By Dmitry Filipoff
Happy New Year to all our readers and members! We hope you had a safe and healthy break going into the exciting new year. We have a lot in store for our new naval professional society.
Last month the CIMSEC Warfighting Flotilla held sessions on airborne anti-submarine warfare and cyber damage control. These candid conversations revealed opportunities and shortfalls to be addressed, and helped connect like-minded individuals focused on advancing naval warfighting.
Down below is a sneak peek at the invites for our January sessions, which will focus on the Surface Navy. Matters of tactical excellence in the surface fleet have always precipitated especially spirited discussion in prior Flotilla sessions, and we anticipate these next sessions to be no different.
If you haven’t already, sign up through the form below to become a Flotilla member and receive invites to our upcoming off-the-record January sessions. Feel free to visit the Flotilla homepage to learn more about this community, its activities, and what drives it.
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Upcoming January Sessions
How to Measure Tactical Skill and Experience in the Surface Fleet
The Surface Navy, with the Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center (SMWDC) in the lead, is trialing a new system of measuring tactical experience and skill— the Surface Warfare Combat Training Continuum (SWCTC). What sort of criteria should be used, and what sorts of experience should be tracked? How should this data be used to inform shipboard management and career tracks? Join us to discuss how the surface fleet can better measure tactical skill and harness the data.
Read Ahead: “Surface Navy to Kick Off Program to Track, Assess Sailors Combat Skills,” by Megan Eckstein
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New Shipboard Organizations for Surface Warships
The shipboard organization of surface ships has a direct bearing on leaders’ ability to cultivate tactical proficiency. Could new shipboard organizations and delineations of duties allow leaders to focus more deeply on developing warfighting skills? What could such reorganizations look like and how can they be trialed? Join us to discuss these questions and more as we consider the relationship between shipboard organization and tactical focus in the surface fleet.
Read Ahead: “Time for a New Shipboard Organization,” by Lieutenant Colin Barnard
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Embracing Failure in Warfighter Culture
Failure is a critical part of learning and development. But within certain cultures and organizations, failure can carry a stigma that inhibits its effective use. How can warfighters better embrace failure as a force of learning and progress? How can aversion to failure mask important shortfalls and sideline opportunities to innovate? What is the role of leaders in setting a constructive tone around the value of failure? Join us to discuss these questions and more as we consider the role of failure in furthering warfighting excellence.
Read Ahead: “Embrace the F-Word,” by Captain Roger G. Herbert Jr., U.S. Navy (Retired)
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Previous December 2021 Sessions
Airborne Anti-Submarine Warfare
Airborne ASW witnessed atrophying skillsets and declining platform counts in the immediate post-Cold War era. Now airborne ASW could prove decisive in addressing growing undersea threats posed by great power rivals, and others. How can airborne ASW improve its combat readiness with respect to modern threats? How can airborne ASW work with other communities to enhance the overall ASW readiness of the fleet? Join us to discuss these questions and more as we consider the state of airborne ASW.
Read Ahead: “Rebuild Air ASW,” by CDR Nicholas Woodworth
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Cyberspace Damage Control
Cyberspace undergirds much if not most modern naval capability. Cyberattacks are expected to feature predominantly in modern high-end conflict, but are warships prepared to weather the effects? Are shipboard crews and shore-based support organizations effectively trained and organized to handle cyber damage control? Join us to discuss these questions and more as we contemplate damage control with respect to cyber.
Read Ahead: “We Need Cyberspace Damage Control,” by CDR Damien Dodge
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Dmitry Filipoff is CIMSEC’s Director of Online Content and Community Manager of the Warfighting Flotilla. Contact him at Content@cimsec.org.