Battleland

Sound the Klaxon: Aah-Ooo-Gah!

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Navy Historical Center

Out of the mouths of junior officers:

Lieutenant James Drennan writes in the latest issue of Proceedings, the naval service’s professional journal, that too many of the senior officers he is supposed to look up to are falling short. The surface warfare officer says:

When the alarm for General Quarters is sounded on U.S. Navy ships, the crew immediately shuts certain hatches, valves, and vents for maximum airtight and watertight integrity in the event of emergency. Today, the Navy must take similar action when it comes to personal integrity. Achieving physical integrity in a ship involves the elimination of gaps that would allow the intrusion and spread of dangers like seawater or fire. Personal integrity involves the elimination of inconsistencies between stated principles and behavior. These inconsistencies can be viewed as gaps in a leader’s character. For COs who were relieved for personal misconduct, those gaps allowed corrosive agents such as mistrust or poor judgment to spread, eventually leading to the downfall of their careers.

“The Navy,” he warns, “is at risk of sacrificing its long sacred standard of command performance, sinking into mediocrity and, eventually, failure.”

You know something (not good) is up when whippersnappers start writing like that.

Full thing here.