 From the studios of the defense media activity this is the chief of naval personnel all hands call with vice-admiral bill Moran and fleet master chief april bellow and Now your moderator petty officer brandy wills good afternoon and welcome to the cnp's live all hands call I'm petty officer brandy wills and I'll be your moderator for today's event We're gonna be taking questions all around the world via satellite social media and telephone calls Giving sailors the chance to ask their questions regarding personnel issues in the Navy With us we have a chief of naval personnel vice-admiral bill Moran and fleet master chief april bellow to answer questions Admiral the floor is yours. Well, I think fleet and I are anxious to hear from sailors. So without a long speech I'd rather just get to your questions the questions from the fleet. So we're ready to go Okay, and with that our first question is coming in from Norfolk via satellite So Norfolk whenever you are ready, please go ahead with your question Good afternoon services I to to pagan from the USS theater Roosevelt My question is what's the Navy's next area focus for personnel budget cuts and how soon could we see those be implemented? We we don't have any plans to cut personnel at all as the CNO was In Navy times this week It came out Earlier in the week and he had in a long extended interview about where he see he sees things going and Frankly, I think the stability of the force that we see in the future across the next five years Indicates to all of us that we're pretty stable and where we are with personnel So I'm not anticipating having to cut people at all. In fact, we're just finishing the tail end of a growth period in the Navy and I think the the future is really bright for folks that want to continue to serve and So as far as I'm concerned, this is looking pretty good for for the Navy in terms of personnel and not seeing any cuts in the future Okay, fantastic news for us. Thank you, sir Our next question is coming to you from San Diego. So San Diego when you are ready. Go ahead Hello, sir. I'm a MCS in Farrington station at impace west in San Diego I read recently that see pay is going up I was wondering how much more money sailors can expect and when will the changes take place? Question, it's the secretary of the Navy signed the career see pay package yesterday and it was announced Publicly we put out a media spread on it yesterday So as soon as we can get D fast to to update all the pay tables, which is a Process and process takes a little bit of time. We think within the next 60 days. We're gonna start To be able to start improving the pay of anybody that's on career see pay today So that's a across-the-board 25% increase in all career see pay tables and a doubling of career see pay premium Which affects sailors that have been on continuous see-duty for more than 36 months We're a very good news story for the folks out in San Diego and Norfolk and elsewhere that are on career see pay today All right. Thank you, sir. Okay, Admiral We're going to go back to Norfolk now and take another question. So when you guys are ready, please ask away I don't think they're ready Whenever you're ready good afternoon sir QMS Good afternoon sir QMS and Gleason from USS Theodore Roosevelt So my question for you is when will the new fire retardant cover all is be available for the fleet? Well, I I think you are aware that Admiral Gorton He's been spearheading this down a fleet forces and as I understand it right now those those fire retardant coveralls are being issued to the Deployers who are in the very near term, but by the end of this fiscal year So by the end of the summer all all ships and deployable units in the fleet will have these Fire retardant coveralls issued to them Every sailor that deploys or is going to be part of ships company will have that available to all right We are going to go to our first question via telephone. It's from USS Harper's Ferry Which is currently deployed to the fifth fleet AOR Harper's Ferry. Are you there? Yes, okay, go ahead with your question then Yes, sir, my name is these two downs and good afternoon my question concerns Does the Navy have any intentions to turn the career intermission program from a pilot to a regular annual program? Another great question. I love these questions. The answer is absolutely yes So we we think that the take rate on career intermission program has been lower than expected And we think the reason for that is because it is called a pilot and a lot of sailors and officers Don't want to roll the dice or risk their career on a pilot program Even though the results that we've had from folks that have gone out and done this program have been very positive People have been able to go out on a career intermission Get their college degree if that's what they choose to do start a family if that's what they choose to do Start another job see if the grass is greener on the other side and have come back into the Navy and picked right up where they left off So we think there's a lot of good reason to want to take this program and make it Permanent and not a pilot program So we're seeking some relief from Congress over the next year To remove the pilot moniker from it and institutionalize it across the Navy and open it up to more more sailors And I think the take rates will go up and we'll see better participation rates. So great question. Thank you All right. Thank you Harper's fairy. We're gonna go back to San Diego now, sir. So San Diego go ahead Yes, sir. This is one one Scott from San Diego. I read that a good conduct awards will no longer be accepted on investment exams in the future Is this true? I'm a pet Scott. I'm gonna turn that over to fleet Beldo. I think she's been working on this with leadership mess in McPon So I'm gonna let her answer that question. Thank you Good afternoon, Peter Scott and thank you for that question And I just want to make sure I understood it with