Robert du Mont

Maj Geoff Ball's insights, combat experience, and heart wrenching dialog are critical to our nation's understanding of the impact from the loss of its most treasured citizens – those that have served and lost their lives in service to our nation. As the presidential election accelerates to a fever pitch, with name calling and unfulfilled promises, it seems that those leaders have forgotten the value of servant leadership, their responsibility toward those they sacrifice without reason, and ultimately being held accountable for their actions - wrongly taken. To reestablish trust between the Executive Branch and the Department of Defense and its Marines and Sailors require that everyone within this failed operation must admit to their mistakes...Corporal Hunter Lopez, Corporal Daegan Page, Corporal Humberto Sanchez, Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz, Lance Corporal Rylee McCollum, Lance Corporal Kareem Nikoui, Lance Corporal Dylan Merola, Lance Corporal David Espinoza, and HM3 Maxton Soviak and their families deserve your admission of the truth. #goNavy #USNavy #veterans #veteransupport #veteranshelpveterans #defence #usna

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Improved Maintenance, 80% Combat Surge Goals in New Navy NAVPLAN Achievable, Says CNO Heather Mongilio September 19, 2024 7:01 PM Office of the Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti discusses her recently released #Navigation Plan for America’s #Warfighting #Navy in Washington D.C., Sept. 19, 2024. The goals set by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti in her new fleet-wide guidance may be tough, but they are realistic, the head of the US Navy said Thursday. Franchetti released her America’s Warfighting Navy Navigation Plan on Wednesday. The navigation plan, dubbed “Project 33” after Franchetti being the 33rd #CNO, includes goals such as 100 percent rating fill, 100 percent #recruiting shipping fill and a 50 percent delayed entry program posture. The plan also calls for an 80 percent #combat surge-ready posture for the Navy’s #ships and #aircraft. The deadline for the goals is 2027. The goals laid out in the plan were agreed to by the Navy’s admirals, its tech units and the single accountable person responsible for the goal completion, Fanchetti told the audience at a Thursday #Maritime #Security Dialogue event hosted by Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the U.S. Naval Institute. For example, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jim Kilby is responsible for the reduction of the backlog in maintenance, #USNI News reported. “We are shooting for very high, very tough stretch #goals here, and I know that, but the only way we’re going to get there if you set those goals that high and we really execute the #strategic discipline that we need to focus on these goals, focus on the things that are in our five plus four, which are the #capabilities that we’re going to contribute to the joint workfighting process,” Franchetti said Thursday. “That is what we need to do.” #mai #marineacoustics #capability #innovation #forcemultiplier #technology #usnavy #underseawarfare #submarines #navalwarfare #warfare #readiness https://lnkd.in/gQEsPZfm

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➡️ Update from the Office of Naval Research ONR has updated its Long Range Acquisition Estimate. This is a bi-annual update and includes anticipated acquisitions from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). More information at https://lnkd.in/gjbfTy3q #ColoradoAPEXAccelerator #APEXAccelerator #OfficeOfNavalResearch

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NDIA DVC will hold its 4th annual Naval Nuclear Submarine and Aircraft Carrier Suppliers Conference, a premier event focused on supply chain challenges and opportunities in the U.S. Navy’s Virginia and Columbia class submarines, and Ford class aircraft carrier shipbuilding programs. The program will also provide information on related international initiatives along with guided Technology Tours on December 11.   This event will again convene experts to effectively translate congressional mandates outlined in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into actionable responses by industry partners. It provides critical collaboration opportunities for the Navy, Shipbuilders, and Industry stakeholders to enhance their understanding of current construction plans, status, and priorities to assist in aligning industry capacity and capability. Navy Executive Program Directors & Officers, Shipbuilding Managers of Materials, and other experts will participate in panels, offering background and recommendations on streamlined engagement between Industry and Government to address the primary challenges to effective, efficient support of fleet requirements. Register here: https://lnkd.in/eDu4MkaV For questions about this event, please contact [email protected].

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Desperate times call for desperate measures - bring back ten Perry-class frigates that are in mothballs. The CNO says the Navy needs to be ready for conflict with China by 2027. It takes six years from funding to delivery of a destroyer on a hot production line that has no additional capacity. The first Constellation-class frigate won’t be delivered until 2029. The Turkish Navy has shown us how it is done and maybe they could do it for us. We do the HM&E work to make them seaworthy here - sail the ships to Turkey with civilian skeleton crews, and they do the combat systems imprivements and additional HM&E work there. Instead of paying for the combat system work, we could pledge to give them any surviving frigates after five years of service for free.

