Here at Naval Training Center Great Lakes, where the Navy begins, it is difficult to look at the way we conduct business and not draw parallels to a manufacturing assembly line. Every day of the year, recruits arrive at our gates by bus—one after another. They are administered immunizations, issued uniforms, given their meals and relieved of their hair—one after another. Divisions are numbered sequentially, each progressing in rigid order through a standard curriculum—one after another. Even the time-honored graduation ceremonies that mark the end of basic training, with all their prestige and pageantry, occur every Friday—one after another.
Born of logistical necessity, these proven processes ensure a steady stream of well-trained, motivated sailors to the fleet. However, as the Navy's sole trustee of young, impressionable recruits, we also are uniquely challenged to ensure that the mechanical production methods we employ to produce this precious human capital are not carried over into the way we care for our sailors as human beings. It is a responsibility we take very seriously, and the philosophy behind it has applications throughout the Naval Training Center.
The all-volunteer force is precisely that—a collection of bright, talented, complex young men and women who opt of their own free will to be part of our circle. Conscription—compulsory enrollment—is a distant memory for most of us, and it is an almost profane notion for the young people whom we endeavor to influence. In today's Navy, an atmosphere of subscription—voluntary acceptance of a body of principles—prevails.
This reality demands a different approach to the way we manage, motivate, and care for our new crop of talent. And while most readers may be subconsciously nodding in agreement, many surely would admit that the Navy has paid this fundamental truth little more than lip service over the years. For the most part, it still operates with a conscription mentality, charging forward under the false assumption that should one sailor "fall out," another will arrive in short order on the conveyor belt. This mind-set is nothing short of perilous.
Changing this will not be easy. First and foremost, we must convince our young sailors that the Navy is not simply a job or a stepping stone to something better after a few short years. We must instill in them the fact that the Navy is a challenging, stimulating, and rewarding career. They must be told this from the day they enter their local recruiting station until the day they leave the service. Career counseling should have this point as its central theme and must be a continuous process, not merely a perfunctory occurrence at the end of active duty. The true value of military compensation, the retirement annuity, and the full spectrum of medical and other benefits must be explained clearly and repeatedly. Message mismatch is not an option.
Without losing sight of the individual sailor, our initiatives also must match the changing demographics of today's force. We must be more responsive to the unique needs of Navy families. The Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy uttered a profound quote not long ago: "We recruit the sailor, but we retain the family." True words indeed. We must show them we care, and we do that by proving to them that we are in tune with their needs. When economics dictate that both parents work, we must respond with quality, affordable childcare. Similarly, when retention statistics reveal that sailors are leaving the Navy because frequent moves preclude successful careers for their spouses, we must respond with innovative spouse employment programs or new assignment policies that allow a greater stability of life.
Here at Great Lakes, we are positioned uniquely to inculcate in young sailors the subscription mentality, and we have launched several pilot programs to that end:
- Reverse sponsorship challenges the age-old assumption that care of an incoming sailor is the exclusive province of the gaining command—a pure "pull system," to continue the manufacturing theme. At Service School Command, where 50% of the Navy's new sailors receive initial technical training, students are actively guided through a program that allows them to make first contact with their ship. This initiative effectively has created a "push system," cultivating a shared responsibility for sponsorship between the gaining and losing commands. The results have been overwhelmingly positive, both from our "A" school students and from our customers in the fleet.
- We also are exploring an expansion to current policy that will give greater authority to commanding officers in the accession pipeline to reclassify sailors to new ratings. Under conscription, the goal was to fit the sailor to the job; a poor match had few consequences because other sailors typically were only a short distance upstream on the assembly line. But why today, in a culture that predicts seven job changes over the course of a career in the private sector, would we dare presume that a young sailor's first job selection would be forever? Reclassification builds a necessary degree of flexibility into a rigid and unforgiving system.
My objective here is not to spotlight the specifics of Great Lakes programs or to hold them up as rare beacons amid a sea of broken programs. Rather, it is to share the spirit of their intent, and their value in moving our organization toward that subscription mentality. These are small steps to be sure, but any steps—regardless of size—that put distance between today's Navy and the conscription mentality of yesterday, are steps in the right direction.
Recently I had the privilege of attending the Marine Corps Scholarship Ball in Chicago, at which Commandant of the Marine Corps General Jim Jones gave the keynote address. In it, he related some of the details of a new initiative he termed "Marine for Life." The program espouses a culture of care—from recruitment to retirement and beyond. It even includes a "Marine Corps Alumni Association" to assist Marines leaving the service in finding employment. I was inspired by his comments—and envious that the Navy did not think of it first. The Marine Corps is out in front, leading the way to a subscription mentality.
The Navy must follow suit—the future of our fleet absolutely depends on it. Today's young sailors demand and expect their leaders and organization to invest in them, and to comprehend and respond to their unique needs. They are volunteers. They have skills. More to the point, they are marketable and they are in demand in the private sector.
For those who are content to hold fast to the conscription mentality: take heed. As you instinctively reach to your right to grab the next sailor coming down the assembly line, you may discover to your great surprise that the item is out of stock.
Rear Admiral Polatty, a naval flight officer, is the Commander of Naval Training Center Great Lakes.