If you’ve been following the recent news in Yokosuka, you may have heard of the Combined Anti-Violence Reflection Education, or “CARE” campaign. The program, which incorporates current anti-violence education, will have a stronger focus on “recognizing and preventing” violence amongst Sailors stationed in Japan. This is an obvious attempt of the US Navy to show the Japanese government that we’re taking every opportunity we can to prevent future incidents. One thing this immediately reminds me of is the day after we were told of the “period of reflection.” We were standing at quarters when our Chief read a list of “indicators” of violent behavior. At the time it didn’t make any sense why they were being read to us, but now I realize they will be some of the factors used to identify Sailors with the potential for violence. While I appreciate the honest effort, I wonder what kind of affect it will actually have. I say this because as we heard all the warning signs of violent behavior, me and the folks I work with joked about how two thirds of the indicators applied to each of us in different ways. We were joking, but it was true.
Rear Admiral Kelly answered some questions in a Stars and Stripes article regarding the CARE campaign, and I’m not sure how this is anything more than a combination of the tools we already have to identify problems with a catchy new name. When asked how exactly the CARE program would be used to review Sailors, Mr. Kelly answered:
We are giving leadership at all levels tools to put in their baskets. It’s not a checklist; it’s more of a mind-set. We’re not asking leaders to pull their sailors aside for mental health checks. We’re helping leaders identify patterns or indicators from a behavioral, emotional, physical and mental point-of-view that indicates propensity for violence.
It could be substance abuse issues, or a history of violence. It might be change in daily routine, or someone becoming more vocal in communicating threats. It could be a decrease in job performances or an obsession with material that is violent in nature.
Maybe there’s an emotional piece … is the sailor having mood swings? Family problems? Relationship issues? Financial trouble? All of these are leadership indicators to help identify a person at risk.
See, we already have programs like these. We have DAPA programs to help Sailors with alcohol problems. We have the Fleet Family Support Center (FFSC) that has programs designed to help Sailors manage their money, learn anger management, etc. We have Chaplains that can help with emotional problems and family or relationship issues. How do we handle a noticed decrease in job performance? We call the Sailor a shitbag and start taking away their liberty or other privileges. How do we handle someone who has an obsession with violent material? Everyone calls them a psycho or weird and then ignores them.
The last two examples are true situations, and I included them to get to my point. We have these programs, but no one uses them for help or to help. Why? Because they’re not designed to truly help Sailors. The FFSC, like I mentioned in a previous post, doesn’t have classes scheduled when Sailors will most likely be able to take them. When they do, the people running them are just volunteers who give the same information you can find online. Mental health issues can be addressed at the FFSC also, but only a limited number of sessions, no medication can be prescribed, and what you say isn’t confidential. This results in no one using them. Sure, there’s the mental health department at the hospital, but if you have a clearance and go there, expect your life to get a whole lot worse. DAPA is just another way of labeling someone a drunk and then putting them in a situation where if they make mistakes, they’re out of the Navy. I’m not sure why it’s called the Drug and Alcohol Program, because if you have an issue with drugs, expect to be out of the Navy tomorrow. When it comes to other things like mood swings or violent obsessions, no on really cares. We have our own problems to deal with, and the last thing anyone wants is to be liberty buddies with the dude always talking about dead shit. That might be a bad way to look at it, but I’m pretty sure some people would agree.
If the indicators used in this program are the ones we were read during our period of reflection, then without a doubt, many Sailors out here are going to have some of them. If this program does anything, I hope it finds the root of the various feelings or indicators leaders will realize their people have. I’m not kidding when I say that being in the FDNF is by far the most miserable I’ve ever been. From the e-mails and comments I’ve received, I know I’m not the only one who feels miserable out here. It hasn’t affected my job performance as I’m always doing what I have to do for the ship, and I’m even getting recognition from my leaders, but I still feel like complete crap. One of the few senior leaders I actually look up to once talked to me about morale. He said everyone in the Seventh Fleet is always talking about low morale. He then asked “what is morale?” He said most people would say it’s happiness. He said he has a wife and kids, and on any given day, one of them will be unhappy. So if you take that on a larger scale of all the fleet Sailors out here, how can one reasonably be expected to make everyone happy? They can’t. Instead he defined morale, and I’m loosely translating here, as having a sense of purpose in that what people are doing actually means something. I can’t talk for everyone, but I think that may be part of it.
