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SECNAV VECTOR 16 AGILITY IN TIME OF CRISIS

UNCLASSIFIED//
ROUTINE
R 201310Z MAR 20 MID110000499101U
FM SECNAV WASHINGTON DC
TO ALNAV
INFO SECNAV WASHINGTON DC
CNO WASHINGTON DC
CMC WASHINGTON DC
BT
UNCLAS

ALNAV 028/20

MSGID/GENADMIN/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC/-/MAR//

SUBJ/SECNAV VECTOR 16 AGILITY IN TIME OF CRISIS//

RMKS/1.  "The most predictable thing we can say about the future is that it 
will be unpredictable." - SECNAV VECTOR 7

2.  During my recent testimony to Congress, and in various speeches and 
communications I have delivered over the past several years, I have tried to 
make the case for a more agile naval force, defined by more agile people, to 
address a future that would be predominantly defined by uncertainty.  I 
believe this uncertain future will not see a narrowing of challenges to those 
presented by great powers, but rather an expansion of them along a broader 
range, from great to small, each with varying capacities to produce 
disproportionate levels of disruption and destruction on society if we are 
unprepared.
Today we are experiencing this phenomenon in real time.  All the threats we 
have traditionally planned for, and engaged against, over the past several 
decades are not the ones that present the biggest current threat.  Rather, 
today's threat, as a testament to the unpredictable nature of our future 
security, is a microscopic particle that we can't see, but whose impact is 
striking at the world's economy with the ferocity of a full-scale kinetic 
war.  As strongly as any surprise attack could, the specter of the 
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has changed just about 
everything surrounding our daily lives.  These will be trying times for all 
of us as naval family and as a nation.  But it will also demonstrate how we 
must continue our focus on greater agility as we fight through this crisis, 
and learn more about how we should prepare for the next one.
This moment also underlines why agility matters so much for the future of our 
integrated American naval force.  We must cultivate the qualities of agility 
to address challenges posed by known competitors/adversaries, but especially 
for those threats we cannot see or ever predict.  I have developed a list of 
these qualities.  I admit there may be more, but these are good ones to think 
about as you consider your role today and into the future.  These qualities 
apply to organizations and platforms, but most importantly they are PERSONAL 
qualities that you should cultivate in yourself and the people whom you lead:
    a.  Velocity/Speed:  Ability to think, act, move, and make good decisions 
faster
    b.  Visibility/Transparency:  Ability to communicate with openness, 
clarity, and veracity
    c.  Adaptability:  Ability to change missions, functions, and tasks 
rapidly
    d.  Collaboration:  Ability to work across organizational silos and 
structures
    e.  Innovation:  Ability to imagine, design, iterate, and implement new 
solutions
    f.  Humility:  Ability to be honest about deficiencies in order to 
correct them
    g.  Trust:  Ability to be reliable, dependable, and build confidence
    h.  Skepticism:  Ability to think beyond the obvious; not accept things 
at face value

3.  As we prepare the USNS MERCY and USNS COMFORT to deploy to two major 
American cities, we can see how the agile qualities listed above have 
contributed to our ability to respond to the nation's call.  Several weeks 
ago, we asked the question about whether these ships, designed for dealing 
with combat casualties, with one currently in extended maintenance, could be 
used to help in this crisis.  Two to three weeks from now they will be in 
place providing surge hospital capacity in places no one imagined they would 
be when those initial questions were asked.  Your Navy and Marine Corps team 
moved with speed to get the ships quickly through their maintenance programs, 
were transparent with local officials about timelines, showed adaptability in 
how these ships would be used, provided collaboration with state and federal 
officials and the shipyards, used innovation with respect to how to staff the 
ships to meet the healthcare needs they would expect to see, exhibited 
humility in understanding our broad role to respond to this crisis, showed 
trust across the broad teams of people who worked to mobilize and staff the 
ships, and had healthy skepticism about what some thought could NOT be done.
As we are all realizing, and every Marine and Sailor already knows, the front 
lines in our quest for security can be anywhere at any time.  The protection 
of our nation demands that we may be called into service in ways that we did 
not imagine the day before.  It is our job to do that imagining-to be agile 
enough to step up whenever and wherever we are required to do so.  For 245 
years, the Navy and Marine Corps team has done exactly that - demonstrating 
the creativity, resilience, and fortitude to adapt and overcome.  The crisis 
we face today may be indeed just a warmup for what may come next.  We cannot 
know what that MAY be, but we have a responsibility to imagine what it COULD 
be and how we as a naval force might have to step-in to mitigate it.  That?s 
how we must approach this particular crisis.  Not as an aberration, but as an 
opportunity to adapt to the new normal of a far more unpredictable future.
Much will be asked of us on behalf of our citizens and allies.  This crisis 
centers around the issue of health and the economy; but it is also a military 
one.  We must maintain our readiness.  We must continue to serve with 
courage.  We must continue to serve with honor.  Our citizens hold the 
American Navy and Marine Corps in very high esteem.  They expect great things 
from us.  They expect our institution to perform with skill and compassion, 
perhaps more so than any other federal, state, or local entity engaged in 
this fight.  This reputation is well-earned, and I know we will sustain and 
burnish that reputation through this crisis.  Although history has thrown all 
of us a big curve ball, we must recognize that it always will.  Just as in 
previous crises, we are being asked once again to change our individual ways 
of life in order to preserve the fullest potential of liberty for those 
around us, and those yet to come.
I know that each of you stands ready, willing, and more than capable to 
protect the American people.  It is what we all signed up for, to serve a 
cause greater than ourselves, to protect our democracy and our very way of 
life.  I could not be more proud to count myself among each of you:  a 
Sailor, a Marine, a Department of the Navy Civilian, and an American Citizen.  
Together, we will get through this and emerge on the other side as a stronger 
and more agile Navy and Marine Corps team, and as a direct result of that, a 
more resilient nation.
Go Navy, and as always, Beat Army!

4.  SECNAV Vectors are released each Friday to the entire DON.  Previous 
Vectors can be viewed https://navylive.dodlive.mil/2020/01/02/secnav-
vectors/.

5.  Released by the Honorable Thomas B. Modly, Acting Secretary of the 
Navy.//

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