Comment & Discussion

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Contents:

What Men or Gods Are These?—16

Voices from the Central Blue—18

Gator Aid—18

Should the Coast Guard Stay in the Icebreaking Business?—20

Two Wrongs Don’t Make It Right!—20

Savo Island—20

The Path Ahead for Gators and Marines—20

Why No Gays?—21

Strike Rescue Requires the Active-Duty Touch—23

Commanders Must Command—23

Build the Striker—A Tough Ship—24

Cost-Effective Mine Warfare—25

ENTER THE FORUM

We welcome brief comments on material published in Proceedings and also brief discussion items on topics of naval, maritime, or military interest for possible publication on these pages. A primary purpose of Proceedings is to provide a forum where ideas of importance to the sea services can be exchanged. The Naval Institute pays an honorarium to the author of each comment or discussion item published in Proceedings. Please include your return address, your social security number, and a daytime phone number.

“What Men or Gods Are These?”

(See J. L. Byron, pp. 28-32, December 1992

Proceedings)

Dr. James E. Colvard, former Deputy Di­rector of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and former Deputy Chief of the Naval Material Command—Captain Byron wrote: “A reformed system of blunt honesty and genuine statistical rel­evance can only enhance our ability to find those most fit.” Fortunately—or un­fortunately—life is not that simple. Cap­tain Byron falls into the standard trap of assuming statistics apply equally well to inanimate and animate objects. If humans were non-reactive objects, it would be ap­propriate to apply statistics to them. But, while a coin does not react to being tossed, humans do. Thus, fitness re­ports—while not statistically valid for inanimate objects—do work quite well for humans.

In my 30-year career as a civilian in the Navy I worked with officers from en­sign to full admiral and became ac­quainted with leaders of industry, politi­cal appointees, and senior-career civil servants. While, in terms of personality, the jerk-to-jewel ratio was about the same in all these communities, I found that, in terms of professional competence, Navy officers were far superior and that the products of the selection process, especially captains and admirals, were exceptionally good.

Why is this so for a system that is clearly distorted statistically? The answer is quite simple. The fitness report repre­sents personal communication between officers and, therefore, must be positive in order to enhance teamwork and coop­eration. The actual selection of officers for advancement is done by selection boards looking at a collection of fitness reports and hearing opinions expressed by board members. This helps to make the selection process as objective as one involving humans exercising personal judgment can be. It also allows the non­selectee to be angry at a “board,” while continuing to work effectively with indi­vidual officers. Because the Navy is a ca­reer service and the candidates have sim­ilar experiences and know each other

reasonably well, the imperfect tool—the fitness report—is able to meet the needs of the process.

One of the major problems on the civilian side of the Navy is that perfor­mance evaluations directly affect annual pay and the requirement for supervisors to make “bluntly honest and statistically sound” decisions flies in the face of all their efforts to practice Total Quality Leadership and enhance teamwork. The uniformed side of the Navy neatly avoids this problem with a statistically sloppy— but humanly sensitive—system.

Sensitivity has nothing to do with soft­ness or lack of resolve. It merely recog­nizes that most humans consider them­selves above average and any system that requires their superior to tell them directly and bluntly that they are below average is not sensitive to human nature. The cur­rent system combines the folklore and in­formal understanding of how to write fit­ness reports—which is part of the Navy’s culture and is the informal system—with the formal system of selection for ad­vancement, and allows it to work within a community of humans who must risk their lives collectively, but who are ad­vanced as individuals. □

Captain Torrey A. Sylvester, U.S. Naval Reserve (Retired)—Please list me among those commending Caption Byron for his fearlessness in stating that the emperor has no clothes.

In the early 1980s, I sat on three se- j lection boards for field-grade Naval Re­serve line promotions. Even then, it was _} clear that the left shift—so ably com­mented on by Captain Byron—was push­ing everyone into the superstar status of ! the top 1%. Clearly, not all naval officers are in the top 1%. Therefore, Captain Byron’s suggestions about using a bell curve with these reports and being real­istic will bring a new honesty, straight­forwardness, and accuracy to the Navy’s fitness report system. □

Captain James L. Burke, U.S. Navy— Bravo Zulu to Captain Byron for his ex­cellent article on the current fitness-re­port-mess! Every senior officer knows the

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system is polluted but is unable to do anything about it because only his sub­ordinates would suffer if he did.

Recently, I attended a briefing by an admiral concerning a board on which he had served. He described the numerous ways that reporting seniors could hurt their people unintentionally—especially if they indicated any weaknesses what­soever. Responding to questions, he de­fended the system. He went so far as to claim that reviewers could read between the lines, register what was omitted, and fathom what was meant though not writ­ten. Utter nonsense!

