CNO Blames Poor Self-Assessment Culture for Major Navy Problems; SWOBOSS unveils a new surface vision

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Chief of Naval Operations Mike Gilday speaking January 11, 2022 from his Pentagon office. US Navy Photo

ARLINGTON, Virginia – The reluctance of the Navy as a whole to be self-critical and the tendency to hide mistakes and downplay flaws has resulted in systemic problems in the service and stalled efforts to improve, said Tuesday Chief of Naval Operations Adm Mike Gilday.

“We are not operating to our full potential. Over the past few years, I think we’ve learned some hard truths about ourselves, ”Gilday said in a speech broadcast at the Surface Navy Association Symposium.

“We have seen examples of significant organizational drift – examples of unsatisfactory unit performance, late completion of shipyard maintenance availabilities and the inability to deliver innovative and revolutionary technologies and concepts at a pace. “

Gilday pointed out the inconsistency in performance from one unit to another. These flaws contributed to public failures, such as the 2020 fire aboard the former USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6), which showed Sailors and their commanders were not prepared to fight a blaze on a vessel under maintenance.

“The gap between our most and least able artists is too big. There is unacceptable variability in our performance. This variability affects different units, organizations and communities, both at sea and ashore, ”said Gilday. the past 12 years and excessive cost and schedule overruns in key procurement programs. “

Gilday’s solution is to make commanders and sailors more realistic about their performance and not ignore or downplay issues.

“The solution is to focus on how we can be more self-assessed and self-correcting to identify issues before they become bigger, more systemic issues,” Gilday said. -evaluate and understand the performance of their unit. They must act boldly and accept professional risk, elevate issues, embrace transparency, clearly articulate their challenges and leave their egos at the door. If our performance is not as good as we thought, we don’t hide our assessment or keep it in the lifelines.

Part of this effort will be to install a two-star – which reports directly to the NOC – in charge of the new naval security command. The creation of this new position is one of the recommendations of the major fire examination report following the investigation into the Bonhomme Richard fire. Gilday also hinted at the upcoming organizational changes of the Navy that will contribute to cultural change.

“The critical imperative here is that the culture and tools of self-assessment should be widely adopted throughout the Navy. I expect every sailor to adopt this mindset. Anything less would hurt our team and our teammates, ”he said.

The speech comes alongside Gilday’s release of a new naval command charge – the advice given to NOC commanders – which encourages commanders to seek help and not hide their mistakes.

“Strategic competition requires every organization to improve, thoughtfully experiment, learn and improve every day. Don’t settle for the performance status quo you inherit. Know exactly where you and your team are, identify where you need to be, then develop and execute a plan and learning path to get there. Identify specific obstacles that are hindering performance improvement or mission accomplishment. Bring up your chain of command, without undue delay, obstacles that you cannot resolve internally or in collaboration with your peers. Clear communication about these barriers is a critical exercise in integrity, ”Gilday wrote in the document. “Valuing effort-based mistakes as an opportunity to improve, giving subordinates and subordinate commanders the latitude to make and learn from their decisions. “

Gilday promised reforms on how the service would better absorb in the fleet the lessons of disasters such as the fatal collisions of destroyers in 2017 and the Bonhomme Richard fire.

“The way we share learning and solve problems in the Navy… has too long focused on rules of instruction and checklists,” he said. “As an institution [we] haven’t consistently learned the lessons in a way that really lasts. When something bad happens, we often view poor performance as a one-time failure, make short-term adjustments, and enforce binding regulations, guidelines, and oversight. “

“We need to do better and apply the lessons of our hard-earned experience. “

Surface specific

Vice-Admiral Roy Kitchener, commanding officer of the Naval Surface Force US Pacific Fleet, speaks Jan. 11, 2022. U.S. Navy photo

Meanwhile, the Commander of Naval Surface Forces Vice-Admiral Roy Kitchener officially unveiled a new strategic vision for the surface force on Tuesday.

“Surface Warfare: The Competitive Edge” defines several lines of effort to have more ships ready to be assigned and do a better job of training its sailors.

Kitchener has refused to provide the number of ready ships the Navy needs, arguing the service has more work to do. But he said the number was helping the Navy get a better idea of ​​the business of the surface fleet, from ships to spare parts.

“What I think is so valuable about the number is one, it allows us to understand, incidentally okay for normal production through [the Optimized Fleet Response Plan], what else do we have to use for other missions? But most importantly, it allows us to begin to understand what it costs to keep so many ships ready? Or is it a lower number? Okay, that’s what it would cost to do it. Is it a higher number? And that’s kind of what drives us that helps us understand what spare parts do we need? How much do we pay for these? How much maintenance do we need to do? And so I see it as a full spectrum. It really helps us understand our business.

After using data to assess the readiness of its surface ships, Kitchener said the Navy is considering a readiness assessment system similar to how Navy aviators assess condition preparation of planes.

“We are looking at – and I will use these terms loosely – fully mission capable, mission capable and non-mission capable,” Kitchener said.

As the Navy uses the OFRP to generate Navy tasks for combatant commanders, Kitchener said he wanted the surface fleet to assess the resources available for other tasks.

“The point is to see .. ‘Okay, here is what I can provide to the commanders of the navy and the fleet. [Global Force Managemen]-sage and here’s what else for sustainment. And then is there anything else we can offer and here’s what it would cost? Or do you want something less?

Another line of effort under Kitchener’s vision is to create infrastructure for the future fleet, which includes an artificial intelligence initiative called Task Force Hopper.

Kitchener’s paper calls on his team to produce “initiatives with a ten-year horizon, to include a roadmap for digital infrastructure, integrated with other TYCOM AI / ML working groups, and the scope of resources needed. to support digital efforts ”for the working group by June 2022.

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