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Here comes 2025. https://lnkd.in/eeqMdBnn

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More important than the number of warships you have is the number of warships that can deploy and fight on any given day. That doesn’t just mean materially ready, it also means fully manned, trained, and loaded with weapons. https://lnkd.in/e8tgEhnA

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📢 Important Update for Drone Operators in North Carolina Effective Dec. 1, 2024, NC no longer requires a state Uncrewed Aircraft Systems operator knowledge test and permit. This change means commercial and government drone operators can now operate without a state permit. However, all operators must continue to comply with the FAA’s 14 CFR Part 107 (Small UAS Rule) requirements ➡️ https://bit.ly/3BBXax2

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Did you know the Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific Marine Mammal Program (MMP) turns 65 this year? 🐬 🎉 You can learn more about MMP and the history of the program in the article — that includes videos of the US Navy dolphins and California sea lions! — on The Navy Times website. #NAVWAR #OneNAVWAR #NIWCPacific #MarineMammalProgram #MMP #MarineResearch

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Is this madness? Should we be outraged? Or is our Naval Service suffering from Bureaucratic insanity? How best should we describe this contract award? I'm not one to begrudge a company successfully competing for work but will Deloitte consultants be welding or bending metal? Is this the best manner in which to succeed in building Navy Ships and Submarines? No wonder Congress refuses to provide US Navy with a bigger budget. Am I the only one who cannot conceive how $2.4B will be spent on a consulting firm? $2.4B = one submarine or; 10,000 overpriced fast autonomous small boats, or 1,000 large overpriced autonomous vessels, or 100,000 UAV, or payroll for 20,000 shipyard workers at an annual salary of $120,000. Surely a pay raise will fix the employment gap. What am is missing US Navy? Someone please educate us (with dignity) and our nation (respectfully) on the value proposition that was awarded? Who authored this contract and ultimately who is responsible for its award? “Deloitte Consulting has won a potential five-year, $2.4 billion contract to work with the Navy and Defense Department on their efforts to modernize and expand the submarine industrial base. Workforce development is one of several aspects Deloitte will seek to help the Navy and DOD's Innovation Capability and Modernization Office address, as part of their larger effort to address regional and broader challenges in submarine manufacturing.” How bout Innovation in execution...rather than the same ol' insider trading.

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Did you know, between the four types of WTIs SMWDC produces, there are 640 active duty Warfare Tactics Instructors in the Fleet? Of those 640, can you put them in the correct order from most to least of each type? 1. Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) 2. Mine Warfare (MIW) 3. Anti-Submarine / Surface Warfare (ASW/SUW) 4. Amphibious Warfare (AMW)

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Did you hear? The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations has released the 2024 Navigation Plan. The 2024 NAVPLAN is the Navy’s strategic guidance from the 33rd Chief of Naval Operations. The NAVPLAN focuses on two strategic ends: 1) Readiness for the possibility of war with the People’s Republic of China by 2027, and 2) Enhancing long-term advantage We pursue these ends through two mutually reinforcing ways: 1) Implement Project 33, and 2) Expand the Navy’s contribution to the Joint warfighting ecosystem Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gc8wwgdd

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Badge of Honor - Targeted by the PRC for being an American Patriot When I taught my children to ski, at the end of the day I asked them, "Did you fall?" If they told me no - then I responded - "You weren't going fast enough". After being in business for nearly 20 years, I prided ourselves of not having any lawsuits, until we became embroiled in civil litigation seeking to protect our Trade Secrets and stop the theft of our IP. After we prevailed, legal counsel informed me that the lawsuit was a badge of honor - "only successful companies get sued". Today, we received a badge of honor above all others, as we are targeted by America's key adversary - the Peoples Republic of China - why? For assisting our allies and being an American Patriot. In the ever-evolving world of innovation and technological excellence, recognition invited scrutiny and resistance to change. For Synexxus, the company I founded nearly twenty years ago, as a company at the forefront of advanced electronic system design, autonomous control, and ship innovation, we have been put on notice by none other than the PRC. Today, because of our advances, our company was publicly targeted by an adversary because of our patriotic stance. We consider this threat as a badge of honor. The PRC's threats, because of the growing tensions between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), serves also as a badge of success in addition to being one of honor. It underscores Synexxus’ considerable capabilities and unwavering commitment to national defense in the face of the existential threat that the PRC posses. For these reasons, we stand firm - or as my forefather Leonidas from Sparta said at Thermopylae - "Μολὼν λαβέ" - "Come, take them".

