CNO, ADM John Richardson, on the Future Fleet Architecture studies, Feb. 10:

1)"The Navy is at an inflection point where we are back in competition. Many of the ideas from these studies will help us win that competition. To win, our thinking must sharp and these studies help us - they give us exactly what we want...some fresh ideas.

Each study provided ideas that in some cases validated and advanced the Navy's current thinking. Some of the recommendations from the studies are so sound that we will act on them quickly. Other ideas show promise and we'll study those hard. The studies will be rolled into our program of analysis, wargames, experiments, technology demonstrations, and prototyping."

CNO discusses the Navy's core attribute of toughness on this week's Soundings podcast:



Toughness as an attribute...

2) "There was this idea of toughness or resilience. What word should we use? Toughness is resilience plus more. Resilience is the ability to sustain through some kind of a stress and recover. Toughness has this aspect of not only sustaining a blow and recovering but also fighting back and achieving your aim after that blow. There is just a more active dimension to toughness that we wanted to capture."

On toughness and competition...

3) "Not everything is going to go our way. We're going to be challenged as we become a tougher Navy... There may be setbacks along the path. We should always keep the competition in mind - we want to be doing things better than our competition, outfoxing our competition, constantly thinking about ways to beat them."

The role of leaders in building toughness...

4) "You can't win at the expense of your team because you won't be able to win the next time. It is these leaders, whether it's at the command level or the head of the Navy level, that is constantly building the strength of the team - making them tougher focusing them on the competition. Bringing everyone into the discussion - into the challenge of beating the competition. Each one of us should spend some time every day thinking -- how am I going to outfox the competition? What have I done today to open up make ourselves better, make ourselves tougher so we're ready to win in this competition?"

Clips of Interest:

1)Trio Of Studies Predict The U.S. Navy Fleet Of 2030 (U.S. NAVAL INSTITUTE NEWS 14 FEB 17)
Megan Eckstein and Sam LaGrone
Three congressionally mandated studies outline what the Navy of 2030 could look like and present three very different takes on how the service could tackle its roles and responsibilities in the future.
https://news.usni.org/2017/02/14/trio-of-studies-look-to-the-u-s-navy-fleet-of-2030

2) Darker Shades Of Gray
Why Gray Zone Conflicts Will Become More Frequent and Complex (FOREIGN POLICY RESEARCH
INSTITUTE 13 FEB 17) Nora Bensahel The United States has long fielded the world's most capable armed forces.
http://www.fpri.org/article/2017/02/darker-shades-gray-gray-zone-conflicts-will-become-frequentcomplex/

3) U.S. Beefing Up Red Sea Presence
(DEFENSE NEWS 11 FEB 17)
Christopher P. Cavas Washington
Responding to a growing number of dangerous incidents in waters around Yemen, the U.S. Navy is expanding its presence in the Red Sea, especially around the Bab el Mandeb strait at the southern entrance to the waterway.http://www.defensenews.com/articles/us-beefing-up-red-sea-presence


4) Iran defeats U.S. navy in defiant animated film (REUTERS 15 FEB 17)...Bozorgmehr Sharafedin A fulllength
animated film depicting an armed confrontation between Iran's Revolutionary Guards and the
U.S. navy is soon to open in Iranian cinemas, amid rising tensions over President Donald Trump's
hardening rhetoric against Tehran.http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-trump-animation-idUSKBN15U1E1


5) CNO To Sailors: We Need To Get Tough
(NAVY TIMES 15 FEB 17) David B. Larter
The Navy's top officer wants sailors to toughen up.
https://www.navytimes.com/articles/cno-to-sailors-toughen-up

Upcoming Events:
22-25 Feb. - CNO travel to CA (Pt. Mugu, San Diego), St. Louis, and Notre Dame
26-28 Mar. - CNO travel to UK and Spain

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