Navy HYT+….keeping mediocrity in 2023

Posted: December 31, 2022 by navygrade36bureaucrat in Uncategorized
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Part two of a post from a week ago:

Post 1: Navy’s Community Outreach

I want to start by saying I don’t understand why everything is “+” now. We have Disney+, ESPN+, Daily Wire+…seriously? Is there some marketing guy driving around in a beat-up car telling everyone “You got to add a plus-sign at the end of your logo and then, THEN you make the BIG MONEY!”

Well, whomever that guy is, he must have talked to the Navy, because they rolled out High Year Tenure PLUS! Now, you might wonder, what the heck is High Year Tenure? In the military, the service only lets you stay a certain number of years at a particular rank. For example, if you’re an E-5 in the Navy (a Second-Class Petty Officer), you can normally only stay in for 16 years. At 16 years, if you don’t promote to E-6, you have to leave the Navy because you’re over High Year Tenure. Some military members call this the “up or out” program, which is probably the best simple description.

HYT has been around forever, and it gets changed over time. For example, HYT for E-4s used to be 20 years, so years ago you could theoretically do the same job in the same rank for 20 years, retire as a fairly junior member and get a small retirement. But over time, HYT bumped up so that members had to be at least an E-6 to get a 20 year retirement, and on the officer side at least an O-4.

Part of the point of HYT was to bring in new talent. The military relies on bringing in lots of young, talented individuals at the low end and then grows them over years into more senior leaders. HYT helps ensure that you either promote or leave, thereby opening holes for others to advance into. But when you can’t recruit, kicked out a ton of people over the COVID vaccine, and can’t draft people (at least not yet), then you have to resort to something else, in this case, HYT+!

Right out of the block, we get a contradiction: the first paragraph says HYT+ “offers a new opportunity for talented and experienced Sailors to continue their Navy careers beyond the HYT limits listed in reference (a). This pilot also offers additional looks for advancement and more time to build retirement benefits, to include E5 retirement.” Yet two paragraphs down, it essentially makes it mandatory:

b.  In order to facilitate this pilot program, all AC and TAR enlisted HYT dates occurring between 1 March 2023 and 30 September 2024 are hereby suspended, with the exception of CMDCM, CMDCS and nuclear trained master chiefs.  HYT Plus eligible AC and TAR Sailors with a HYT date in that time frame will no longer be involuntarily separated or involuntarily transferred to the fleet reserve due to reaching HYT as prescribed in reference (a).  The decision to remain on active duty beyond the normal end of active obligated service (EAOS) is voluntary and will not require the submission of a HYT waiver request.  Sailors who otherwise would have reached HYT between 1 March 2023 and 30 September 2024, but opt to transfer to the fleet reserve, or separate at their EAOS will be deemed a voluntary separation.

So….you get opted in by default? We assume everyone in the military is “talented and experienced?” Uhm…I call hogwash on that. We have a lot mediocre people that can’t promote because they are mediocre. But hey, let’s keep them around for numbers right?

What if you’re slated to retire? No problem! “HYT Plus eligible Sailors who are approved for HYT-based separation or retirement on or before 28 February 2023 may opt into the HYT Plus pilot any time prior to their separation or retirement date.”

We’ve seen suspensions of HYT like this before. When COVID impacted recruit training in 2020, the Navy allowed people to stay an additional year, even if they had an approved retirement. This worked because many companies weren’t hiring, so Sailors looking at a crappy job market got another year of pay and a guaranteed salary for their family. But that’s gone now. Any Sailor with skills will get snapped up in this incredibly competitive job market. The Navy already struggles to retain expert cyber expertise, and is at the point of recruiting people in the lowest percentile scoring on the ASVAB, the mandatory (at least for now) entrance exam into the military. Because nothing says “recruit more cyber people” like bringing in people that can barely write their name on the entrance exam!

So is this going to work? Not as intended. As my logo above indicates, it will keep mediocre people in that would normally struggle to find civilian employment because they don’t have competitive skill sets. Since you don’t have to promote and stay competitive, you’ll have more people doing just enough to get by, get to 20 years for a retirement….oh wait, we got rid of that, so people will simply leave anyway, typically when they have the skills needed (paid by Uncle Sam) to find a better job. Worse still, when you fill up with mediocrity, it pushes out those that want challenging assignments or want to push the envelope. We’re going to have less Mavericks in the service, since they get frustrated with the system and leave for companies that place more value on that skillset.

In short, HYT+ is going to drive the military to mediocrity. Rather than actually assess why people aren’t joining and fixing those systemic issues, the military is using a full bag of internal tricks to try and stay out of hot water. But its not solving the problem. It’s the equivalent of stopping a brush fire while the forest burns in the background. You might get a small improvement in the short run, but the big systemic problem is going to crush you in 2023-2024, just like I predicted years ago.

So, good luck with HYT+! Maybe it’ll be better than Disney+ in the New Year!

This post represents the views of the author and not those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Navy, or any other government agency.

Pope Count is Back to one at a time Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI dies at 95 Five Quick Thoughts Update Make that Six

Posted: December 31, 2022 by datechguy in catholic, catholic devotions
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It occurs to me, now that we are back to one Pope that by become Pope Emeritus Benedict set a pretty good example. There is some advantage to having a Pope Emeritus who basically devotes the remainder of his life to prayer for the Church and the people. The willing surrender of power and authority is an act of humility and having a holy faithful man in constant prayer for the church certainly can’t hurt.

The reins of St. John Paul II & Benedict the XVI were, in my opinion a golden age in terms of solid theology and evangelization. Nothing has made this more clear than the pontificate of Francis You never know how good you have things till they’re gone.

