Train the way you fight, because you'll fight the way you train. If signals from the Navy are any indication, we are undermining the most expensive military in the world. We will pay a price for that.
A year of success for the Secretary of the Navy!
Carlos del Toro marked his first anniversary at the helm of the Navy Department with a 1,141-word message to the Navy and Marine Corps extoling [sic] his accomplishments to date. But there was one glaring omission in his list of achievements: any indication that the Navy is better able to fight and win wars than it was one year ago.
The Navy Secretary cited progress made on many fronts: Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault, Mental Health, Education, Housing, Keeping [personal] Costs Down, Child Care, Spouse Employment, and the Exceptional Family Member Program.
It's not just that the Secretary of the Navy is declaring this list as significant. It's that he knows his bosses expect this. And his subordinates know that, too. That eventually works its way down to ship crews at the pointy end of the floating stick.
Many of his achievements are certainly good things, in isolation. But they are only really good if they are the foundation of a Navy that can fight and win. Where is the evidence that he is doing that? How does achieving those good things translate into a fighting Navy and Marine Corps?
Without using those achievements as the means to an end rather than the end itself, we won't get victory:
I'm not truly worried about a recent spate of leadership firings by the Navy. I worry that this data-driven project--while useful--is treating the symptoms for the real problem in the flag officer and civilian leadership ranks:
I think that the purge doesn't go high enough. I've lost trust and confidence in our flag officers' ability to command the Navy. What oversight of those human factors will we carry out?What we should do but won't is revamp selection and training for our senior officers to reduce the climate of stupidity that cripples American warfighting abilities.
Somehow our flag officers are convinced that there are many substitutes for victory. But the truth is that woke lips sink ships.
Pretending we have a good military doesn't make it so. Shiny new weapons, futuristic jargon, and sharp uniforms hide the rot.
Train the way you'll lose. Because you'll lose the way you train, eh?
UPDATE: Huh:
A Buddhist pennant appeared on a Navy ship earlier this week for the first time in the sea service’s history, the Navy announced.
Is this bad? I won't say that. But I will say it should be way down the priority list.
NOTE: Winter War of 2022 updates continue here.