regards to good conduct metal points are no longer going to be Given consideration on the advancement exam Yes, yes, we have been working hard on Figuring out if we have the way that we score our advancement exams correctly It's been a project that's been worked on for about the last 18 months and one of the things that we are focusing on is Evaluations performance and your advancement score But right now we're not gonna Change the points that you're given for awards. That was something that we were considering But after I'm further further looking down at what needed to be considering what didn't we're gonna keep it Good conduct points on the exam. Hope that answers your question Let me add in here Because there's a lot being just talked about and discussed about advancement exams And I think it's important for sailors to know that while we're talking about it Nothing's being implemented in the March exam cycle We may implement in September if we can get all of the mills per manual changes out there and everybody notified So they know what to expect But I'd say it's more likely a year from now is when you'll see these changes take place And we will communicate that to all of you what those changes are But to fleet bellows point and mcpond is very strong on this is we're trying we are trying to recognize performance over everything else Testing is important at the lower ranks at the higher you go We think leadership and performance is more important And so you'll see the weighting in a final multiple score change to recognize that and we're also probably going to look at You know just because you've taken the test eight times Doesn't mean you should jump above people who are scoring very high on their first time We want to reward performance across the board and that's what you're going to see in the future. Okay? Thank you excellent guidance to put out right now, especially because advancement exams start tomorrow So that's fantastic Next we have a recorded video question from USS baton, which is currently deployed Hello, sir. I'll ask to Charles mcnealy Here on Michigan station on board the USS baton So I was wondering if you could speak on the proposed see-pay incentives and when they might hit the fleet Additionally, I was wondering if you could speak on the proposed long deployment pay incentive Okay, great question and the reason I'm getting that question from baton is because We visited them right before they went on deployment about a week. So I hope deployments going well for you out there I answered the question earlier on career see-pay. So the package as we discussed back in January has been signed by the secretary this week So you will start seeing that that see-pay increase in your LES While you're on deployment, I'd say within about two months It's going to take us that long to get the see-pay tables updated in the defense system The the long deployment allowance that I also discussed back then is something that we are going forward that that being the Secretary of the Navy and the chief of naval operations are going forward to sect f here in the next couple weeks And talk about you know if as as the war comes down In Afghanistan and we start pulling back the Navy is going to be asked to do more forward We're going to be out there and we're going to be out there on potentially longer deployments many many carrier Sailors and CSG sailors on small boys are already doing that and we think we need to compensate sailors on long arduous deployments That is deployments that exceed 190 days consecutive And so that there is a there is a law in place that allows us to pay Sailors an extra stipend if they're at sea for greater than 190 days or deployed for greater than 190 days consecutive That law was suspended Right after 9 11 because you could imagine we're going to war we're sending lots of people forward and we weren't sure how long They were going to be forward, but it was it was just too difficult to project How much it was going to cost us while we're trying to fight a war? So we think that that that we would like to see that loss that suspension lifted So when we start deploying longer or we have sailors on longer deployments like potentially batan We can compensate sailors for those those longer deployments and it works out to if you go greater than 190 days For every month beyond that you get an extra stipend and that that the range of that pay is up to the secretary and Navy And he's considering what that ought to be right now So thanks for a great question and good luck on deployment Now before we started I live tweeted a photo out of our studio audience Because that's the day and age that we live in now we tweet and we use Facebook and we use Tumblr and all those things to get our message out so we actually have a question that came in via Twitter and It is from AC 3 William Respondek from the Katzi 73 team in Yakosuka, Japan And he asks I had recently read in the military times that our advancements were going to be more influenced in the near Future by our evals instead of solely our test scores to help those with strong leadership skills and weaker academic skills advance So the sailors who just get pushed through on P&A points They aren't going to make the cut which you touched on this earlier, sir But he wants to know any word on how this will take effect or when Yeah, go ahead please Well as we talked about right now March exam that starts tomorrow cycle and probably September It won't go into effect because we still want to make sure we get it right We want to make sure all the instructions are correct and everybody has an understanding of how the change is going to affect them So we probably won't see this change until the March 15 exam and then what else was as far as the weight of He was asking how you saw it Taking effects of how it will be implemented. Well, I will share with AC Yes, we will share with AC 3 right now. That's what we're working on to with