See, to me being in the Seventh Fleet is constantly drilling for LTTs, ULTRA’s, and dozens of other qualifications or certifications. It’s getting underway every two weeks and either going nowhere, or pulling into some shitty Japanese port, or an equivalent, like “Korea.” It’s never go on humanitarian missions, it’s never actually helping anybody. We just kind of keep the machine running, but for no real reason. Sure there’s the impending war with Red China, but while the diplomacy and saber rattling is ongoing, let us go do something to make us feel like we’re actually part of something. I have a brother on the Tarawa, and I envy that little bastard every time he tells me he’s in some country I’ve never heard of, or telling me they just delivered relief to Tsunami victims. What the hell have we done for three years? Nothing. Now I may be wrong, but if I am…please let me know.
If CARE is going to work, it has to be more than just the typical ass-kissing talk we’re known for over here. Whether it’s just a bunch of the same old programs or not, it needs to have some muscle or some teeth to actually change things. Remember “Mission First, Sailors Always!?” That means don’t just look for a way to get rid of the undesirable Sailors, help them. Make them into better Sailors who are happy to be serving out here and are happy to be part of today’s Navy. I hope it works.
PS: Kudos to one my great readers who sent me an e-mail months ago talking about a CTF-70 or CNFJ proposal on banning “gerbers” and utility knives. Original post can be read here. It turns out they will be scrutinizing who has these “weapons.” Read Admiral Kelly’s response to the Stripes about it:
Q: One of the CARE’s tenets is to improve control/screening of potential weapons. What does this mean for sailors?
A: We’re reviewing the rules and regulations on the current policy allowing carrying a small knife blade. We’re asking, “Why is that?” If the Boy Scouts need it for camping then sure, they can use them at Ikego. We’re also doing more random metal detectors and “wanding” at all of our bases.
Take the “weapons” away and surely they’ll stop murdering people! Genius!
Comments 4
Jim
Posted 05 May 2008 at 8:53 pm ¶I hear ya on all points. I remember getting to Japan in 92 and I loved it back then.
Would you believe there was actually a line of JN girls wanting to go to the A club back then? Hell, the base was really fun back then.
I honestly believe Japan is good for 2 main things after work, eating and boozing.
Chasing skirts ended after I got married and before then it was a crap shoot if the girl could even understand hello.
I agree with the whole DAPA thing you said, I wouldn’t dare make it public I have a drinking problem, my life would be O-V-E-R. I have to seek AA all the way in Tokyo just to really stay anonymous. Plus , it seems to me most of the so called proffesionals they hire over there (FFSC,DAPA,FAP) are people who would never get hired stateside.
Lastly, if we had something to look forward to, like some different port visits, other than the Singapore,Hong Kong, Gulf ports maybe it would be somewhat of an adventure again. Along with the sense of pride of actually doing a humanitarian mission and feeling like something got accomplished other than beating a record some officer can put as a bullet on his FITREP.
Ok, hopefully I didn’t offend anyone. Thanks for the great blog.
I truly look forward to your new posts and check regularly.
Proceedings Magazine
Issue: May 2008 Vol. 134/5/1,263
‘Worse Than a Crime - A Mistake’
By Captain J. M. van Tol, U.S. Navy (Retired)
If you treat your Sailors like adults and professionals, they will perform that way.
A recent Navy Times story, “Kitty Hawk sailors chafe under liberty rules,” reported on draconian liberty policies instituted in ships assigned to Forward Deployed Naval Forces (FDNF) Japan.1 Some FDNF commands apparently require “departmental chiefs or officers to reach by phone or physically see each of their Sailors (E-6 and below) every evening?even on weekends and regardless of marital status?to make sure they were following approved liberty plans.” A multi-part liberty plan form requires Sailors to describe in detail what they intend to do while on liberty; an “alcohol awareness/use” section with multiple Miranda-style questions requires them to affirm that they understand the rules and consequences if they intend to drink alcohol. These legalistic forms must be filled out daily, and commands are expected to spot-check compliance. The cumulative “time tax” of doing so may be imagined.
The story accords fully with what I experienced twice as a ship CO in Japan. Whenever there was a liberty incident, one could hear the knees jerking from Sasebo to Misawa (and sometimes on to San Diego). The highly dysfunctional, counterproductive FDNF Japan liberty policies described in the story, whether imposed by individual ship COs, base commanders, or various layers of staff, reflect an unimaginative, fearful senior leadership mentality dripping with short-sightedness and risk aversion. These policies are a disgrace. To paraphrase French diplomat Talleyrand, “they’re worse than a crime; they’re a mistake.”