In a previous assignment, I prepared fitness reports on Royal Navy exchange officers. The British report form was very simple and covered no more than a single sheet of paper. More impressive was the fact that the instruction on how to prepare the report also fit on one piece of paper! (Compare that to the com­pendium that we use for ours.) A Royal Navy officer told me that the reports writ­ten by senior U.S. Navy officers were considered worthless because they were always perfect.

While Captain Byron was concerned only with officers’ fitness reports, the Navy is well on the way to achieving the same results in enlisted evaluations. The evaluations for chief petty officers are starting to look as meaningless as offi­cers’ fitness reports—and for the same reasons.

Our system started to go awry when, with the best of intentions, it was man­dated that officers be shown their fit­ness reports. Anyone who was around be­fore that time has only to review his own record to find early fitness reports that, today, would end the career of any young officer. But, no one had to read between the lines or guess what was intended in those reports. Although it goes against the current concepts of openness, restor­ing the private nature of the fitness re­port as a communication between a se­nior officer and the Bureau of Naval Personnel is an essential first step if we are to solve the problem. □

“Voices from the Central Blue”

(See W. J. Luti, pp.33-38, December 1992 Proceedings)

Colonel Robert M. Johnston, U.S. Air Force, Director, Airpower Research In­stitute—Commander Luti’s article mer­its kudos for its probing analysis, deep insights, thorough scholarship, and sage conclusions.

The Persian Gulf War certainly pro­vided impetus for doctrinal change— whether it be in one service or through­out all the services. Accordingly, I am eager to invite closer dialogue with all Proceedings readers on the evolution of aerospace doctrine, based on the promis­ing new technologies and the Persian Gulf War experiences.

I also appreciate Commander Luti’s willingness to air his views. All too fre­quently, our uniformed colleagues stay out of the doctrinal fray, for fear they possess too much airspeed or lack suffi­cient firepower. However, there is no bet­ter time than now to surface proposals, based on combat experience, for a doc­trinal shift.

At the Airpower Research Institute at Maxwell Air Force Base, we have the proper target in sight, and we’re engaged. We solicit any and all contributions that will aid us as we search for—and seize—- timely opportunities to improve aerospace doctrine. □

“Gator Aid”

(See A. M. Smith, pp. 67-75, October 1992; S.

A. Ross, p. 21, January 1993 Proceedings)

Lieutenant Commander Douglas D. Wright, Dental Corps, U.S. Naval Re­serve—Captain Smith’s article provided an excellent review of medical care avail­able to embarked Marines in time of con­flict. He rightly concludes that a highly practiced team of health care profession­als is needed to provide life-saving trauma care to wounded personnel. I agree, too, that the Navy needs and de­serves high quality trauma-care person­nel and equipment to support amphibious operations in isolated, hostile environ­ments. However, Captain Smith neglected to mention the excellent capabilities of the Dental Corps—and the superb con­tributions it has made—as a valuable and long-standing member of the Navy’s casualty-care team.

Dentists and dental technicians are as­signed to all amphibious transport docks (LPDs), amphibious assault ships (heli­copter) (LPHs), and amphibious assault ships (LHAs). The dental officers com­plete the same combat-casualty-care pro­gram as their medical counterparts before assignment to duty at sea. At general quarters, dental personnel man battle dressing stations, where they are expected to provide advanced traumatic life sup­port without the direct supervision of a medical officer.

Historically, the Dental Corps has been a strong partner in the Navy trauma-care team. It deserves, therefore, to be in­cluded in Captain Smith’s appeal for ad­equate training and funding. □

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“Should the Coast Guard Stay in the Icebreaking Business?”

(See N. Venzke, pp. 97-98, December 1992 Proceedings)

Editor’s Note: Because of an editorial error, the hull numbers of the Coast Guard’s two polar icebreakers were transposed. The correct hull number of the USCCG Polar Sea is WAGB-11; for the USCGC Polar Star, it is WABG-10. We regret the error.LI

“Two Wrongs Don’t Make It Right!”

(See J. Luddy, pp. 68-70, November 1992 Proceedings)

Lieutenant Philip David King, U.S. Navy—Our “pristine notions of equality” just happen to be what we are out there risking our lives for. I, for one, want the most capable person fighting next to me. It is time disperse this smokescreen of sexism and get down to the job of build­ing a military that will carry us into the next millennium. □

Lieutenant D. Haseley, U.S. Navy—To those like Mr. Luddy who claim that the “high testosterone” levels of military men would force them to make an un­sound military decisions, I say that mil­itary professionals have overcome far greater emotional hurdles. For example, I have never met a pilot who did not have a great respect for human life. Yet, I also have never met a pilot who would not drop a bomb that could kill hundreds of people. These pilots would drop the bomb because they are professionals car­rying out a military mission.

