commanding officers are paid up to 10-percent less than the mid-career officers they lead,” the survey states.

Well, this is a complete surprise. I mean, everything being constant, shouldn’t reduced pay and reduced retirement options have no effect on retention? That’s what the pointy-headed doinks at the Pentagon tell me.