US Navy is too woke for war

[Todd.K]

Probably happy that our "empire" was defeated.

Sure, CNN and the hard left will celebrate. But there is the classical liberal and union factions of Dems, the apolitical center, and even the RINO and moderate right that don’t really get the reality of how bad things actually are.

There are a LOT of Americans who are not mentally prepared to be a superpower in decline.

[Diamondback]

There are a LOT of Americans who are not mentally prepared to be a superpower in decline.

He has a checkered rep for good reason, but 20 years ago Marcinko noted that if we didn't collectively wake up and quit resting on our laurels and FAST, "America may well end up in this century the way the British did the last one: undeservedly pompous ... and utterly mystified that the Empire disintegrated so quickly."

[titsonritz]

This will not turn out well for the US, our enemies are not playing games.

[Coal Dragger]

We’re going to lose the next big conflict.

We lack the leadership necessary to be effective in the first stages, the will to win, and the industrial might to hang in for a longer conflict once ineffective leaders would hopefully be replaced.

Our only hope if we see an invasion of the mainland United States is a war of attrition on invading enemy forces through effective unconventional warfare. Even that is not a sure bet because a large part of the population has no spine at all, and our most likely enemy has zero concerns about extermination of any and all people in areas of resistance.

[Coal Dragger]

On the more specific topic of the report posted by the OP; the entire US Military chain of command is broken. For decades, even for centuries now, the US Military branches have been turning out largely mediocre idiots into the officer corps. Sad to say, but time and time again: when bullets start flying and blood starts flowing, the senior officers in charge at any given time almost always turn out to be ineffective morons.

The method by which services select officers for leadership positions is ridiculously stupid. Particularly in this day and age; gone are the times when an officer was likely to be one of a handful of educated and literate individuals within a unit; making selection from service academies or colleges necessary. Today effectively every enlisted man is fully literate. So why in the hell are we recruiting college kids to be officers in the US Military, or sending fresh high school grads to the service academies because some Congress critter got them an appointment? It’s ****ing stupid. There is almost nothing worse than a boot lieutenant who thinks he knows what he’s doing in charge of a platoon. A boot private is more useful because you can at least tell them to do shit, and make them learn. Even when said boot lieutenant knows he doesn’t know shit about shit, OJT is not appropriate if you’re the one in charge.

Here’s an idea. Make it mandatory that any entrant into an OCS program, ROTC, or any appointment to a service academy must have completed at least one enlistment of no less than four years. During that time they will have needed to prove their mettle as an enlisted soldier, sailor, Marine, or airman and displayed exceptional performance to even be considered for advancement to a commissioning program. Preference should be given to outstanding E-5’s and above because at that point they should have a pretty solid understanding of their jobs and how things work. Encourage most of them to commission into their same field.

The only exception to this I can think of would be medical officers, but even then I’d rather see high performing corpsmen and medics afforded the opportunity first.

Then there’s the problem of forcing people to promote or GTFO. This is also dumb as hell, for both enlisted and commissioned. Once a guy or gal makes E-5 or O-3, I say let them stay there as long as they want to. In order to stay in that grade all they need to do is continue to excel at their job. That’s it. If a dude is a stellar squad leader, or motor-T wrench turning guru leave them alone and let them kick ass at what they do. Got an officer who is killing it as a company commander, or battalion XO and he likes that billet? Unless you simply must move him up by necessity leave him alone. Eventually the really really good ones are going to elect to promote anyway because they won’t suffer dumb dumbs being in charge of them for long.

Instead we have senior officers who are really only good at getting their ticket punched to move up. War fighting, leading men, taking care of Joe, strategic vision, and tactical proficiency are all distant priorities after good fit-reps and getting that next billet to get a promotion.

[Johnny Rico]

Here’s an idea. Make it mandatory that any entrant into an OCS program, ROTC, or any appointment to a service academy must have completed at least one enlistment of no less than four years. During that time they will have needed to prove their mettle as an enlisted soldier, sailor, Marine, or airman and displayed exceptional performance to even be considered for advancement to a commissioning program. Preference should be given to outstanding E-5’s and above because at that point they should have a pretty solid understanding of their jobs and how things work. Encourage most of them to commission into their same field.