Those who think they would be pre­vented from performing their duties in a professional manner because they cannot overcome their sexual urges should be weeded out of today’s Navy. In the Navy, the only concern should be who is best for the job.Q

Lieutenant Commander C. William Stamm, U.S. Naval Reserve—In the process of trying to justify his claim that women in combat would be a disaster, Mr. Luddy manages to insult both sexes. He classifies women as either sex objects to be enamored with or to be treated like one’s sister (not necessarily a positive statement). At the same time, he degrades men by stating that “[ujntil women stop turning heads when they walk down the street,” they will “jeopardize the lives of others by disturbing the essential co­hesiveness of a fighting unit.” It is an in­sult to men in general to assume they are dominated by their hormones or an over­whelming sense of machismo. □

“Savo Island”

(See J. Sweetman, pp. 78-79, August 1992

Proceedings)

James F. Phelan—As the officer in charge of the forward secondary battery of the USS Chicago (CA-29) on 9 Au­gust 1942, I might be able to add a cou­ple of interesting, but little-known, facts to Dr. Sweetman’s account.

First, the Chicago’s radars were shut down, except for one search sweep every hour with the SC radar. Now, it might have been every 30 minutes, but I do know that the Japanese approach and at­tack came between sweeps.

Second, during the battle, every star shell in the 5-inch battery’s magazines was fired, but not a single one worked.

1 thought I had been firing antiaircraft common ammunition until a gunner’s mate told me that he had hand-set the last star shells. The next day, we tested 25 star shells by hand—not one functioned.

Dr. Sweetman mentioned that the Northern Force was not warned of the Japanese force’s approach, and the three cruisers were caught unawares. It may seem unbelievable, but it was common knowledge among the crew of the Chicago that even though we had been hit and HMAS Canberra was burning, our captain would not permit any trans­missions on the talk-between-ships radio.

Finally, I know that, as late as De­cember 1942, Admiral Ernest J. King had not received any reports on the action. One day 1 received orders from his staff to report to a conference on special elec­tronics. Upon my arrival, I discovered it was a subterfuge for him to glean infor­mation on the battle—which I spent more than an hour giving Admiral King.Q

“The Path Ahead for Gators and

Marines”

(See J. B. LaPlante, pp. 34-38, November 1992

Proceedings)

Captain Richard B. Laning, U.S. Navy (Retired)—Admiral LaPlante reiterates the need for gunfire support, which the Navy finds difficult to provide landing forces. However, an accompanying pho­tograph of a helicopter hauling a heavy artillery piece suggests a solution.

New technologies—the global-posi­tioning system, unmanned air vehicles, modern computers and communications equipment, and efficient stabilization gy­roscopes and servos—could be combined with a heavy gun, a power source, a sup­ply of ammunition, and any additional deck-structural support in a kit that could be installed on any medium or large ship. These kits would be kept in storage and loaded on board either merchant ships or amphibious ships as needed. Manned by reservists, this type of system would help provide expeditionary forces with the gunfire support they will need.O

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“Why No Gays?”

(See E. T. Gomulka, pp. 44-46, December 1992; J, R. Williams, p. 13, January 1993 Proceedings)

Dennis B. Noonan—Commander Go­mulka believes that homosexuality is a matter of choice and quotes General Colin Powell’s refutation of the analogy between African-Americans and homo­sexuals. However, I know—as millions of other gay men and lesbians do—that I was born this way. I could no more choose my sexual orientation than I could the color of my eyes.

I served my country for four years as a Navy officer—two-and-a-half of which were in a destroyer—and I was honor­ably discharged. During that time, how­ever, I was forced to lie about who I Was—not what I chose.

Opening the door to gays does not mean condoning sexual misconduct. Gays Would still have to live and work with their shipmates. It is juvenile to think that lifting the ban on homosexuality would give homosexuals carte blanche to have orgies in berthing compartments. Nor does it mean that people will “come out” in droves. It does mean, however, that there will no longer be the fear of being discharged on suspicion.

During my time at sea, I never had sex °n board—I knew it was against the rales. The same cannot be said for my hetero­sexual shipmates who brought women on board while we were in port. I was never intimate with any enlisted men—I knew that was against the rules, too.