One of the things that Benedict will likely not get credit for in the media was his strong action concerning various church scandals. The standards that were implemented during his pontificate to prevent a repeat of the horrible abuse scandals from the past were rather solid and have made a real difference in the church.

One secular note concerning his death, he was the last living head of state or former head of state have served in the Military during World War 2 having been drafted into and served in an anti-aircraft unit for Germany. He and Elizabeth II, who served in the British military during the war mark the end of an era.

Finally you have to go back to the 7th century and before to see as many consecutive Popes be canonized as you have in the last 60 years. Every pope since John XXIII has been elevated either to Sainthood or to the stage just before Sainthood (Pope John Paul I) (Pope Pius XII St. John XXIII’s predecessor remains at the “venerable” stage likely, in my opinion for political reasons ).

Will Benedict XVI be canonized. I don’t expect Francis to waive the standard five year waiting period for a cause to be opened and I suspect that when those five years are up neither Francis nor any like minded successor will be in any hurry to push forward a cause for sainthood for Benedict. However in the end it comes down to God and if he decides that Benedict should be publicly recognized as a canonized saint it will happen if not under this pope then under a successor in the future.

In the end it doesn’t matter, all who are in heaven are by definition saints and most are not canonized. Canonization only reveals to us what has already happened, it doesn’t rush or push a soul forward out of purgatory nor can it remove a soul from hell that has already been damned. No power on earth can make the judgement of God concerning Benedict XVI any different than it is.

It’s most likely I won’t find the answer during my lifetime so i’ll end up having to find out for myself the hard way. I hope and pray when that happens I’ll be in a state where I can take joy in confirming what I already suspect. Any and all prayers for my soul while I’m still alive to do something about it or when I’m gone will be gratefully accepted.

UPDATE: It hit me about an hour after I wrote this post that Pope Benedict XVI is going to make history in another way.

He will be the first Pope in history to have his funeral presided over by the Pope

6th Day of Christmas Dean Martin

Posted: December 30, 2022 by datechguy in Uncategorized
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On the 6th day of Christmas we bring you Dean Martin

Here Come Da Draft

Posted: December 30, 2022 by datechguy in Uncategorized

From the 17th to the early 19th century the British Navy routinely pressed men into service in the royal navy to fill up the crews that could not be managed by volunteers or those recruited at the courts who were given the choice of their prison sentence or service in the navy. This was considered a necessity particularly during wartime and England’s power and might were entirely dependent on their navy and their control of the seas.

There was a brief time during this period where Royal Navy pay was actually competitive enough to draw men but inflation combined with the harsh and cruel service made such temporary advantages disappear over time.

The urgency to fill these slots was critical both to the Captain and his junior officers. A Captain and his officers who could not crew his ship adequately might find themselves as inactive officers on half pay. So their very lively hoods depended on having adequate manpower on their ships.

And that brings us the US Army and Navy and their current situations.

You would think a tough economy might be fertile recruiting ground for the armed services these days.

You’d be wrong and it’s brought things to a rather desperate state

The Defense Department has for the first time allowed 700 recruits who had been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder to join the military without a waiver under revamped rules that could be a pathway for those who have confronted mental-health or other developmental conditions.

In June, the military, which has been facing major recruiting challenges, said that those who had suffered from 38 different medical conditions could serve as long as they hadn’t demonstrated symptoms nor required medication for treatment for three, five and seven years, depending on the condition.

Yup nothing says a strong military like recruiting people with mental illnesses. Just the type of folks you want arm and teach to kill.

But between the vaccine requirements and the new woke stuff the Military has become less and less attractive to those who would normally be most likely to join as Beege Wellborn notes a woke officer looking to please those above them can make things hell:

The primary difference being, as every veteran knows, that on a college campus or at a job, when you tell the hired DEI Nazi they are free to blow their suggestions how you should frame your language out a selected orifice, the absolute worst that happens is unemployment or disenrollment.

It’s very different in the military – they own you, once you freely raise that right hand. The same negative response to the new regime Biden and the wokester brass are cementing in place can be – literally – a life-destroying experience, especially if you have that craven, vindictive brand of SNCO or senior officer who loves his next rank and the desk he’s in right now more than anything else in the world. They will put your infidel butt out on the street in a flame of glory purely as a box ticky for their career.

But the real story here is this tidbit:

Listening to friends, other vets, and fellow Marines, that has to be happening more often than not. When I pose that question, “Would you tell a kid today to go in/enlist?” the first exclamation out of their mouths rhymes with “duck” and is followed by an emphatic “NO!”

It is so toxic.

A family with a military tradition is usually the perfect recruiting ground for quality people. Once you reach a point where people with Military experience steer their folks away from the services then things like this take place:

That’s why the Navy’s announcement that it is lowering minimum scores on the Armed Forces Qualification Test and lifting its recruiting age limit from 35 year old to 41 is worrisome. If not accompanied by additional safeguards, these changes signal bad faith toward the nation and the recruit.

It’s no secret why the Navy is lowering standards: its recruitment program is in heavy seas. The service failed to meet its 2020 recruiting goals. As a result, it has fewer people in training to serve in the fleet — and that fleet has a key role to play if the U.S. is stay ahead of the fast-rising China threat.

All of this is in fact self inflicted and while Mr. Welborn doesn’t see how this shakes out I do.

Sooner or later there will not be the manpower to justify the various woke officers who have done all they can to impress the leftists in charge at DoD and when that happens those folks will need bodies and as impressment isn’t a thing here you will eventually see the return of the draft because even when this lot is finally out of office those military families will not have enough trust in the bureaucrats to recommend their kids to join up.

The draft is coming and I can’t wait to see the woke kids howl when it does.

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