Discipline is Key
I commanded a Yokosuka-based destroyer in the late 1990s and a Sasebo-based amphibious assault ship (LHD) from mid-2003 to early 2005. Thus I am fully cognizant of the importance of correct behavior by FDNF Sailors and the deleterious impact of misconduct on U.S.-Japanese relations.2 But I totally disagree with those who impose the self-defeating kinds of restrictive, demeaning liberty policies described in the Navy Times story. FDNF leaders then, and apparently now, do not seem to have a clue about effective methods to achieve the high levels of discipline, exemplary conduct and?completely related?high morale among FDNF (as well as CONUS-based) Sailors that the entire chain of command wants and expects.
I inherited a severe disciplinary problem in my LHD command. The primary reasons for it were failures to use the Chiefs’ Mess properly to run (and discipline) the ship, employ a consistent “swift punishment, swift reward” philosophy, and use Captain’s Mast as a disciplinary rather than a counseling tool.3 Reversing those failures led to rapid restoration of command discipline; there were zero liberty incidents attracting foreign attention among that large crew for my entire last year on board, which included two months at home in a semi-tropical summertime Sasebo that offers regrettably few distractions for young Sailors. The apparent paradox-but not paradoxical at all?was that this was accompanied by an exceptionally low Mast rate and high crew morale.
There is nothing particularly difficult about establishing proper discipline, the kind that is self-sustaining and self-reinforcing. Indeed, it is nothing more than “Naval Leadership 101,” which relies fundamentally on treating one’s subordinates in practice-not merely in pretty rhetoric-as adults and fellow professionals. If you treat people like adults and professionals, they will behave that way. It also entails treating people as individuals, not imposing constraints on entire groups (e.g., all E-3 and below) or even whole crews, in the false hope of deterring the odd bad apple.
How Not to Lead
What will not create the self-reinforcing “virtuous circle” that results in sustained well-disciplined, professional behavior are things like these:
· In loco parentis mentality. Too many commanding officers and seniors treat Sailors as if they were children to be protected from themselves, and then are surprised at the subsequent infantilization of some of them. Former CNO Admiral Vern Clark, during his confirmation testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, was asked by Senator John Warner (R-VA) how he would “take care of his Sailors.” Clark answered to the effect of, “Senator, that’s not my job. My job is to treat them as professionals and provide them the resources they need to succeed.” Exactly!
· Intrusive leadership. In my nearly 29 years of service, I did not encounter a more sinister, nay, Stalinist slogan or policy. For a variety of reasons, worthy and unworthy, three-star leadership has tasked unit leaders at various levels to become familiar (in great detail) with what was going on in the lives of their subordinates, supposedly to deal preemptively with personal problems that could lead to suicide, risk-taking, unsafe practices, and disciplinary problems. While that sounds laudable and compassionate in theory, it comes at the cost of incredible intrusions into peoples’ private lives. More subtly and insidiously, it undercuts personal responsibility, dignity, and confidence in one’s judgment and abilities. It is one of the most pernicious policies ever foisted on the Fleet.
· Re-education camp mentality. Every liberty incident now requires a report up the chain of command, explaining in detail whether and how the command might have been delinquent in not foreseeing the offense. Units waste countless hours in getting the reports right lest some “blast” come back from on high for errors of omission or commission. Comparison with the old communist re-education camps in which offenders were required to engage in ritualistic self-criticism is irresistible.
· Collective punishment and universal regulation. Few things bother hard-working, well-behaved Sailors as much as the perception of being punished for the sins of a tiny percentage of miscreants. Restrictive unit policies, especially those imposed from outside the lifelines, which put unfair burdens on the vast majority of Sailors who perform and behave well, are exceptionally counter-productive and costly in the currency of morale. Mindlessly adding layer after layer of “one size fits all” regulations and detailed policies in an absurd attempt to “prevent that kind of event from ever happening again” is profoundly ineffective, and only adds to the problem by creating large numbers of justifiably resentful Sailors. Having pro forma standdowns to do collective penance (and to answer the “do something!” imperative) is worse than useless since it invariably heightens the cynicism of the not-guilty and does nothing to deter the others.
· Guilty before being proven innocent. The so-called “Exceptional Sailor” program mandates that junior Sailors reporting to an FDNF unit wait six months before they can be declared “exceptional” and be subject to a somewhat less onerous set of liberty restrictions. Apart from the Orwellian language (are “exceptional” Sailors really that unusual?), the implicit assumption is that newly arriving Sailors are suspect until they prove that they’re not screw-ups. Is that really how a first-rate organization greets new people?
· The “good and faithful servant” mentality. Many commanders dutifully (and properly) impose whatever restrictions they are ordered to impose by higher authority, but then often add their own additional restrictions to demonstrate the ostensible seriousness with which they are taking the guidance from higher up.
These are some of the things that dismay and demoralize the typical good Sailor based in Japan (and no doubt elsewhere). But wait, there’s more!