Gay men do not enter the military to have sex or be around guys. We enter for the same reason heterosexual men do— to serve. We know that homosexuals who serve in the military will have to live up to the rules of conduct. That’s no prob­lem because we are not demanding spe­cial rights—just equal rights.□

Rear Admiral Alexander Sinclair, U.S. Navy (Retired)—Commander Gomulka’s Points were well-articulated, compelling, ^and timely. This subject has not been openly discussed by the military. The de­bate has been carried on primarily by the advocates of gays and lesbians—and, consequently, disproportionately dis­played to the public in the news media.

As President Bill Clinton considers lifting the ban on gays in the military, it ^ls important for him to ask the advice of toilitary leaders—as he promised he ^would do during the campaign. If Presi­dent-elect Clinton could convene a meet­^Ing of 300 economists and business ex­^ecutives for their opinions on the ^economy, then President Clinton should call in military leaders for advice on mil­itary matters.

I would hope that the Navy’s repre­sentatives on this matter would be active- duty flag officers who understand the constitutional, legal, practical, and moral implications of the issue, who can dispel the fog of disinformation, and who can make their case—either in front of con­gressional committees or on televised news programs.□

Andrew G. Webb—I am a 1975 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy who, after five years of service, went on to work for a Congressional subcommittee and, later, the National Security Agency (NSA)—a Department of Defense (DoD) agency—as an intelligence analyst. It was while working at the NSA that I realized I was gay, and it was for being gay that I was fired from the NSA—although I was open about my sexual orientation. Therefore, it is with some experience that I can address Commander Gomulka’s ar­guments against the full integration of gays into the armed forces.

By repeatedly harping on the distinc­tion between behavior and orientation,

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Commander Gomulka actually furthers the case for dropping the ban. He writes that, . . many persons with a homo­sexual orientation would experience dif­ficulty controlling their behavior in the unique circumstances of military life.” What does he think virtually all homo­sexuals in the military now do?

If the ban were lifted, he believes, heterosexuals would be forced to com­promise their already-scarce privacy, and would become sex objects—a situation, he assumes, that would adversely affect recruiting and retention.

Working for a fire department entails giving up privacy and the possibility of being ogled by someone of the same sex. But, there is never a lack of applicants for any opening on a fire department.

Commander Gomulka assumes lifting the current ban would eliminate restric­tions on inappropriate sexual behavior. He believes it would give license for older homosexuals to prey on younger men and women and thinks that homo­sexuals will be unable to control their lustful urges if closely confined with members of the same sex for extended periods of time.

But, why well-adjusted people who are openly gay would voluntarily court frus­tration—not to mention physical vio­lence—by pursuing those almost certain to reject them is beyond me. Moreover, the articles of the Uniform Code of Mil­itary Justice which address rape and other forms of inappropriate or criminal sexual behavior could be rewritten easily to cover situations concerning inappropriate behavior among people of the same sex.

Commander Gomulka likens admitting openly gay men and women into the armed forces to the hiring of an alcoholic by a liquor store. Whenever a business hires anyone, it must take risks into ac­count—e.g., a bank manager likely won’t hire a person convicted of armed robbery. But, if the Navy recruits an openly gay person, its risks (vis-a-vis predatory sex­ual behavior) would be the same as re­cruiting a heterosexual person—because both are otherwise unknown quantities, differing only in sexual orientation.

If homosexuals are allowed to live in the same berthing areas, Commander Go­mulka claims, unmarried heterosexuals would have to be allowed the same right. While the logical extension of lifting the anti-gay ban would be ending the ban against coed berthing, it does not mean that ipso facto inappropriate behavior would go unchallenged and unpunished. Furthermore, Commander Gomulka seems to think that lifting the ban will open the door to all kinds of inappropri­ate behavior. He is naive if he thinks het­erosexual hanky-panky isn’t already going on in barracks and even in ships.

The next flaw in Commander Go- mulka’s essay lies in the sentences:

They [opponents of the ban] give the impression that homosexuals are separated simply because of a discov­ered nonthreatening orientation. How­ever, many separation cases involve instances of homosexual behavior, which will only increase if known ho­mosexuals are allowed to enlist.

Well, about a dozen men and women I personally know were thrown out of the military merely because their sexual ori­entation was discovered—and they were not exceptions to the rule. Just what per­centage of the separation cases to which Commander Gomulka alludes involve “homosexual behavior,” he doesn’t say. But, in a recent article by Jeff Stein in The Washington Post National Weekly Edition, it is revealed that in the Persian Gulf theater—where more than 195,000 troops were deployed—from August 1990 to July 1991, the Army prosecuted only four cases of homosexual misconduct. There were many more cases of hetero­sexual misconduct.

