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Message: Here's a great article I found at www.northwestnavigator.com: -- Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Terry D. Scott paid a visit to NAS Whidbey Island on Friday, Sept. 24 to speak with Sailors and answer questions about the changing state of the Navy. “The Navy has a long, very long history—228 years, of capitalizing on technological changes and advancements,” said Scott. “It would be foolish of us to think all of a sudden that we need to lock ourselves in, say that we’re not going to change anything. What we would find is that we became quickly irrelevant in this world. An irrelevant force is not going to win, is not going to dominate in the battle space.” When the floor was opened for questions the first question asked about what is probably one of the biggest changes in the Navy’s near future and of the most interest to many Sailors - Task Force Uniform. “Do you know where the whole task force uniform came from? PACNORWEST,” explained Scott. “What was happening is our Sailors were talking to their chiefs and they were talking to the command master chiefs and their command master chiefs were talking to the regional master chief and the regional master chief sent me this very articulate, well-written, colorful e-mail that said MCPON, we have got to do something about these uniforms.” Before talking about consolidating the current sea bag, the MCPON asked the audience if they thought they had too many uniforms. The resounding ‘yes’ from the crowd showed that he was right on target. Other issues with current uniforms are that they aren’t always practical, are difficult to maintain and aren’t durable enough. “We’ve got too many uniforms and the ones that we have aren’t always right,” said Scott before talking about the prototype uniforms that will be tested various places around the Navy this winter. Scott also addressed questions regarding current physical readiness policies as well as the new Fleet Response Plan and its effect on future deployments. One topic that drew interest was future plans for a smaller force, requiring Sailors to be more versatile in the roles they play. “We can’t use our current mind set of how we man ships with how we’re designing the new fleet,” said Scott. “However, I also know USS Ronald Reagan that the Navy commissioned last summer and the one we’re currently building, CVN 77 the George Herbert Walker Bush, when it gets commissioned in the 2007-2008 time frame, those ships are going to be around for 50 years and they’re still built on the same technology as what the Nimitz class carriers are. They are still going to require for thee next 50 years effectively the same size crew as what we have now.” MCPON Scott used several examples to show Sailors that the force reductions would be gradual, unlike some changes in the past. “We’re going to guarantee that there is going to be an opportunity for Sailors who want to serve,” said Scott. “But I can’t promise everybody that they’re going to sit on shore duty for the next 20 years.” There are a lot of changes on the horizon for our ever-changing navy, but thanks to MCPON Scott’s visit Sailors here at NAS Whidbey Island have a better idea of what lies ahead. http://www.northwestnavigator.com/index.php/navigator/regionalnews/mcpon_scott_visits_nas_whidbey_island/
