Chief of Naval Operations

Shipmates,

There’s been attention recently about closing an international strait using, among other means, mines, fast boats, cruise missiles and mini-subs. These weapons are all elements of what we call an “Anti-Access /Area Denial (A2AD)” strategy. Keeping with my tenet of “Warfighting First,” I want to highlight for you how the Navy and Air Force have been planning to deal with A2AD threats like this today and into the future.

A goal of an A2AD strategy is to make others believe it can close off international airspace or waterways and that U.S. military forces will not be able (or willing to pay the cost) to reopen those areas or come to the aid of our allies and partners. In peacetime, this gives the country with the A2AD weapons leverage over their neighbors and reduces U.S. influence. In wartime, A2AD capabilities can make U.S. power projection more difficult. The areas where A2AD threats are most consequential are what I call “strategic maritime crossroads.” These include areas around the Straits of Hormuz and Gibraltar, Suez Canal, Panama Canal or Malacca Strait – but strategic crossroads can also exist in the air, on land, and in cyberspace.

To counter these strategies and assure U.S. freedom of action, Navy and Air Force spearheaded a comprehensive study, which included Army and Marine Corps participation, to bring forward a concept called Air Sea Battle (ASB). This concept identifies how we will defeat A2AD capabilities such as cyber attack, mines, submarines, cruise and ballistic missiles, and air defense systems and, where applicable, “natural access denial” such as weather, pollution, natural disaster, etc. The concept also describes what we will need to do these operations, especially as the threats improve due to technological advancements.

Air-Sea Battle relies on tightly coordinated operations across domains (air, land, maritime, undersea, space and cyberspace) to defeat A2AD capabilities, such as a submarine striking air defenses in support of Air Force bombers, Air Force stealth fighters destroying a radar site to prevent cruise missile attacks on Navy ships, or a Navy cryptologic technician (CT) confusing a radar system to allow an Air Force UAV to attack an enemy command center. This level of real-time coordination requires new approaches to developing systems, planning operations, and conducting command and control.

By working across domains, Air-Sea Battle takes advantage of unique U.S. advantages in global reach (long-range tankers, nuclear-powered carriers), and stealth above (F-22 and B-2) and below (SSN, SSGN) the sea. Putting Air Force and Navy capabilities together also creates new combinations of systems, or “kill-chains”, for warfighting operations that can add redundancy or make us more efficient. For example, a threat cruise missile could be detected by an Air Force E-3 AWACS or Navy E-2D Hawkeye, and if we invest in the right data links, either of them could cue an Air Force F-22, Aegis ship or Navy F/A-18 to engage the missile. This provides more “paths” we can follow to destroy the missile.

Using these integrated air and naval forces, the Air Sea Battle concept executes three main lines of effort:

• Disrupt an adversary’s command, control, communications, computers and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) – this reduces the adversary’s ability to find or target us with large raids; they will have to spread out their attacks to all our potential locations.
• Destroy adversary weapons launch systems – To have sustained access to international seas and skies, we will eventually need to destroy the launchers on land, sea and in the air.
• Defeat adversary weapons – until we destroy the launchers, our forces will kinetically or non-kinetically prevent the weapons launched at us from getting a hit.

We are using the Air Sea Battle concept to guide decisions in procurement, doctrine, organization, training, leadership, personnel and facilities. Our budgets for FY11, FY12 and now FY13 reflect hard choices that support Air-Sea Battle. In some cases we accepted reductions in capacity to ensure the needed capabilities were retained.

In our new defense strategic guidance the President directed that we be able to project power despite threats to access. We must break traditions and parochialisms of the past to be successful. We must leverage our respective service strengths because we can no longer afford to go down separate investment paths. We must invest in data links that tie our naval and air forces together. The joint force needs the new Long Range Strike Bomber to provide global reach and stealth as well as the new KC-46 tanker, upon which our patrol aircraft and strike fighters depend. These investments complement the other capabilities of Air-Sea Battle such as the Virginia-class submarines, UAVs, Ford-class aircraft carriers, and long-range weapons.

If you’d like to read more about the Air Sea Battle concept, Air Force Chief of Staff General Schwartz and I wrote an article about it in The American Interest. The link to the article is here:

http://www.the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=1212

Warfighting First. Operate Forward. Be Ready.