Actually, rescinding the current policy would probably end up saving money. The U.S. military would no longer have to spend money trying to catch consent­ing adults engaging in behavior that is ei­ther legal or not prosecuted in most states and trying these cases. Nor would it have to pay for replacing the highly trained and experienced people who are removed from the military simply for being gay.

Commander Gomulka cites a number of studies on the number of sexual part­ners homosexual men have annually as evidence of their sexual compulsion. One study was published in 1978—and, there­fore, probably based on data collected in 1976—so I’m wary of statistics on such a subject that were collected well before the onset of the AIDS epidemic. While the findings of the two 1985 stud­ies he cited likely have been outpaced by events, the decreases in sexual activity indicated—from 70 to 50 partners per year (29.6%) in one study and from 76 to 47 partners (38.2%) in the other—are significant and show a definite trend away from promiscuity.

Gay men, however, don’t have a cor­ner on the promiscuity market. Talk to anyone who has witnessed the behavior of heterosexual sailors on liberty in Olon- gapo City. And, does it really matter if a gay man leads an active sex life? There is an analogy that can be drawn here be­tween the U.S. military’s approach to al­

cohol abuse. The current policy tacitly < says that only when someone’s drinking adversely affects her performance of duty is it considered grounds for separation. If a gay man is sexually compulsive, his be­havior is inconsequential unless it ad-         i

versely affects his performance of duty.          j

I agree with Commander Gomulka that              _t

the statistics on suicide and alcoholism           (

among gay men are appalling. But, when       1

society tells us at every turn we’re ab-             j

horrent, is it any wonder they are so high?       i

Recognizing of the uselessness of such            .

numbers as indicators of “normal” be-            ]

havior for gay men, he American Psy-             ;

chological Association and American             1

Psychiatric Association took homosexu­ality off their lists of mental disorders al- 1 most 20 years ago.             ₍

Also, the “homosexual lifestyle” which              _;

people like Commander Gomulka portray      <

as a threat to U.S. society is a myth. As           (

Eric Marcus wrote in the 14 September           |

1992 issue of Newsweek:                                  ,

I

One may choose a country-club                        <

lifestyle, a Western lifestyle, a city ; lifestyle, but there is no such thing ] as a gay lifestyle—just as there is no i such thing as a heterosexual lifestyle. i Homosexual lifestyles . . . run the gamut. They defy classification.     :

i

President Clinton was correct in say­ing that behavior was the key to allow­ing homosexuals in the U.S. military. The DofD should promulgate and strictly en­force regulations against any behavior that is truly detrimental to good order and , discipline. Those who want to abolish the current ban want no criteria other than dedication, performance, and behavior to be used in judging the fitness of a man > or woman for military service.□

Lieutenant Commander Stephen W- Surko, U.S. Navy—Despite Commander Gomulka’s claims that his article “is not criticism or an attack on homosexual persons as individuals or as a group,” his scare mongering only clouds the issues. He paints an image of homosexuals as al­coholics who cannot control their be­havior, who have sexual relations with hundreds of partners, and who might be billeted with the readers’ children.

Why is it ironic that those who oppose sexual harassment in the military should also endorse homosexuals serving in those same armed forces? Behavioral problems that adversely effect good order and discipline should be treated as such— not used as a rationale to exclude quali­fied Americans from serving their coun­try in the armed forces. □

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“Strike Rescue Requires the

Active-Duty Touch”

(See P. A. Kelleher, pp. 108-109, August 1992

Proceedings)

Commander Dan C. Pinkerton, U.S. Naval Reserve, Commanding Officer, Helicopter Combat Support Squadron-5 (HCS-5)—In the early 1980s, a few Naval Reserve officers convinced Con­gress that the Navy needed a new strike- rescue/special-operations aircraft. Con­gress directed the Navy to buy the HH-60H and designated that the aircraft and the mission be assigned to the Naval Reserve.

In August 1989, HCS-5 received its first HH-60H and since then it has ac­complished a great deal. It was the first aviation unit to deploy on board a carrier with the HH-60H, the first to load a HH- 60H on board a C-5A Galaxy transport, the first to use night-vision devices op­erationally under starlight conditions, the first to validate operationally all SEAL special-operations procedures and tactics, and the first to fly the HH-60H in sup­port of carrier air wings at Naval Air Sta­tion Fallon, Nevada. In fact, HCS-5 per­formed the first rescue with the HH-60H.