These policies not only infantilize Sailors, but when inflicted from outside the lifelines, they undercut the authority and discretion (and ultimately self-confidence) of commanding officers as well. Imposing universal rules from on high devalues the judgment traditionally expected from those in whom the Navy supposedly “reposes special trust and confidence.” Senior leadership merely reinforces a risk-averse, “Mother, may I?” mentality in which many COs are more concerned with avoiding error than accomplishing positive things. Do we really want cowering COs? Is this what COs are supposed to be? If the Navy is selecting officers for command who cannot maintain discipline, then there is something very wrong with the selection system?or it is selecting officers based on the wrong metrics. But de facto taking the primary responsibility for crew discipline out of COs’ hands is deeply perverse and antithetical to every principle of good naval leadership.
Trust Your People
The real underpinning to good order and discipline is trust in your Sailors (and prompt condign punishment of the occasional guilty one), not the constant mistrust of our people exemplified by the restrictive policies prevalent in the FDNF. But it must be genuine trust. COs and higher authority must walk the walk if they talk the talk of trust. This really amounts to no more than the traditional maxim of giving people responsibility and holding them accountable, and it works.4
Tellingly, no one at COMSEVENTHFLT or COMNAVFORJAPAN was ever interested in understanding why the conduct of my LHD crew completely turned around, and how similar policies might have helped reduce liberty incidents elsewhere. Perhaps it sounds cynical, but too many leaders seem to find it easier simply to issue more rules and regulations?just because they can.
But there is a real cost to ignoring basic naval leadership principles. Sailors are smart, smell hypocrisy instantly, and will walk if the conditions of employment and daily life are onerous enough. If the CNO really wants to make the Navy competitive in the “war for talent” and make it “a top 50 company to work for,” he and senior Navy leadership won’t get there by tolerating policies and mentalities that make a 30-year-old married E-6 file a detailed liberty plan requiring approval from a superior and check-up phone calls to ensure it’s being followed to the letter.
Ultimately, the FDNF liberty policy issue is a small reflection of a much more serious problem of pervasive risk aversion at all levels within a Navy that today still remains largely a peacetime organization. But that is a more complex subject for another day.
——————————————————————————–
1. Gidget Fuentes, “Kitty Hawk sailors chafe under liberty rules,” Navy Times website, posted 23 December 2007 9:49:18 EST, http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/12/navy_liberty_071217w/.
2. Indeed, proper behavior and discipline will become more important than ever in light of recent serious incidents, including the April arrest of a U.S. Sailor for killing a Japanese taxi driver.
3. Mast was held within 72 hours of an offense if the CPO Disciplinary Review Board determined that the matter could not be resolved by the Chiefs’ Mess. Recognition of fine performance was just as quick.
4. As a case in point, my liberty drinking policy was that the local liberty port drinking age was the drinking age for my crew, whether that was 18 or 21. I never had a moment’s worry or regret over that policy, since I knew the crew had every interest in keeping a good thing going, thus were highly motivated to police one another.
Captain van Tol commanded three warships while on active duty, most recently the USS Essex (LHD-2). He retired in 2007 and now works as a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) in Washington, DC
Posted 09 May 2008 at 4:56 pm ¶All those comments about Fleet and Family Support Center are all so true. A lot of people don’t realize it, but the Navy privatized the Fleet and Family Support Center years ago in the name of saving money. The contract comes up for bid, private companies submit formal bids as part of the selection process, and the lowest bidder almost always wins. So when you are talking to someone at the Fleet and Family Support Center, one reason that person was even hired for the job was because the company running FFSC could hire that person at a much lower salary compared to the cost of employing government workers. The result is very high attrition rates in places like Norfolk and San Diego because people leave that employment as soon as better jobs are available. The ones who don’t leave - well, let’s just say sometimes they just aren’t as competitive in the market place. Yokosuka is a bit different in that the American employment market is both captive and limited. The contracting companies typically hire spouses at rather low salaries because they can’t just go off base and work. Also there is a high attrition rate because eventually the military sponsor is transferred. Also to further save money, the Fleet and Family Support Center relies on the volunteers that are mentioned in your post. That’s the situation with the people working at Fleet and Family Support Centers. CONUS the company holding the contract is an outfit called Zeiders Enterprises. I am not so sure about here in Yokosuka.
Posted 10 May 2008 at 10:50 am ¶Hot damn! That article posted by Zim should be required reading for all leadership in Japan. That retired Captain has got it going on. Someone needs to fax this thing over to C7F, CNFJ, CTF-70, and get it translated into Japanese.
Posted 12 May 2008 at 1:42 pm ¶Post a Comment
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