JONATHAN W. GREENERT
Admiral, U.S. Navy

Shipmates,

I want to draw your attention to a “New Link” on my leadership webpage titled, “CNO’s Logbook.” This week, articles that we’ve recently written and published in media journals – are available through this “Logbook” button and new page. I will have more articles as they become available. These articles will cover a variety of topics. Some will be from publications, some will be interviews, and others may be unpublished documents that I think are important to our Navy. My goal is to keep you informed and help educate folks on what the Navy and our Sailors are doing. I believe these articles will help communicate and explain our Navy’s course and speed, and what we should expect.

This Logbook will be a point of reference throughout my watch – and through my facebook page I will periodically point you here when something new arrives.

I’d like us all to get a good understanding of how our Navy fits into our nation’s defense, and the international maritime environment. Please visit my leadership page at www.navy.mil/cno or click on this link to see view these articles. Thank you.

JONATHAN W. GREENERT
Admiral, U.S. Navy

Shipmates:

I recently issued the “Navigation Plan” [Nav Plan], a follow-on document to “Sailing Directions,” that describes the Navy’s budget submission for Fiscal Years 2013-2017.  The Nav Plan is designed to update you on our budget. Our budget decisions were guided by the defense strategic guidance and “Sailing Directions”.  The Nav Plan provides details on how we will execute this guidance, highlighting our investments through the lens of my three tenets: Warfighting First, Operate Forward, and Be Ready. 

Similar to your personal finances, the Navy’s budget reflects what is most important to us now, and in the future.  We were issued finite resources to plan to, and made trade-offs and tough choices to balance current readiness against procurement and manning. We’ll use the Nav Plan to build a Navy that is agile and capable.  I expect this plan to be a priority for everyone and communicated at all levels, to help ensure we reach its objectives together.

One thing is certain, now and beyond the horizon – our Navy is in high demand around the world. We are becoming the COCOM’s choice to assure friends or deter potential adversaries. The demand for forces will evolve, and so we’ll be prepared to adjust our Nav Plan accordingly.  Feedback from the Fleet and shore commands is an essential part of this process.  I look forward to keeping you informed of our progress in the format of “position reports” via this blog and my Facebook page.

Your Navy will continue to be critical to our nation’s security and prosperity.  I am committed to ensuring that our Navy perseveres, and continues to prevail.  I am grateful for your service, thank you.      

JONATHAN W. GREENERT
Admiral, U.S. Navy

Hello shipmates,

The Secretary of the Navy recently announced our “21st Century Sailor and Marine” initiative, which pulls together a set of objectives, policies and programs, new and existing, to maximize personal and family readiness.

I’d like to cover one of the five areas in the initiative: readiness. More specifically, it’s a readiness problem that has grown at an alarming rate, and we have not been able to turn around – sexual assault.

Folks, we’ve got to face the facts—sexual assault is an attack on a Sailor. On average, these attacks take place every day. Yes, every day. These attacks include “blue on blue”— Sailor on Sailor—think about that. We’ve had a former commanding officer go to jail for ten years because he raped one of his Sailors and we have had junior officers and chiefs, who have also been charged and convicted of sexual assault. We have shipmates committing crimes against shipmates, and we all have to do something about it.

This is my problem and this is your problem. Sexual assault is unacceptable and its roots need to stop at all levels; I can’t tolerate it and you shouldn’t either. It undermines our Navy Core Values and Ethos, and it undercuts safety and readiness. We need to address it for what it is – a real danger.

It is important that we support sexual assault victims and hold offenders accountable. But what we really need to do is prevent sexual assault before it occurs. Some call this “getting to the left of the event.” This means taking a hard look at command climate, and I need your help in this regard. We need to watch our humor, our language and ensure it’s appropriate for the work place. We need to prevent the abuse of alcohol, which is a primary contributor to sexual assaults. We need to promote responsibility for ourselves and each other. Sexual assault is not just happening at “some” commands, it is happening at your command. We need to commit, as a Navy, to not accept this crime at our commands and get rid of the myth that it’s just “part of life.” It is not.

It’s about changing attitudes. It is about leadership at every level getting engaged. It’s about creating a safe environment of dignity and respect for our shipmates. It’s about declaring and committing that we won’t tolerate this in our Navy. And it is especially about “by stander intervention,” stepping in when you see one of our shipmates threatening another. We stand to gain confidence and trust in a Navy that cares about all of its Sailors.