Heinlein expressed that same idea in Starship Troopers.

[ABNAK]

The ONLY thing that might save our bacon in the "Big Shootout" (with the ChiComs specifically) is our technology, and even that is dwindling rapidly as we focus on diverting $$$---as Democrats usually do---away from .mil and into "social programs". It is, and has been for 60+ years, a game of one-upmanship with our near-peer foes. We built a decent lead in that game, but it is the 4th quarter and the opposing team has the ball and is driving over the 50yd line into field goal range with 60 seconds on the clock.

[just a scout]

On the more specific topic of the report posted by the OP; the entire US Military chain of command is broken. For decades, even for centuries now, the US Military branches have been turning out largely mediocre idiots into the officer corps. Sad to say, but time and time again: when bullets start flying and blood starts flowing, the senior officers in charge at any given time almost always turn out to be ineffective morons.

The method by which services select officers for leadership positions is ridiculously stupid. Particularly in this day and age; gone are the times when an officer was likely to be one of a handful of educated and literate individuals within a unit; making selection from service academies or colleges necessary. Today effectively every enlisted man is fully literate. So why in the hell are we recruiting college kids to be officers in the US Military, or sending fresh high school grads to the service academies because some Congress critter got them an appointment? It’s ****ing stupid. There is almost nothing worse than a boot lieutenant who thinks he knows what he’s doing in charge of a platoon. A boot private is more useful because you can at least tell them to do shit, and make them learn. Even when said boot lieutenant knows he doesn’t know shit about shit, OJT is not appropriate if you’re the one in charge.

Here’s an idea. Make it mandatory that any entrant into an OCS program, ROTC, or any appointment to a service academy must have completed at least one enlistment of no less than four years. During that time they will have needed to prove their mettle as an enlisted soldier, sailor, Marine, or airman and displayed exceptional performance to even be considered for advancement to a commissioning program. Preference should be given to outstanding E-5’s and above because at that point they should have a pretty solid understanding of their jobs and how things work. Encourage most of them to commission into their same field.

The only exception to this I can think of would be medical officers, but even then I’d rather see high performing corpsmen and medics afforded the opportunity first.

Then there’s the problem of forcing people to promote or GTFO. This is also dumb as hell, for both enlisted and commissioned. Once a guy or gal makes E-5 or O-3, I say let them stay there as long as they want to. In order to stay in that grade all they need to do is continue to excel at their job. That’s it. If a dude is a stellar squad leader, or motor-T wrench turning guru leave them alone and let them kick ass at what they do. Got an officer who is killing it as a company commander, or battalion XO and he likes that billet? Unless you simply must move him up by necessity leave him alone. Eventually the really really good ones are going to elect to promote anyway because they won’t suffer dumb dumbs being in charge of them for long.

Instead we have senior officers who are really only good at getting their ticket punched to move up. War fighting, leading men, taking care of Joe, strategic vision, and tactical proficiency are all distant priorities after good fit-reps and getting that next billet to get a promotion.

Nailed it. Been saying something similar for years. Make the service academies war college for field grades. Make the pipeline for officers a full enlistment term, selection course then OCS, then branch school. Stop all the ticket punching with Airborne and Ranger for officers who only need it for promotions. Stop all the mandatory “Joint” assignments or I tergrate the branches fully. And get rid of every flag officer with prejudice and start over again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Diamondback]

The ONLY thing that might save our bacon in the "Big Shootout" (with the ChiComs specifically) is our technology, and even that is dwindling rapidly as we focus on diverting $$$---as Democrats usually do---away from .mil and into "social programs". It is, and has been for 60+ years, a game of one-upmanship with our near-peer foes. We built a decent lead in that game, but it is the 4th quarter and the opposing team has the ball and is driving over the 50yd line into field goal range with 60 seconds on the clock.

And as Big Tech transfers ever more technology to the PRiCks...

[flenna]

And as Big Tech transfers ever more technology to the PRiCks...

Slick Willy gave the Chicoms missile technology years ago.