Are You Freaking Kidding Me?
Are you freaking kidding me????
As reported by USNI News, the Navy is going to conduct an in-depth review of the Ford because of all the problems it’s encountered (1). The review is being triggered by a memo request from Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s chief buyer, to SecNav Ray Mabus.
“The review – outlined in the memo to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus from Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall – calls for the Office of the Secretary of Defense to take a closer look at key subsystems of the carrier that Kendall said could hamper the “schedule and performance” of Ford … “
This makes, what, about 900 reviews the Navy has conducted in the last year to investigate badly flawed programs. If they truly need all these reviews then they have no idea what they're doing. What has been the result of all these reviews? In almost every case, no matter how flawed the subject, the recommendation and result is to stay the course. What’s the point of reviews that don’t change anything?
Don’t we have an Admiral in charge of carriers? Yes, we do! Program Executive Officer (PEO) Aircraft Carriers for the Navy is RAdm. Thomas Moore. He’s the guy with complete responsibility and authority for seeing to it that the Ford is progressing smoothly. If things have gotten so bad that the Pentagon’s chief buyer has to mandate a review, shouldn’t we start by firing the PEO? Where’s the accountability. What’s that phrase? “Not on my watch.” Well, this has happened on his watch and he needs to be held accountable.
“What we have to determine now is whether it is best to ‘stay the course’ or adjust our plans, particularly for future ships of the class,” Kendall wrote, “The first step in that process has to be a completely objective and technically deep review of the current situation.”
The first step has to be a completely objective and technically deep review of the current situation??! Are you freaking kidding me? Shouldn’t a completely objective and technically deep review of the current situation be performed every day, if not every hour, in PEO’s office? If we don’t have a completely objective and technically deep review of the current situation sitting on PEO’s desk, right this moment, and updated every hour, then PEO needs to be fired.
“The memo identified five areas the 60-day review will cover: propulsion and electrical system components, Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), Advanced Arresting Gear, Dual Band Radar and Advanced Weapon Elevators.”
Are you freaking kidding me??! We need 60 days to figure out what’s going on? I’ll repeat, if PEO Moore hasn’t got an up-to-the-minute completely objective and technically deep review of the current situation sitting on his desk then he needs to be fired. We don’t need 60 days – 60 minutes should suffice and should be about 59 minutes more than we need. If we truly need 60 days, those 60 days should be dedicated to a Court Martial of PEO for dereliction of duty.
“With the benefit of hindsight, it was clearly premature to include so many unproven technologies in the Gerald R, Ford.”
Are you freaking kidding me??! Benefit of hindsight??! Every blogger and commenter with a double digit IQ, and most of the ones with a single digit IQ, knew and stated that trying to incorporate so many non-existent technologies into a production ship would cause problems. Aside from the incredibly obvious common sense that would preclude such a course of action, the history of the LCS and the F-35 should have made it clear that concurrency and the incorporation of non-existent technology is idiotic and leads inexorably to cost overruns and schedule delays.
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| RAdm. Moore - PEO Carriers - Fire Him! |
Don’t try to ease the blame by claiming the problems only became visible with the benefit of hindsight. Anyone and almost everyone saw this train wreck coming many years ago. Only the idiots running the Navy failed to see it. The rest of us saw this with absolute certainty and said so long ago.
So, what does the Navy think about the state of the Ford?
“Those new technologies, “compounded the inherent challenges of a first in class design,” Navy spokeswoman Capt. Thurraya Kent said in a Tuesday statement to USNI News. “Consequently, a comprehensive test program, the most integrated and complex shipbuilding test program to date, was developed to address the integration of these technologies. This test program has proven to be highly effective at resolving many first-of-class ship issues through the testing of developmental systems onboard CVN-78 and proving the performance of these systems.””
The Navy is quite pleased, it appears. The test program has proven to be “highly effective” at resolving issues, the Navy claims – so effective that the ship is only billions of dollars over cost and looking to be around two years overdue for commissioning. Even better, the Navy has hinted that many of the new technologies will be non-functional when the ship is commissioned. Isn’t a commissioned ship supposed to be ready to fight?
This is the Navy’s idea of “highly effective”? This is the Navy’s idea of how to run an acquisition program? This is the Navy’s idea of sound project management? This is the Navy’s idea of cost control?
Are you freaking kidding me?
The Navy is in absolute denial. People at the top need to be fired for this.
The Detroit Lions, long time joke of the National Football League for their perennial losing ways, once had a coach named Darryl Rogers in the mid-1980's. After a few dismal losing seasons, he was frustrated, depressed, and wanted out. He disgustedly remarked to a reporter, "What does a coach have to do around here to get fired?"
What does an Admiral in the Navy have to do to get fired?
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(1)USNI News website, “Pentagon Conducting New Review of Gerald R. Ford Carrier Program”, Sam LaGrone, 30-Aug-2016 ,
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