Here is a title that isn't shocking to anyone on the front porch;

U.S. Navy Officials Suppressed Bad LCS-1 Test Results

Mike Faybey's article at AviationLeak is worth a full read, so is POGO's say about it.

 

Nothing really shocking in some respects, especially the testing information - but what is more interesting is what this tells us about the culture.

 

There are two things that I think are the most important in the article. They are things that perhaps the general public does not fully get a grasp of, and sadly those inside the lifelines know so well that they are an accepted part of the atmosphere.

 

First, like we discussed with Chris Cavas on Midrats last Sunday - we hurt our credibility on The Hill a lot last decade that we are only now starting to get back - and this does not help at all.

“I am disturbed by the Navy’s selective disclosure about what is going on in this program,†U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said after Aviation Week shared text of the emails with her staff. “If these had been good results, they would’ve hurried to the Hill to ring out the good news. Congress has the responsibility and obligation to be as knowledgeable as possible about the ships we purchase for our military forces. Most importantly, we must know whether these multibillion dollar programs will meet the operational needs and safety requirements for our troops.â€

...

“These emails seem to indicate test results were manipulated to hide the true level of risk in the LCS program,†she says. “This raises disturbing questions about the integrity of the information Congress received, and whether we are being given the information we need to be good custodians of taxpayer dollars. Congress must stop relying upon the Navy and Navsea to reassure us that these problems are being adequately addressed and should instead get an independent assessment of this program and its management.â€

 

Others have questioned the timing of the Navy proposal. “Did the timing of the Navy’s proposal provide Congress with enough time to adequately assess the relative merits of the downselect strategy and the dual-award strategy?†the Congressional Research Service (CRS) asks.

Second, we continue to suffer not only the cancer of happy-talk, but the ongoing suppression of anything that is not the best case scenario; anything that does not sound the most positive note. As a result, we no longer act like we are a customer of the military-industrial complex, but part of it - their apologists.

U.S. Navy emails and other documents suggest that officials muzzled bad test results for the first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) variant, the USS Freedom, at a crucial time in the program’s development, when the service was considering which seaframe to pick for the $30 billion-plus fleet.

 

Top program officers for the ship and at Naval Sea Systems Command (Navsea) told subordinates to avoid certain language in the test-result reports because of concerns over the downselect decision, the documents show. One naval officer said in an email he would delete the offensive wording of the report.

...

Cmdr. James Garner, the Freedom’s commanding officer, told Cmdr. Matt Weber, the ship’s executive officer: “Good brief. Thanks for putting this together. I had a healthy conversation with Dan Brintzinghoffer today and he asked that we not use terms directional instability or the like in any briefings or discussions. The bottom line is concern with respect to the down select, but the definition of the term is also in question. I removed that in the brief but kept the bullets that discuss what we observed.â€

...

In late 2010, when the service was pushing for the dual-block buy, one Navsea official noted in an email that a tight leash was being kept on the trial test results from the fall, saying, “The bottom line is that they didn’t like what the results said.†In other emails, Navy officials said they were told not to brief the test results, including one warning that Navy officials were apparently concerned about possible shipbuilder lawsuits.

 

Aviation Week sources familiar with Navy shipboard operations say it is not uncommon for service officers to tailor reports to make ships and shipboard programs appear in the best possible light.

There is an understanding that officers up and down the ranks do not want bad reports, which could put a stain on their own careers.

But what is uncommon, those sources say, is such a frank and harsh report as this one on the LCS-1. Censored reports are also uncommon, they say, but this is only because such negative reports are rare in the first place.

What have these habits brought us in the last 10-years or so?

 

Ponder that.

 

View the full article

Its like the old fairy tale about the Emperor with no clthes - no one is willing to tell the boss he's in his birthday suit, for fear of rocking the boat. That's what worries me about my Navy - we have a large crop of officers who have spines with all the consistency of jello! Where have all the Halseys gone? Sadly, I think the virus called 'the beltway mentality,' whose main symptom is CYA has gone airborne and has infected the fleet.

We don't want to hurt anyone's feelings anymore, we want to think happy thoughts and we want to make each visit by the CNO and MCPON to each and every command, like its the arrival of a visiting head of state.

Inspired by Martin Sheen from Apocalypse Now - The ChiComs don't get much R & R. Like the VC, the ChiComs are preparing to string some pearls across the western half of the largest ocean on the face of the planet. Are we preparing the meet them - some may think so, but I beg to differ. Our sailors are tired from the optempo that been imposed upon them, our ships are tired and the maintenance budget bucket is running on empty. Finally we are building crappy ships (LCS), thinking they are the best thing since sliced bread.

As long as we concentrate more on feelings and insuring posteriors are covered instead of building ships that can actually survive a meeting engagement with the ChiComs (or another adversary) and operating in the littorals - I will continue to worry about my navy. We need some more people saying, 'Hey boss, put on some clothes!'

Inspired by Martin Sheen from Apocalypse Now - The ChiComs don't get much R & R. Like the VC, the ChiComs are preparing to string some pearls across the western half of the largest ocean on the face of the planet.

 

The NLF (to use their proper name) didn't cause the fall of South Vietnam to communism. Most of that was due to the North Vietnamese army. Also, there was no domino effect.

 

What the PRC may or may not be doing with their military is a matter of debate, but your comparison with the NLF isn't the best one.

SH-UK,

The comparison was to make the following point - the ChiComs ain't interest in falsely pumping-up their troops with glad-handing tours by their equivalent of the CNO. They are singlemindedly busy with one purpose - defeating the US Navy. We (meaning the US Navy) need to get serious about this. That's what I was trying to say in my comparison to Apocalypse Now.

Here's an analogy I like: An American worker will work harder if he can get a better bass boat. A Chinese worker will work harder if he can live under a tarp that does not leak. Who will work harder?

Rainman, I like your analogy! Many people in this country work to get more stuff, while your Chinese worker works just to live. Excellent point.