In short, everyone needs to do something about it! In the coming weeks you will hear from your leadership on the prevention of sexual assault as we renew our emphasis Navy wide on this important issue. Let’s face it together, there is no place for sexual assault in our Navy and I know we can resolve this with your effort and focus.

JONATHAN W. GREENERT
Admiral, U.S. Navy

Hello Shipmates.

We’re starting an important phase in our defense budget cycle. Our defense budget was delivered to Congress in mid-February and I’d like to take a moment to discuss how it will impact you and our Navy. Through the video clips below, I talk about places visited, and then address questions you have brought up about Enlisted Retention Boards (ERB), pay raises and benefits, and the future of our fleet.

The first clip is about ERB; that we don’t expect another in fiscal years 2013 and 2014:

YouTube DoDLive

In the next clip, I discuss the budget. Our budget for fiscal year 2013 is in line with our new defense strategy and my Sailing Directions. We made some tough choices and although our Navy will get smaller by a few ships initially, we’ll be back up to size in a few years. We remain agile, flexible and formidable:

YouTube DoDLive

The final clip takes the budget discussion a little closer to home: pay and benefits. I’m very confident the personnel portion of our budget supports our Sailors and families the way they deserve to be supported. Our FY2013 budget includes a 1.7-percent pay raise for our Sailors. This will keep your buying power on par with the private sector. We protected the G.I. Bill, family readiness programs, sexual assault programs and operational stress programs to ensure the continued support of our Sailors and families:

YouTube DoDLive

Thanks for tuning in and thank you all for what you do. I am always impressed with the caliber of the men and women in our Navy. I look forward to seeing you all in the fleet.

JONATHAN W. GREENERT
Admiral, U.S. Navy

Over the last few weeks, I had the pleasure to speak with Shipmates at All Hands Calls and CPO Calls, in San Diego, Hawaii and Norfolk and have been underway aboard USS Enterprise and USS New Mexico. It’s always best to meet and talk to you face to face – especially at sea. I was asked some challenging questions during those visits; the ones I heard most often were about the new budget and our pay, health benefits, education assistance, retirement and deployment lengths. Since many of you might have the same questions, here is some info you may be interested in:

The new strategy – As you may have heard in recent weeks, the defense strategy and budget, released by our Secretary of Defense, will result in a leaner and smaller military focused on the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. The budget retains 11 carriers and 10 carrier air wings, retires seven of our older cruisers and two older amphibious ships that would require significant investment in maintenance and upgrades to be effective in the future. The fleet has been keeping about 100 ships deployed. We have about 50 ships deployed to the Asia-Pacific, and 30 to the Middle East on any given day. So the new strategy won’t change what has been our focus for some time. We will, though, work toward more innovative ways to do security cooperation with our partners in Africa and South America including mobile training teams, joint high speed vessels, and a new ship called the “mobile landing platform.”         

Pay – The new budget includes a pay raise for those of us in uniform, each year, for the next five years. But the raise will likely not be as much as we’ve enjoyed in the last few years.         

Retirement – For those of you in uniform today, the President and Secretary of Defense are committed to “grandfathering” each of us in the current retirement plan. But going forward, we need to take a hard look at retirement for those who will join in the future. The President has proposed that Congress establish a commission under the President’s direction, which will be comprised of former service members and business people who understand retirement plans. The DoD commission will survey members from each service to understand how retirement plans impact our decisions to join or remain in the service, and what we want out of our military retirement plans. It will take about a year for the commission to develop recommendations once they begin.

Early Retirement – Congress gave us the authority (starting this year) to offer early retirement to Sailors with 15 to 20 years service. Approximately 300 Sailors impacted by ERB who have at least 15 years of service as of September 1, 2012 are eligible and will have the opportunity to apply for early retirement.  If further reductions are needed in our force we will look at early retirement as an option.             

Perform-to-Serve (PTS) – Now that the FY 2012 ERB process is behind us, and we are transitioning those Sailors, we are seeing advancement rates return to normal.  We reviewed 31 overmanned ratings in the ERB and it has helped us lower these numbers. By October we project we will be down to 9 overmanned ratings.   Before the ERB, about 45% of PTS requests were being approved. Today about 75% are approved. By reducing overmanning in some rates, we can now use PTS to balance the force. I do not see the need for another ERB in 2013 or 2014.         