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I oppose the draft for at least four reasons: - Principle. - A draft is a symptom that military personnel are not being paid enough. There are 20,000 active-duty personnel on food stamps right now. -A draft will bring large numbers of people into the military who are in the 75% of the draft-age population who don’t meet the minimum standards to enlist. -The days of teaching a recruit how to salute, march, fire a gun, and send him to war are so last century. In this century, it takes at least two years of training to transform a recruit from a liability to an asset. Those who don’t meet minimum standards and don’t want to be there will take much longer. This is a misallocation of limited resources.

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One way to improve how military personnel grow wealth is to reduce the frequency of moves. Frequent moves encourage renting rather than home ownership and spouses lose seniority in their profession every time they are forced to move - and may not get employment quickly at the new duty station. In too many cases it creates “geo-bachelors” which puts a personal and financial strain on military personnel. https://lnkd.in/dxC_wShZ

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Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) is the US Navy’s evolving warfighting concept, yet it faces challenges due to varied interpretations and a lack of specific strategic focus. While emphasizing mass fires and decision advantage, DMO needs clearer coherence to effectively guide Navy development. A Shift in Naval Strategy DMO represents a departure from traditional naval operations. Historically, the Navy concentrated forces for high-end threats or dispersed them for lower threats. DMO advocates spreading warships outward while maintaining unity of purpose, especially for high-end combat. It emphasizes fleet-level command across broader geographic areas, moving away from recent strike group-centric approaches. Defensive and Offensive Strategies The rationale behind distributed forces includes defensive and offensive considerations. Defensively, distribution aims to enhance survivability by complicating enemy targeting processes. Given China’s formidable sensor and anti-ship capabilities, distribution seeks to hinder decisive strikes through unconventional maneuvers and force positioning. Offensively, it positions US forces to leverage emerging anti-ship capabilities across the joint force. Introducing long-range anti-ship missiles on various platforms—surface warships, submarines, bombers, and land-based forces—levels the playing field against adversaries like China, offering new avenues for mass fires. The Role of Deception Deception plays a pivotal role in DMO by targeting enemy decision-making processes. Incorporating unmanned systems and decoy missiles can overload adversary sensors, compensating for challenges in force generation by inflating perceived threats. These deception capabilities, cost-effective compared to mimicked platforms, can be integrated widely across existing force structures. Distributed Command Structures Despite distributed forces, command structures may remain centralized. Expanding expeditionary and afloat Maritime Operation Centers (MOCs) can decentralize command elements. Platforms with robust command-and-control (C2) capabilities, such as E-2s, F-35s, and P-8s, can assume command roles during network disruptions, serving as backup joint fires integrators. Enhancing Operational Learning Effective implementation of DMO requires reforming the Navy’s operational learning system. This entails translating DMO into actionable strategies for tactical development, warfighter training, and education. Integrating warfighting developments across Navy communities into fleet-level approaches under DMO is essential. Intensifying wargaming and augmenting staff at MOCs will notably enhance warfighting capabilities in the short term. Looking Ahead The future of DMO hinges on refining strategic clarity, integrating defensive and offensive capabilities, leveraging deception, and optimizing command structures. #Navy #MaritimeOperations #DMO #NavalStrategy #DefenseInnovation #OperationalLearning

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Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro hosted the Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su and Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03) aboard Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding Division in Newport News. During the visit, the leaders saw firsthand how important the maritime industrial base workforce is for the construction of the world’s most technologically-advanced Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers. At 1,092 feet in length and 100,000 tons, John F. Kennedy represents dramatic advances in propulsion, power generation, ordnance handling, and aircraft launch systems. These innovations will support a higher sortie generation rate at significant cost savings when compared to Nimitz-class carriers. The Gerald R. Ford class also offers a considerable reduction—approximately $4 billion per ship—in life cycle operations and support costs compared to the earlier Nimitz class. #challengewhatispossible | #nuclearfleet Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eEwQFdxU

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