How did the U.S. Navy become a strategic liability to the national security of the United States? There is no shortage of judgment about the inability of American naval power to regenerate itself. Shipyard capacity and productivity, lack of trained workers, costly periods of ship upkeep, delays of new ships, quality and quantity of enlistments — the list goes on, underlined even by those who once led at the highest levels.
So where to find needed change? If we turn to history, our practical senses might be revived by looking to the American people who have always made our national security a reality.
During the first era of technology-enabled globalization, transformation was everywhere: shifting from wind to coal and then oil-powered vessels, wireless communications, aviation, submarines, even analog computers for shipboard fire control systems. Imaginative leaders such as U.S. Secretary of War Elihu Root and Sir John Fisher began their respective military and naval revolutions by investing in people. Using today’s terminology, they rewired human capital systems to better match learning systems with talent management.
Today, in this digitally powered second era of globalization, nothing less than our way of life is at stake if we do not again bravely retool our national security systems for people.
Nevertheless, we own a long record of tinkering, of attempting to adapt industrial-age systems to a changed informational world. And who is often blamed for our slow stumble at this critical competitive moment?
Among other maladies, the advising class often points the finger at our families, educators and social structures. Somehow, blue-collar America can’t get it together for the good of the country. We are told most young people are no longer “propensed” to serve, for a variety of reasons, causing some to shrug their shoulders. Until America finds its way, they seem to say, it’s not my issue to solve. Others believe only a major war or global crisis will finally shock our system into action.
The fact is, we are there already. And once again, the answer lies in our people.
Raised by generations of shipyard workers, I know what such investment can mean to the people of the Tidewater area. Yes, it seems quaint today, but that employee bus daily pointed toward a world-class learning laboratory called the Norfolk Naval Shipyard was a life-changing marvel.
It is well past time to reimagine our education and training capacities for national security. A positive recent outcome of such nascent thinking is the creation of the U.S. Naval Community College (USNCC), where sailors and Marines now earn associate degrees in fields that matter for their futures and the nation.
The modern-day shipyard bus could be training like the USNCC provides, but at a much larger scale — for government and uniformed servants alike. First-term enlistments could be converted into decades-long careers at our shipyards and other defense-related technical production centers. Continued service in the reserves can be further incentivized, concurrently providing an augmented civilian pension along with a military retirement as other federal workers earn today.
We also learn a lot about our people as they learn at digital hubs like the USNCC. Uniting our active and reserve human capital and learning management systems would better reveal the many different talents available to America’s defense. Personalized learning and career management would finally leverage the promise of a new cognitive age. And if crisis comes, specific skills can be placed exactly where needed.
None of these ideas are new — but modern courage to make them happen is.
America has always focused far less on liabilities and more about strategic opportunity. And finding such opportunity begins, as it always has, by investing in our people first.
Steve Deal, a retired U.S. Navy captain, was born in Norfolk and graduated from Great Bridge High School. He retired after 27 years of active duty and directed the Navy’s 2018 Education for Seapower study.