{"id":31806,"date":"2018-01-09T14:52:10","date_gmt":"2018-01-09T14:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/01\/09\/opinion-dont-ignore-bad-policy-and-the-indolent-chiefs-mess\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:41:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:41:50","slug":"opinion-dont-ignore-bad-policy-and-the-indolent-chiefs-mess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/01\/09\/opinion-dont-ignore-bad-policy-and-the-indolent-chiefs-mess\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Don&#8217;t ignore bad policy and the &#8216;indolent chiefs mess&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This past summer, two Navy destroyers collided with merchant ships, resulting in the deaths of 17 sailors, over $600 million in damages and an even greater strain on a forward-deployed fleet already stretched too thin. The collisions, which took place during routine operations, were \u201cpreventable\u201d and caused by \u201cpoor leadership,\u201d according to Navy officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two independent reviews of the collisions made a variety of recommendations to stem systemic shortcomings plaguing the service. However, the reviews didn\u2019t address the two most significant factors negatively affecting mission readiness today: A widening dichotomy between policymakers and those who execute policy, and the souring relationship between junior enlisted sailors and an increasingly indolent chiefs mess.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/breaking-news\/2017\/11\/01\/navy-crews-at-fault-in-fatal-collisions-investigations-find\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"186\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fitzgerald-8.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Navy crews at fault in fatal collisions, investigations find<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Two accidents that claimed the lives of 17 sailors resulted from complete breakdowns in standard Navy procedures and poor decision making by officers and sailors on the bridge of the two warships.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every day, a sailor\u2019s most basic itinerary involves executing tasks that are, directly or indirectly, dictated by policy. These policies are instituded by civilian officials or high-ranking Navy personnel who haven\u2019t performed the specific task at hand in a long time, if at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This too often leads to well-intentioned but counterproductive policies. Worse, the process to amend broken policies is vague or mired in bureaucratic red tape. The inability to expeditiously identify and correct bad policy is inconsistent with a \u201clearning culture,\u201d something big Navy claims to espouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fix is simple: Implement routine face-to-face meetings with the \u201cdoers\u201d and \u201cmakers\u201d of policy. The face-to-face aspect is key to eliminate the \u201ctelephone effect\u201d that occurs when messages are pushed through a lengthy chain of command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most alarming, however, is the culture set for junior sailors by the chiefs mess. Many chiefs today promote a culture of \u201clooking good\u201d rather than \u201cbeing good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chiefs reward junior sailors who don\u2019t question the status quo \u2014 those who just \u201cshut up and color\u201d \u2014 with favorable evaluations and command advocacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a Navy stretched thin \u2014 doing more with less and on little sleep \u2014 it is apparent that the level of knowledge for an increasing number of chief petty officers of the rating they oversee has atrophied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This begs the question: How can a supervisor effectively oversee a division of sailors if they don\u2019t fully understand what they\u2019re tasking their sailors with?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today\u2019s chiefs mess is not postured to lead a Navy dedicated to high-velocity learning, as the chief of naval operations desires. By marginalizing sailors who question the status quo and promoting a listless mindset of forced obedience, today\u2019s chiefs are undermining the Navy\u2019s ability to improve in an era of austerity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To fix this cultural malaise, the Navy must tie the feedback from junior sailors of their leadership into leadership\u2019s evaluations. The concept of 360-degree evaluations is not new, but naysayers claim that junior sailors aren\u2019t mature enough or don\u2019t possess the big picture knowledge to give credible feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This attitude dangerously underestimates the competency and power of sailors comprising the Navy\u2019s junior enlisted ranks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is folly to assume that the Navy can rectify the glaring issues that have contributed to recent accidents without incorporating the feedback of their junior sailors, as high-velocity learning demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Junior sailors work hard. They should dare to expect more from their leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>ET2 Fisher is a sailor stationed in Misawa, Japan.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The reviews didn\u2019t address the two most significant factors negatively affecting mission readiness today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":14438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,26,14,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[8202],"class_list":["post-31806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-opinion","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"7SBQRH6MHBFYTPAI7MZIHX7G4I","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/01\/09\/opinion-dont-ignore-bad-policy-and-the-indolent-chiefs-mess\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Opinion: Don&#039;t ignore bad policy and the &#039;indolent chiefs mess&#039; - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The reviews didn\u2019t address the two most significant factors negatively affecting mission readiness today.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opinion: Don&#039;t ignore bad policy and the &#039;indolent chiefs mess&#039;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The reviews didn\u2019t address the two most significant factors negatively affecting mission readiness today.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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