By-Election for Secretary

Secretary2
“And this ship is going to have lasers on it, see, and all of these robots will fly and swim off it, see, and it will fight pirates and…You getting all this?”
“Sure boss, sure…”

As part of our onslaught towards 501(c)(3) status here in the States we have learned we need an official secretary. Two gentlemen have graciously thrown their hats in the ring. If you are a member (click here if unsure), please vote at bottom. Voting ends Thursday, midnight EST.

Mike Carroll:

Experience As with most compulsive volunteers, I have been affiliated with a number of non-profits over the span of my adult life. This has occasionally included duties as a governing board member. However, some of those affiliations have included financial and organizational management teams I found less than ideal. Those periods prompted me to me to dive into the minutia of 501(c)(3) corporate organization and their financial reporting requirements.

The basic mechanics of successful 501(c)(3)s are many of the same items expected of a successful DIVO: a good report tickler, attention to detail, and the fore-handedness to gather the required data in a timely manner. It’s not rocket science. Schedule the required meetings, publish the results, and assemble the annual IRS-990 for the May filing deadline or request the optional six month extension.

Qualifications Traditionally, the position was primarily a administrative function associated with record keeping and record certification to include the duties of a notary. In the 21st Century it has evolved to include ethics and compliance/due diligence duties.

As a retired CDR and former industrial safety officer I’m well acquainted with both record keeping, program compliance, and ethics. I’m willing to move forward with acquiring a notary seal, if required.

Goals CIMSEC’s future requires a transition from the realm of the founders’ enthusiasm (and responsibility) to the admittedly bureaucratic structures of management boards and committees. While publishing new ideas lies at its core, CIMSEC’s architecture will need to broaden to provide a foundational infrastructure.

As a 501(c)(3), CIMSEC becomes a corporate entity. Corporate entities are not clubs, They are enduring organizations committed to long span goals. I would like to provide the service necessary for that future.

Conclusion: CIMSEC is a remarkable place. As a Stavridis (and Galrahn) fanboy, it focuses on something missing from my JO experience, “Read, Think, Write, Publish.” The fleet and force of the future will need leaders who have already thought about where they are before they arrive.

I’m not an accountant or a lawyer or a master strategist. I’m a guy who believes in recruiting the smartest people in the room to solve our problems. This was a place where I could step up.

Dennis Harbin:

I am a qualified surface warfare officer and am currently enrolled at Penn State Law in the Navy’s Law Education Program. My relevant background includes leadership and project management experience as a division officer in USS BAINBRIDGE (DDG-96) and as Operations Officer with PC CREW KILO deployed in USS FIREBOLT (PC-10). As a law student in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, I have begun developing skills necessary for complex administrative problem-solving and regulatory compliance.

I see the role of Secretary as two-fold. First, it is the duty of every organization’s secretary to ensure that the Board complies with specific formality and regulatory requirements, in this case under 501(c)(3) and our own by-laws. My very minimal legal background should be useful in this role. Second, it is the duty of every officer to ensure that the mission of the organization is fulfilled, but also continues to expand and grow.

Even though I’m new to CIMSEC, I’ve been enthusiastic from the beginning about what this group does and how it serves our various professions and institutions through the discussion of ideas. CIMSEC has great potential and I want to do what I can to ensure its efficient administration and its effectiveness as an indispensable forum on maritime and security affairs.

Thanks to both for stepping up to help out!

Catch and Release

Teknik Perdana
          Not as tasty as it sounds: At anchor off Margarita Island.

On Thursday Venezuelan officers boarded the U.S.-operated, Malaysia-owned survey vessel Teknik Perdana for “carrying out illegal activities.” The Venezuelan navy escorted the vessel into port on Margarita Island, where the ship and crew were told they would remain detained pending an investigation. The ship ran afoul of a dispute between Venezuela it’s smaller neighbor Guyana over waters off the coast of an area known as Esequiba. According to the BBC, Venezuela has claimed the Esequiba region (and about 2/3rds of the whole of Guyana) since Guyana was a British colony in the 19th Century. UNCLOS, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which the U.S. is not a signatory but follows due to its force as accepted customary law, formalizes Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) that regulates most economic activity, typically drawn out 200nm from the coastal baseline of a nation’s territory, as well as the rights to resources further out in the continental shelf’s seabed. Thus as far as the law is usually* concerned, who owns the land owns the sea, and therefore much of the interest over otherwise marginal islands elsewhere. Fortunately for the owners and crew of the Teknik Perdana, Venezuela released vessel on Tuesday.

If this story has a happy ending it is that Venezuela and Guyana said in August that they would seek help from the UN to solve their squabble, and this incident may act as further impetus. This doesn’t mean claimants always abide by the rulings (see neighboring Colombia’s reaction over its dispute with Nicaragua), but they at least tend to keep things peaceful.

*History can also play a large role.

LT Scott Cheney-Peters is a surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and the former editor of Surface Warfare magazine. He is the founding director of the Center for International Maritime Security and holds a master’s degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College.

The opinions and views expressed in this post are his alone and are presented in his personal capacity. They do not necessarily represent the views of U.S. Department of Defense or the U.S. Navy. 

New UUV Mothership Hits the Fleet: The Coastal Command Boat

CCB3The U.S. Navy recently introduced the new 65-foot Coastal Command Boat (65PB1101, or CCB) into the fleet.  Among other maritime security missions, the CCB will test new concepts in employing unmanned underwater vehicles.  The one-of-a-kind vessel was developed following a 2008 Congressional earmark for $5 million.  After a transit from its building location in Bremerton, the SAFE Boat-manufactured CCB arrived in Coronado, California in August, where it been assigned to Coastal Riverine Group 1 (CRG-1).  The CCB is a preview of the Navy’s upcoming 85-foot Mark VI patrol boats, six of which have been planned for delivery in FY13/14.

The boat has been configured to operate the MK 18 Mod 2 Kingfish UUV for mine counter-measures operations.  Two of the 800-pound, 12-inch diameter UUVs sit in cradles on the stern of the CCB and are launched with the boat’s hydraulic crane.  The Navy is considering deploying the CCB to the Middle East for operational testing sometime in the next year.  Operating up to day-long missions from a shore base or even the well deck of a larger amphibious mothership, the CCB and MK VI PBs will deploy multiple mine-hunting UUVs. 

The Navy has also tested the man-portable SeaFox mine neutralizer from rigid-hull inflatable boats (RHIBs).  If equipped with SeaFox, the CCB and MK VI could not only find, but clear, detected mines, a capability that today is conducted with much larger dedicated mine countermeasures ships.

This article was re-posted by permission from, and appeared in its original form at NavalDrones.com.

SC Episode 4: DEF Jam Midrats Tour

From the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum in Chicago, I speak to Eagle One and Commander Salamander on their Midrats podcast. We talk about sea swap, small ship leadership, how much I love USNI and Zumwalt, and actually mention quite a bit of game theory. It’s not exactly our typical fair of maritime policy… but seriously, I was busy disruptively ideating! SC Episode 4: DEF Jam Midrats Tour (Download)

Fostering the Discussion on Securing the Seas.