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Keep It Simple

New Administration Topic Week

By Brody Blankenship

The Navy is the foundation of America’s expeditionary capability, therefore it will continue to be an integral component of military force in any conflict. However, this amazing force has been mismanaged and deflated beyond optimal limits, leaving the incoming administration much to fix and a disproportionately small budget. But while it is important to focus on the ships, aircraft, sensors, etc., the sailors, Marines, and civilians who support them are the key components for maritime success. Focus on personnel effectiveness and efficiency, making sure the best and brightest are put in positions of responsibility where meaningful decisions can be made. Innovation of necessary tools will follow only after this issue is properly managed.

Also, review naval history; not only that of the United States, but navies throughout the world. There is much today that has been around for ages, yet new titles and buzzwords seduce leaders to reinvent the wheel. Understand the basics of the Navy and its purpose as a part of the armed forces, and look to integrate warfare domains and services as much as possible, bringing the full power of American military might to bear on all who seek to challenge the national interest. Use the Navy as a true political tool in every capacity, and draw from its deep roster of talented and diverse people and capabilities. Understand our adversaries and potential adversaries, and analyze their activity in the maritime domain, looking to counter any strategy that may threaten the United States. Maritime laws will continue to be challenged, and the Navy must be the leader of ensuring the freedom of the seas, as they are essential to the national and global economies. Be clear when passing rules of engagement to the Navy’s leaders, ensuring that the enemies of the United States fear the destructive retribution of the U.S. Navy much more than its commanders fear the politics. This means the administration must be willing to accept full responsibility for operational actions and consequences, many of which will be unintended and unforeseen.

Finally, accept risks and welcome change. Oust careerists who fail to see the bigger picture, and reward those who are willing to lay it on the line in pursuit of national gains. Aggressive military leaders are most effective, as history has proven. Civilians often forget that these leaders do not need to be politically correct to be effective; that’s not in the job description.

Brody Blankenship is a Senior Research Specialist at CNA Corporation and a veteran of Naval Special Warfare. He is currently a Master’s candidate at The George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs, where he studies the Middle East and International Security issues. The views expressed here are his own.

Featured Image: PACIFIC OCEAN (April 23, 2011) Naval Air Crewman 2nd Class Bowen Derik, assigned to the Wild Cards of Helicopter Sea Combat squadron (HSC) 23, watches the amphibious transport dock ship USS Cleveland (LPD 7) as it pulls out of Tonga after completing the first mission of Pacific Partnership 2011. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman John Grandin/Released)

An Open Letter to Our Negotiator-in-Chief: Fix Navy Acquisition

New Administration Topic Week

By LT Travis Nicks

The way we buy stuff is broken. The Department of the Navy (DoN) acquisition system buys things we don’t need at prices we can’t pay for products that aren’t complete. What we need is up for debate, so are the prices we pay. However, we have to stop buying incomplete products. When we buy a weapon or platform (ships, aircraft, vehicles, satellites, etc.) without buying its technical data we buy a black box. We own the use of the system but we cannot fix, improve, or optimize; we pull the trigger and see the result. If we need a new result we must buy another expensive black box.

Each major defense contractor has a little fiefdom in Navy acquisitions right now. One has a monopolistic market share in missiles, another in aircraft, etc. There is no competition. The results are the classic follies of oligopoly: quality goes down and prices go up. Mr. Scott O’Neil (SES) served as Executive Director of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division where he was an engineer and technical manager for 40 years. His immersion in the world of DoD weapons development, contracting, and defense industry interactions led him to determine the precise source of this problem. The root cause of their stranglehold is that each company reserves ownership of the technical drawings and specifications for systems the government supposedly bought and owns the intellectual property (IP) for.The result is two-fold. The government has troves of world-class engineers and scientists who are hamstrung by their contractual restriction from access to technical drawings and specifications for systems their employer, DoN, should own outright. Also, the government is unable to take that information and have companies compete to develop the system.

Mr. President-Elect, be our champion and negotiate a better situation. Please sign a law, issue a contracting regulation, or create an executive order that ensures that when acquisition contracts are negotiated the government owns both the IP and the technical information—specifically technical drawings and specifications—associated with the complete system. You’ll break up the anti-capitalist oligopoly and restore competition to lower cost, improve quality, and speed up development.