Educational benefits – The Post-9/11 GI Bill is unchanged by the new budget and there are minor changes to our other education benefits. We put better oversight in place for Tuition Assistance (TA) to help ensure Sailors and the Navy get the most out of the $90 million we spend on this program. Starting this year, each college or university accepting TA must have a memorandum of understanding with the Navy to manage the program. College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams are still funded by the Navy through Navy College, although you will have to pass a practice exam before taking the actual exam. If you don’t pass the CLEP exam, you can still use TA to take the full course the exam would have replaced.      

Deployments – In this fiscal year as it stands now, about a half dozen ships will deploy for eight months, and in FY13 we project five ships will do eight-month deployments. On average, the rest of the fleet will remain stable at six to seven month deployments per readiness cycle. Reality, of course, still gets a vote. Things in the world can occur and cause us to extend some ships to complete the assigned mission. Our plan going in is that the majority of the fleet will do a single seven-month deployment in a cycle. And we will work with the Combatant Commanders to ensure we use our surge capacity for significant unforeseen events, not for extra day-to-day capacity.

Those are the main topics on the minds of folks whom I recently visited – I truly appreciate your insight into what is taking place and I appreciate what you are doing.  In my next post, I will get to some other concerns I heard from the fleet, including making sure BAH rates are adequate, improvements to sea-shore rotation, and ensuring the Seaman-to-Admiral program remains healthy.  Look for it next week.

Darleen and I are very proud of you and your families. We know how important families are and we will continue to make sure the support your Navy provides is appropriately tailored around what you and your families need.

Thanks again for what you do.  Good luck to all of you, God bless you all, and take care of your Shipmates.

JONATHAN W. GREENERT
Admiral, U.S. Navy

Happy New Year Shipmates,

As we start off 2012, I wanted to thank each and every one of you for your tireless dedication to the Navy and for the sacrifices that you and your family make each and every day.  I also would like to share some thoughts as we start the new year — below you will find several video clips from my message to the fleet, each dealing with what is important to many of you.

Safety Clip:  When I was asked what I wanted for Christmas, I responded, a banner year for safety.  I truly mean that and hope that you will help me make sure that we are successful.

War of 1812 Clip: This is a great year to celebrate our heritage and the bicentennial of the War of 1812, it is a good time for us to reflect on where we came from.  A lot of lessons that we learned in 1812 are still pertinent today, such as the importance of innovation and being ready.

Defense Strategy Clip:  This week the President rolled out our new defense strategy that will be the foundation upon which our 2013 budget will be built.  It was a transparent process and our Navy equities were taken into account.

ERB Clip:  This was an unfortunate but necessary process that needed to be done.  Ratings that were once overmanned are now back in balance and advancement rates are going back up.  I will continue to keep you posted in this area.

As you can see, we have a lot to look forward to in 2012 and I want to thank you again for your service. Let’s keep moving forward with the Sailing Directions and get out there and get it done.  Thank you.

JONATHAN W. GREENERT
Admiral, U.S. Navy

Happy Holidays Shipmates,

This holiday season, I want to tell you how proud Darleen and I are of the work you and your families are doing throughout the fleet. Because of you we remain the world’s greatest Navy. Because of the efforts of you and your families, we operate around the globe, 365 days a year, providing assistance to protect our national interests and providing the president an offshore option. This work does not come without sacrifice and therefore we are forever grateful, and thank you and your families this holiday season for your service.

For those of you who have the opportunity to spend time with family and friends, enjoy the time off, you have earned it. But let’s not forget our shipmates who are currently standing the watch so that we can enjoy the time with our families. It is challenging to be apart from loved ones this time of year.

It is because of Sailors like Utilitiesman 3rd Class Crystal McDougal, serving with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Four’s Convoy Security Element in southwest, Afghanistan; Engineman 1st Class Kenneth Gossett serving with Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Twelve in southwest Afghanistan; Quartermaster 3rd Class Grace Thuerkoff, aboard USS Dewey (DDG 105) in the Fifth Fleet; and Seaman Hayden Humphreys aboard USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) in the Indian Ocean, that Americans are able to spend this holiday season with their loved ones. 

Regardless of where you find yourself during this holiday season know that your decision to serve is the heart, soul, and strength of America. It is what sets you apart and makes you special. Darleen and I would like to thank you for your dedication and commitment and remind you to take care and be safe. You are always in our thoughts and prayers, especially during this holiday season.

We wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 JONATHAN W. GREENERT
Admiral, U.S. Navy

70th Pearl Harbor Anniversary

Shipmates,

I am re-purposing the following letter I sent to Commander, Navy Region Hawaii who is teaming with the National Park Service today to Commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  It is available online with a host of other information about events in Pearl Harbor: http://www.cnic.navy.mil/hawaii/

On behalf of the men and women of the United States Navy, I would like to take a moment to reflect upon the sacrifice and warfighting excellence of our shipmates 70 years ago during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Regardless of how many years have passed since the attack on Pearl Harbor, the memory of the events that transpired December 7, 1941 will always live on.  The mettle and tenacity of those that fought in Pearl Harbor defending our nation endures in the men and women serving our Navy throughout history.

Today, 70 years later, the focus of our Navy is “Warfighting First.”  It is what our Navy did best then and does best now, and it will continue to be our focus.  Similarly, we have to “Operate Forward” providing our nation with critical offshore options and bringing vital security and stability to our nation’s interests around the world.  There is no better reminder than Pearl Harbor to demonstrate how important our work is today in defending our nation forward.  And finally, as Pearl Harbor has taught us, we must “Be Ready” to address any challenges, many of which may be unexpected.

Moving forward we will never forget Pearl Harbor, the fighting spirit of a generation that taught us we can overcome any obstacle, seize any opportunity, and ultimately prevail no matter how difficult the challenges we face.  As a result of unwavering contributions, then and now, every member of the Navy team – our Sailors, our Civilians, our Reservists, our Navy Veterans, and our Families, we are the finest maritime force the world has ever seen.

As we celebrate the Enduring Legacy of Pearl Harbor during your commemoration, I would like to thank you for all of the hard work that was invested in making this event successful and encourage the nation to remember the fighting spirit of those at Pearl Harbor.

JONATHAN W. GREENERT
Admiral, U.S. Navy

Shipmates,

Let me address some concerns I am hearing from Sailors and their families about the Enlisted Retention Board (ERB). The results came out last week and I realize we are losing some well-qualified Sailors who live their lives with integrity and serve honorably.

Unfortunately, we are in uncharted waters today in manning. We have record-high retention and historically low numbers of people leaving the service. As a result, we are overmanned in several ratings and skill sets.   To manage the force levels we had to ask about 3,000 Sailors to leave the Navy. This is a difficult situation, but there is no way around it.

We have a process, the ERB, that is as fair as it can be, considering the numbers involved. ERB reduces overall manpower by reducing the number of Sailors in overmanned ratings through conversions and separations. The board looks at all the elements of a Sailors’ performance, from the time he or she stepped aboard their first ship. So, sustained superior performance from “day one” was considered. It is also important to understand the situation with your rating. If it is overmanned, you should make sure you have looked at all the options for conversion in addition to being good at your job.

 The ERB and follow-on transition process have my full attention. We are putting great efforts to ensure the ERB process is being conducted professionally and fairly. More importantly, we look to ensure that the means for transition is clear, broadly applied, open and readily available.

 I have pushed the ERB to be as transparent as possible, and required that we share as much information as possible with the Fleet – especially those Sailors and their families that are impacted. This is where I need leadership help; our Sailors are counting on us. Make sure your Shipmates understand how ERB works. Ensure all levels in the chain-of-command are involved. And make sure those who will separate get all the assistance they need. Together we can continue to improve this process to reduce anxiety and confusion.

Sailors and Families being separated as a result of ERB really need to use the chain-of-command as the first line of support, along with Fleet and Family Support Centers. In addition, there are resources such as the Shipmates to Workmates Program, ERB/ PTS Tool Kit, Transition Assistance Handbook and Turbotap.com, and NAVADMINs that highlight existing and new benefits to those separating. You can also consult Navy Reserve recruiters to explore options to continue serving. The place to visit for all ERB-related information is the Navy’s one-stop shop website:http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/boards/ERB/Pages/default2.aspx. Here you can find almost 200 frequently asked questions and a large amount of transition information. If you have questions about ERB or transition, please contact the NPC Customer Service Center at 1-866-U ASK NPC or email. Customer Service Agents are available 0700 to 1900 Central Standard Time, Monday through Friday.

 I am fully committed to ensuring the chain of command is supporting Sailors and Families through this most difficult time. I will continue to monitor our efforts to manage our manning and adjust our policies as needed.

Darleen and I are extremely proud and appreciative of your service. Thank you.

 JONATHAN W. GREENERT
Admiral, U.S. Navy