Please stay….a little bit longer

My first thought: where are the Admirals? In the back or in a side room? None in the photo!

I can’t do a Frankie Valli falsetto but if I could, this would be my message to the 800 Flag Officers in the room on Tuesday at the SECDEF/WAR meeting. It’s actually the same message for anyone on Active Duty in a leadership position who watches the video of the speech. There are a lot of folks analyzing the content, so I will spare you my opinion (for now!).

This post centers on this quote:

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Yes, he did say that. I realize this article is a bit of “do as I say, not as I do” because I “did” exactly that (retired) earlier this year. But as a 30-year veteran and after 15 years of follow-on service, I had other options. I decided that I could not continue to work for the current leadership as a civilian. My rationale is presented here. As an active duty officer, having worked through at least six different administrations, I think my response would have been different.

While in uniform, you take an oath to the constitution and you work for the Commander-in-Chief and the Secretary of Defense. Only one of those will remain unchanged throughout your career. The leadership will come and go every four years - about 10% of a Flag Officer’s career - and if you adjusted your course each time it changed, you would never get anywhere. It does look like the Commander in Chief was able to read the room:

It doesn’t look like anyone acted on this. My wife says it’s a good thing I didn’t make Flag, because I would’ve.

So what to do if your heart sank yesterday?

If it didn’t?

The answer is the same:

1. It’s OK if your heart sank a little. It means you’re human.

2. Think about why you joined. It wasn’t a serve an individual. It was to serve your country.

3. Think about your family, service-related benefits, and financial situation. It’s a tough time to look for a new job.

4. Think about the folks who work for you. What can you continue to do for them in your current position? What can’t you do if you leave?

5. Have patience. DOD direction must be translated into department direction and policy. Only then must action be taken.

6. Apply logic. Even the DOD Grooming memo gives commanders latitude for things like retention of personnel with a PFB waiver. As a boss of mine once said “proceed to the limit of your authority; if necessary, exceed it until caught.”

7. Don’t speak ill of your (big) boss. I fell into this trap once in command when an E5 asked me “Captain, we hear you don’t like the Commodore.” Yikes! Everyone is hanging on to your every word, even if you think it’s in private.

8. Write down how you feel today. You might write a book or article one day and you’ll want to remember.

9. Vote.

I used to say that I can’t change the Navy, but I can influence how its policies affect those under my charge. Many of soldiers and sailors working for you might feel personally attacked by some of the verbiage used in the speech. They might feel that their contribution is minimized. You can change that with a word or a note of support - an acknowledgment that they matter.

I couldn’t resist one footnote: I was recently asked by a young enlisted Sailor (who happens to be a Black man with PFB and a beard - this is before SECDEF/WAR called him a “Beardo”). He asked “how do I continue to work for an organization that clearly doesn’t want me anymore?”. I gave him the above advice: Please stay. It’ll be OK. The people around you want you there - that’s all that matters.

One final thought (picture):

“Beardo” here. (Beards are still authorized for retired Naval personnel for certain occasions).