The squadron attained its initial oper­ating capability only nine months after receiving the first aircraft, and, eight ntonths later, was sent to the Persian Gulf War. In fact, HCS-5 was alerted for pos­sible deployment in early August 1990. Within hours of receiving the initial warn­ing order, four aircraft and their support equipment were ready to be loaded on hoard two C-5As. We finally went to the Persian Gulf region in December 1990.

The personnel of HCS-5 and its East Coast counterpart, Helicopter Combat Support Squadron-4 (HCS-4), are hand­picked for their combat experience. The Pilots have faultless safety records and average 2,617 hours of flight time. The fact that the people in these units have operated together for years gives the squadrons an unbeatable consistency in tactics and predictable battlefield per­formance. Both squadrons have fully banned and fully equipped detachments, capable of shipboard and shore-based op­erations, standing by for deployment within hours of call. They are manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The two squadrons have maintained a full-mis­sion-capable rate 12% above the goal set l hy the Chief of Naval Operations, plus ^a flawless safety record—while devoting tttore than half of their flight hours to di­rect fleet and joint-operations support.

The Reserve HCSs are not only capa­ble, they are a bargain as well. Each squadron operates at a full-time manning

level that is 45% of a like active-duty squadron, which means an annual payroll savings of $1.9 million and an additional savings in benefits of $2.1 million. So, over five years, these reserve units will save the Navy $40 million—in pay and allowances alone. Furthermore, reservists do not draw retirement pay until age 60— and then, at rates less than 50% of their active-duty counterparts.

The reserve HCSs provide the Navy reliable combat search-and-rescue and special-operations capabilities, with a su­perb safety record and unquestioned economy. □ “Commanders Must Command”

(See E. Hebert, pp. 55-59, September 1992; E.

B. Hontz, p. 14, October 1992; K. A. Eubanks,

pp. 13-14, December 1992; J. E. Lyons, p. 18,

January 1993 Proceedings)

Lieutenant Mark Morris, U.S. Naval Re- serve—I could not disagree more with Commander Herbert’s assertion that “en­gineering skills are overemphasized” and his recommendation that the engineering training requirements be reduced so that officers can spend more time learning tac­tics. A ship’s mobility, survivability, and weapon and sensor systems support (en­gineering) are part and parcel of tactics. I think the Navy strikes the right balance by requiring that all surface-warfare of­ficers who wish to command must earn the qualification as an Engineering Offi­cer of the Watch (EOOW).

I can remember the days before the EOOW requirement was ironclad. As a M (main-engines) Division officer and main propulsion assistant in a destroyer, I had a captain who had no engineering experience. His lack of engineering knowledge and, therefore, operational knowledge of his ship, showed when the engine room received 10 to 20 engine or­ders a minute while maneuvering along­side a pier. Had the captain ventured below the main deck, perhaps he would have been surprised to find that his ship had steam turbines with manual throttles, not gas turbines. Once in the midst of a boiler casualty, I was dumbstruck when the captain called down from the bridge and asked which specific tube in the boiler had ruptured. The most memorable demonstration of his ignorance came when a line shaft bearing overheated and failed. We were steaming independently, in daylight, and in open water, but cap­tain ordered the EOOW—a chief petty officer—not to stop and lock the shaft as required by the casualty procedures. The reason given was that we were “a bit be­hind schedule.” Fortunately, the squadron

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commander was on board and intervened before further damage occurred.

Normally, I would have dismissed these experiences as the shortcomings of one man. But whenever engineers got to­gether at squadron- or group-sponsored meetings, stories like these abounded. For bluejackets, this type of captain was hor­rifying. “Snipes,” whose daily work en­vironment is dangerous, are not an eas­ily frightened bunch. However, they were terrified that they might be injured or killed because their captain did not know engineering.

A warship captain must be versed thoroughly in all aspects of his ship’s op­erations. Certainly, tactics and warfight­ing are important—but engineering must be considered in any tactical equation. While standing watch on the bridge or in the combat information center, when­ever I was informed of a problem with a piece of equipment, I knew immedi­ately which weapons or sensors were af­fected. Because I could calculate the lim­itations to the systems, I knew, in an instant, the casualty’s impact on the tac­tical capabilities of the ship. I cannot imagine a captain or tactical action of­ficer who could not accurately gauge the tactical abilities of his ship in relative to any problems in the engineering systems. The officers who can most successfully do this are the ones who are EOOW- qualified.

