USNewsper’s Post

In the military, bravery and self-sacrifice are honored with medals, highlighting values of honor and selflessness. However, in business, success is often tied to personal achievement at the expense of others, potentially overshadowing ethical considerations and team welfare. Balancing performance with ethics and teamwork is key to achieving success aligned with organizational values and integrity. #Ethics #Teamwork #Success

This article offers absolutely no connection or substance to support its premise. Military parents that I know are generally telling their kids to join; those who are not are doing so for reasons like: fear of sexual harassment or assault, sleep deprivation, poor housing, inadequate mental health care, undermanned and overworked units, burnout, and toxic Leadership condoning or tolerating bullying and discrimination. Vilifying “DEI” is just an easy target to avoid addressing real leadership challenges. I hesitated to post in order to avoid giving it “legs”, but it needs to be rigorously rebutted by a realistic look at facts. As someone who strongly advocates for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, I’ll consider adding “DEI Apparatchik” to my LinkedIn profile!

Military recruitment shortages, equipment manning issues and overall operational readiness reduction since 2020. Since 2020, the U.S. military has faced significant recruitment and personnel shortages, leading to broader issues affecting operational readiness. Key challenges include a shrinking pool of eligible recruits, partly due to educational, health, and legal disqualifications. For instance, 77% of young Americans aged 17-24 do not meet military eligibility standards, exacerbating recruitment struggles. Others attribute these shortfalls to DEI/CRT Initiative adversely affecting morale, retention and recruitment. The Army, Navy, and Air Force all missed recruitment goals in recent years, with a shortfall of over 20,000 enlistees in FY 2023. The Coast Guard has had to remove vessels from service and close boat stations due to personnel shortages. These staffing challenges are impacting readiness across all branches of the military, leading to concerns about national security. The results? After persistent recruiting challenges since 2020, the Coast Guard—facing a 10% shortage in crews sidelined 10 cutters and shuttered 29 boat stations. The Navy, missed its recruiting goals last year by 7,000 shrunking by 21,000 sailors since 2021. The Navy’s Military Sealift Command plans to sideline 17 logistic ships critical to the naval mission due to a lack of qualified merchant mariners. The Army reduced its goals rather than acknowledge even larger recruitment gaps. This recruitment shortfall has strained military units, with soldiers often doing the work of one-and-a-half to two people, particularly in units designated for rapid response.

🇬🇧 The British Army wants to relax security checks for recruits from overseas to boost diversity and inclusion, The Telegraph can reveal👇 Britain’s armed forces have consistently failed to hit #recruitment targets and are looking overseas to boost #ethnicminority representation, which currently stands at 14 per cent of the regular #army. A document leaked to this paper, titled The British Army’s Race Action Plan, notes that the Army “struggles to attract talent from ethnic minority backgrounds into the officer corps”. Published in March 2023 and understood to be the latest guidance, it outlines a series of “actions” to boost #representation and describes #security clearance vetting as being “the primary barrier to non-UK personnel gaining a commission in the Army”. It vows to “challenge SC [security clearance] requirements” to boost representation in the intelligence and officer corps, positions which have “uncontrolled access to secret assets”. Find out more 👇 https://lnkd.in/eHEhqV9N

Nice article… there’s neat and helpful intellectual connections between what Trevor DiMarco writes and things we’ve seen in: - SN/CNO QoS Memo (https://lnkd.in/eti6Yggi) - The success of CAPT Chris “Chowdah” Hill on IKE’s deployment, and - COE 2.0 (https://lnkd.in/eTRHYQiq) - CNO’s NAVPLAN (https://lnkd.in/eEZwx7EZ) Investing in people to achieve the mission… helping them to do the best, most meaningful work of their lives alongside people they trust and respect.

Thanks to Admiral Mietus for hilighting this excellent article and it’s connection to today. A critical lesson about change in the second sentence here: “Zumwalt famously used Z-Grams to affirm the right of sailors to grow beards, and he eased restrictions on motorcycles, working uniforms, and civilian clothes. He refused to restrict all sailors in response to the imprudence of a few, arguing that pedantic regulations had “done almost as much to cause dissatisfaction among our personnel as have extended family separation and low pay scales.” The Navy also worked to ease family separation by adjusting training schedules and encouraging sailors to use their leave.” Other “F-Gram” opportunities for today: 1. Add RESPECT as a Core Value 2. Bring back beards 3. Rename CVN 74 for a War Hero BZ!

I will continue to point out this missed opportunity from TF1N. If I had 5 minutes with CNO, I would make this argument: Adding “Respect” as a fourth Core Value would add a new layer that extends beyond the individual: that of community, connection and teamwork. In addition, it would have three immediate impacts: 1. It would send a signal to our Junior sailors and Marines that “we hear you” - in fact, the continued failure to address the issue at all almost three years after the TF1N report sends the opposite signal. 2. It would be accompanied by an explanation of why this addition is necessary now, using facts and data, and serve to enable leadership conversations about why junior personnel do not feel that they are respected, and how to change that. 3. It would be a key step in changing the Navy-Marine Corps culture into one where respect for the value of the team is on the same level as that of the individual, a key tenet of COE 2.0. But the data speaks volumes, and the message is clear: action is required to affect culture change. The article uses data to make a #GRGB case for this change.

An internal Royal Navy investigation has uncovered widespread misogyny, bullying, and other unacceptable behaviors targeting women in the Submarine Service. The findings have shocked the military community, shedding light on the persistent toxic culture despite modernization efforts. Senior officials have vowed to take immediate action, promising reforms to foster a safer and more inclusive environment for all personnel. The investigation highlights the ongoing challenges faced by women in male-dominated military sectors. #MilitaryLeadership #WorkplaceCulture #GenderEquality #InclusionAndDiversity #MilitaryReforms #Leadership #WorkplaceHarassment #dailydawns

I can not see how, in any way, that relaxing security vetting for recruits into the UK military's officer corps from overseas can possibly be a sensible option to enhance recruitment or for the future of the military. Security clearance is one of the fundamental elements of military recruitment, and with the direction that global relations are heading and with increased military engagement on the horizon, this seems to be a ridiculously political stance that will lead to the further undoing of our military. I am all for diversity and inclusion as long as people are effectively and appropriately vetted to the highest standards at all levels and that the right people are recruited. Tick box exercises might work for some professions, the military is not one of them.