Travis Nicks is a nuclear submarine officer serving at the Pentagon. He is focused on finding precise fixes to complex problems. LT Nicks is interested in cyber policy and personnel performance issues. The views herein are his alone and do not represent the views of the Department of Defense, the Department of the Navy, or any other organization.

i. O’Neil, Scott. Personal interview. 18 Jan 2017.

Featured Image: A Zumwalt-class destroyer under construction at Bath Iron Works. (New England Boating)

The Swiss Army Knife of Security Policy

New Administration Topic Week

By Dr. Sebastian Bruns

The incoming administration needs to know that the U.S. Navy is a forward-deployable and ready tool of statecraft for the United States. It builds on a long tradition and utilizes the opportunities afforded by geography, the maritime domain, and international law to engage with allies, conduct naval diplomacy, deter crises, and provide options towards favorable outcomes in a conflict. The spectrum of engagement is vast and principally allows the new administration to shape the global environment in ways that the Air Force, the Army, or soft power cannot – although the Navy should always be seen as part of a toolbox, not a one-size-fits-all tool. The U.S. Navy can train, exercise, coordinate, and operate together with partners using standardized and scalable methods. America, the global sea power, needs reliable, ready, intellectually-embraced naval power.

Dr. Sebastian Bruns heads the Center for Maritime Strategy & Security at the Institute for Security Policy University of Kiel, Germany. Prior to that, he served then-Rep. Todd Young (R, Ind.) as Congressional Fellow for defense and military policy. He is the editor of the “Routledge Handbook of Naval Strategy and Security” (London 2016).

Featured Image: DA NANG, Vietnam (Oct. 2, 2016) – Sailors from the Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) participate in a damage control professional exchange and practical with sailors from Vietnam People’s navy during Naval Engagement Activity (NEA) Vietnam 2016.  (U.S. Navy photo by Ens. Meghan Mariano)

The Challenge: Rediscovering the Offense

New Administration Topic Week

By Richard Mosier

The Soviet Union was officially dissolved on December 26, 1991, leaving the U.S. Navy with no near-peer maritime threat for the past 25 years. The current generation of naval officers has grown up in an environment in which the U.S. Navy has been focused on strike operations in a relatively benign, third-world threat environment. In that environment, the surface navy has focused overwhelmingly on fleet defense and net-centric operations, with little need to grapple with concepts for the offense against a maritime near-peer.

Multiple nations now pose threats that require new consideration of offensive concepts such as distributed lethality. The U.S. Navy now faces the challenge of relearning lessons learned in the 1970s and 1980s when faced with the threat of the Soviet Navy. Offensive naval operations against a near-peer, then, now, and in the future will have to give the offense and the defense equal emphasis. The offense emphasizes the element of surprise that is achieved through deception, counter- surveillance, and counter-targeting tactics. The fleet will have to relearn how to operate in EMCON, with all task force RF emitters in standby, and still maintain the tactical advantage of superior situational awareness.

In the past 25 years, national, theater, and Navy intelligence, surveillance, and targeting capabilities have dramatically improved in surveillance area coverage, near real-time contact reporting, and shore-based all-source correlation and fusion. The challenge is to leverage the impressive capabilities of off board systems to achieve situational awareness when an offensive task force is transiting in EMCON. This will require some sacrifice of jealously guarded institutional equities. It also will require the Navy develop and field shipboard capabilities for the integration of this near real-time, off-board, and force sensor information on surface combatants such as DDGs to realize the potential for superior situation awareness and from that, win tactical decisions. It will require the Navy recognize Information Operations Warfare as a warfare area that requires OPNAV sponsorship and the development of warfare specialists and supporting systems that are essential for the planning and execution of deception, counter-surveillance, and counter-targeting operations that enable offensive mission success.

Richard Mosier is a former naval aviator, intelligence analyst at ONI, OSD/DIA SES 4, and systems engineer specializing in Information Warfare.

Featured Image: RED SEA (Dec. 17, 2015) Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) transits the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb. Guided-missile destroyers USS Ramage (DDG 61), front, and USS Gonzalez (DDG 66) transits the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb. Guided-missile destroyer USS Bulkeley (DDG 84) transits the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class J. R. Pacheco/Released)