During the heat of battle, the success of a ship and the lives of her crew will depend on the captain’s tactical abilities. Without the current balanced approach to training and qualification—which in­cludes engineering—the tactical profi­ciency of surface-warfare officers will suffer. □

“Build the Striker—One Tough Ship”

(See R. Loire, pp. 90-93, July 1992 Proceedings)

Mark Diamond—Rene Loire’s design should be placed under the heading, “Everything old is new again,” not only because it looks curiously like a Civil War ironclad, but also, despite its updated design, the Striker appears to suffer from the same infirmities that made the iron­clads ground-breaking yet vulnerable ships.

The concept of “lying low” has been adopted by modem defensive architects in everything from 19th- and 20th-cen­tury fortresses to modem tanks. However, it is not a sound concept for seagoing ships for the same basic reasons that caused it to be rejected by post-Civil War

ship designers.

First, ships with relatively high free­boards have a reserve buoyancy that low- freeboard designs—like the Striker—do not. The lack of reserve buoyancy almost caused the sinking of the CSS Virginia when she rammed the USS Cumberland and was almost pushed under by the sink­ing Union warship. The lack of reserve buoyancy caused the sinking of the USS Monitor in a minor storm.

Second, the negative psychological im­pact of a ship that “lets waves freely flush the bare deck,” as Mr. Loire notes, cannot be underestimated. Going to sea in a ship with scant chance of catching a glimpse of sea, sun, and sky—those things that make going to sea worth­while—would certainly be unpopular with any sailor.

Mr. Loire notes that today’s sea-skim­ming missiles are unable to fly lower than ten feet above sea level and, thus, would overshoot a ship with ten feet of free­board. More than likely, however, the next-generation of anti-ship missiles will be downward-firing, such as those de­veloped to destroy armored vehicles whose tops are thinner than their sides. Not to beat a dead horse, but if such a weapon hit a low-freeboard ship—with little reserve buoyancy—the result would be devastating. □

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“Cost-Effective Mine Warfare”

(See C. H. Fries and G. M. Slusher, pp. 95-98, August 1992; L. E. Dove, pp. 21-22, October 1992 Proceedings)

Carsten H. Fries and Ensign Gerald M. Slusher, Supply Corps, U.S. Naval Re­serve—Lieutenant Commander Dove correctly asserts that a stern-towed side- scan sonar cannot see forward of a craft- of-opportunity-program (COOP) plat­form’s survey track. However, his subsequent conclusion that a platform must traverse a mined area and, there­fore, jeopardize itself is a faulty leap of logic.

A COOP platform, like any other mine-warfare asset, performs hydro­graphic survey and mine hunting in over­lapping tracts. By combining the 200- yard-wide transmission/reception beams emanating from both the port and star­board sonar transducers, the current side- scan sonar can survey 400-yard-wide swaths of the ocean bottom on extended tract runs.

One way to approach a mine field Would be to begin within a secure zone and run a tract parallel to the field. Ei­ther the port or starboard transducer Would peer 200 yards into the threat area—slightly less when a margin of error is calculated into the platform’s initial tract run. If the zone is free of contacts, then the COOP platform traverses 75 to 100 yards into the threat area to begin the next tract. In this way, the ship can half­step its way through the assigned survey region without running the ship or its sonar over a mine.

The present COOP platform—typically a converted yard-patrol boat—has a draft °f less than six feet when fully loaded, during sonar operations, which are per­formed at a speed of three-to-four knots, lookouts can be placed at the bow and on the bridge—approximately 14 feet above the waterline—in order to detect any ^Semisubmerged mines and mines just below the waterline before the ship closes With them.

Commander Dove makes a good point concerning the lack of mine-avoidance ^s°nar and, in fact, the COOP has exper- 'mented with several makeshift, forward­looking units. It is hoped that a workable ^variant may be found.

Admittedly, there are several cost-in­^tensive improvements that would make hie COOP platforms safer and more ef­fective operationally. However, in times °f rapidly dwindling defense budgets, de­fense programs—active or reserve—that demonstrate a “can-do” attitude with ex­iting resources will be better able to Weather the lean years.□

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When Thirteen ;

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Turned Golden i

By

Paul Stillwell

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At a time when the United States was fighting a global war to free the persecuted, its naval offi­cer corps was, ironically, as white as it had been a century earlier, before the Civil War. Some 100,000 African American enlisted men were in the Navy at the midpoint of U.S. involvement in World War II, so its leaders timidly, reluctantly set about to commission a few black officers as well. To be sure, the step was a political one, taken in response to growing pressure from U.S. civil rights organizations. The national con­sciousness was slowly beginning to realize that the elimination of injustice abroad could hardly be served by a military force that perpetuated injustice at home.

