I am tired of seeing great sailors leave the Navy because of preventable and unfair "people" issues.
I have a warrant officer who is the best I have seen. He hasn't been on board long, but he is an impact player who has done wonders in my maintenance department. He came to me today with his letter of resignation. He is resigning neither because he dislikes the Navy, nor because he is dissatisfied with the job—but because he fears that he will not be promoted and because there is virtually no shore duty for warrant officers.
It is a travesty that we have dedicated and talented people—in this case one who has given 24 years to his Navy and his country—and the best the detailer can tell them is "We've got another squadron for you." Not only do master chiefs make more money than he does, but if he were a master chief he could stay to 30 years of service and beyond. Also, as a master chief, he would have some shore duty pending.
The next case is an aviation structural mechanic, first class. He showed up two months prior to deployment and quickly established himself as the frontrunner. The tragedy here is that he had orders to a shore-based squadron, but those orders were changed to send him to my fleet squadron two months prior to deployment. He never was notified. When he visited some old buddies here in my squadron, they informed him that his orders were "on the board." He was incredulous. He really thought they were kidding until they showed him the orders. His orders were changed and the detailer never even attempted to call and tell him. He has four children, and his wife does not work. He goes to night school in hopes of getting a degree so that he can earn a commission. He now is my Sailor of the Year.
Both of these people are superstars; they are heroes in the purest sense of the word. Why do we treat them like this? There has to be a better way. These two people have reinvigorated my belief in the sailor and in the quality of character that we envision running our Navy and defending our country. We have to do better than this—for them.
It is no secret that the corporate and private sectors are sucking away a good deal of our talent by the thousands. There are many reasons for this and the Navy is aggressively pursing some noble initiatives. But if we don't stop treating our people like cattle, it will be impossible to win the wars of the future.
Commander Guse is commanding officer of VAW-124.