In January 1944, 16 black enlisted men gathered at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois to begin a crash course that would turn them into the first African American naval officers on active duty. Al­though the Navy had to be compelled to take this step, it chose the officer candidates well. All had demon­strated top-notch leadership as enlisted men. The pace was demanding and forced the 16 men to band together so that all could succeed. Their common perception was that they would set back the course of racial jus­tice if they failed. All 16 passed the course, but not all became officers. Twelve received commissions as en­signs; the 13th made warrant officer. The three who did not fit within the quota returned to enlisted duty.

Years later the pioneer officers came to be known as the Golden Thirteen. In 1944, however, Navy leadership

treated them more as pariahs than pioneers. In many instances they were denied the privileges and respect routinely accorded to white naval officers. Once com­missioned, their assignments were usually menial and not worthy of their abilities and training. They were token blacks. But they had at least opened the door for all those who would follow. In the years since 1944, the Navy has kept pace with the nation in racial awareness and integration. In some cases it has made even greater strides. The Golden Thirteen were there at the outset.

For a variety of reasons, only one of the 13 made a career of the Navy, and he was instrumental in opening still more doors for those to come after. Other members of the group made their marks in civilian life. Their achievements provide a measure of their talents and their determination to deal with a society that was too often reluctant to deal with them. Their number in­cluded a professional engineer, a justice of a state ap­pellate court, the first black member of the council of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, a re­spected social worker, a successful attorney, a teacher and coach who inspired a generation of students, an of­ficial of the Urban League, a professional model, and the first black department head in the city government of Dayton, Ohio.

In 1986, at the suggestion of Lieutenant Mark Cray­ton of the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, I began an oral history project to capture the memories of the eight surviving members of the Golden Thirteen; one

Justice William S. White

“Prejudice is not a logical thing,” Justice William S. White told Paul Stillwell in this excerpt from the new Naval Institute Press book, The Golden Thirteen. Here, in con­junction with Black History Month, Justice White recalls how the Navy defied conven­tional logic and commissioned the first black naval officers—he was one of them.

My father was a chemist and a pharmacist, a grad­uate of Fisk University and the University of Illinois. My mother was a public school teacher, a graduate of Fisk University and the University of Chicago. During the Depression, they sacrificed and sent their only child to college and law school.

I knew that the opportunity to go to school was a pre­cious opportunity which should not be wasted. Civil ser-

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has since died, hater the project grew to include the recollections of three white officers who served with and supported their ef­forts during World War II. In all, the transcripts comprise more than 2,000 Pages. A new Naval Institute Press book hy the same title is a compilation of the hest material from those oral inteviews.

Few oral history Projects have pro­vided me with so niuch satisfaction and enjoyment. In Part that is because the men of the group were so kind and cooperative and tn part because the stories of these ex­traordinary individ­uals probably would have been lost if not for oral history. If Written records of the group’s training still exist, they are buried so deeply that they have not resurfaced, de­spite numerous inquiries. Thus, the only record likely to survive and perpetuate the achievements of the Golden Thirteen is this collection of their own oral recollec­tions. Memory is admittedly an imperfect tool, but it °an convey a great deal of authentic human experience.

Graham Martin, for example, remembers the 1930s When boxer Joe Louis and sprinter Jesse Owens stunned the world with their athletic achievements. He found it difficult to reconcile their success with the oft- ^repeated notion that black people were inherently infe­rior. James Hair, the son of a slave, broke down in tears during one in­terview as he re­called the lynching of a brother-in-law whom he had idol­ized. George Cooper told of going out of his way to convince white enlisted men that he was a fellow human being, not “a black son of a bitch wearing offi­cer shoulder boards. ” Jesse Arbor told of sham­ing a white senior officer who referred to a “goddamned nigger in the wood­pile ” after he lost a game of poker. Sam Barnes recalled that white people in the South preferred to address a black man by his first name rather than according him the respect that went with the term “Mis­ter Barnes. ” John Reagan, given only menial duties in World War II, had the satisfaction of being recalled to active duty shortly before the Korean War and eventu­ally becoming executive officer of a fleet unit. Frank Sublett looked back on his naval experience as the highlight of his entire life. Justice William Sylvester White suggested that the Navy could have come up with many more capable black officers than just 13 when it finally decided to integrate its officer corps.

The Golden Thirteen demonstrated repeatedly that they were a remarkable group of men. This, the medium of ora! history, preserves their stories so that others may benefit and learn from their example.