what Areas deserve more weight than the other ones and again, that's something we want to get right We just don't want to do it the first time and then have to go back and change it So we're taking our time on this because we want to do it right the first time So we're not jerking our sailors around and it's real important All right, we're going to go back to San Diego now San Diego go ahead Good afternoon, sir. I am a petty officer Derek Stroop from San Diego, California and I was just wondering with the wars winding down in the Middle East if We enable personnel are going to see any cuts personnel cuts Yeah, thanks for the question It was one of the earlier questions that when we started this session a similar Concern that I'm sure you're reading about cuts in the army your cuts in the Air Force cuts in a Marine Corps But when you look at our budget that was just released and announced earlier this week We're staying relatively stable across the next five years. So today the Navy is about 324,000 sailors In fiscal year 19 four or five years from now. It's 324,000 sailors So we look pretty stable and that's because we man equipment we man ships We don't equip people. It's a it's the other way around So if we have a force structure that's got so many ships and squadrons and units Then we need that number of people to man it and and the forecast as far out as we can see in the current approved budget It is in it. We're very stable at about 324,000 folks So I don't see any changes like I said earlier No, no cuts are on the table today in in my world. So I think we're we got a pretty good bright future for the Navy All right, thank you, San Diego. Our next question is another phone question from USS Harper's Ferry. Are you there Harper's Ferry? Yes, we are okay. Go ahead and ask your question. Good afternoon, sir My name is I to one gas go from USS Harper's Ferry and My question is with the new uniforms that are coming in Has there been any consideration to giving service members a uniform a uniform allowance raise or Doing a one-for-one trade with uniforms I to one. Thanks for the question There is we are not considering an increase to the uniform allowance at the moment I think if there's an adjustment we can make Over time is when we get when we get enough stock of the fire resistant coveralls that we make it part of the Seabag issue right out of boot camp So sailors aren't having to wait when they get the pier side or get to the fleet to get those Of course it today it's organizational level clothing So sailors aren't paying for those coveralls and nor do we intend to have them pay in the future So that'll be part of the seabag There are very few uniform changes coming for most sailors in the Navy The ones we're talking about that you've heard me talk about are a year or two in some cases three years or further out and we'll continue to look at the The uniform allowance as those things as those uniforms come out but what we're trying to do in this in our strategy for uniforms whether you're talking male uniforms or female uniforms is to drive down the our cost to To to put uniforms out there. So everyone Has got kind of an equal cost in what they have to spend on uniforms and it also drives down our cost the more uniform We can make the Navy The less variety that we have to support and the least cost across the Navy. So that that's our strategy But there's no adjustment to the uniform allowance to get right to your question what I would add sir, too is what we also in Historically have done is we phase in uniforms for our sailors So you'll get your clothing allowance like you always do now We won't all we will never say as of right now you have to change uniforms go out and buy all new uniforms We always phase it in keeping in mind that you get a uniform allowance and allowing you the time to get that money before We have a mandatory time that you have to change into the new uniform Speaking on uniforms. Is there any word on the the new Blues for the women the women going to the Dixie cub that that uniform initiative Yeah, we're right now in the early stages of getting women measured and some Participants in a uniform wear period. So we're going to test these uniforms So that we get it right instead of you know, the usual Here's a uniform Go wear it and you know by the way you got to pay to get it fitted We're going to try to do this right this time So that that is going to take several months and then after that period of time will collect the data We'll get the feedback we'll make adjustments and then we'll go for a longer period of time to bring in more Participants into that so we'll grow from a small cadre to a much larger cohort group that can look at it And then we'll make those adjustments get them to the manufacturers Compete them and then we'll start rolling it out, but we're going to keep hitting this drum beat on the uniforms Month after month after month so people aren't surprised when it comes out But but make no mistake We are moving towards uniformity in the service dress blue much like we have in the service dress whites today And by the way, we know there are issues with the whites We know they're issued with khakis on Especially on the women's side and we are addressing those as we do all of this It's not going to be just give you another uniform and go make it go make it fit. We're going to try to do it together That's extremely appreciated. Yeah We have to be patient with us because all that work that I remember Rand was talking about does take time But we do want to get it right Absolutely, we're gonna go back over to Norfolk now for another question. So Norfolk when you're ready Good afternoon, sir. I'm Kilmont Torres from USS Theta Roosevelt in regards to the green Dg camouflage uniforms that are being utilized on short commands Are we gonna be implementing on board naval vessel naval vessels the green digi camouflage, sir Yeah, Q and one I think that what you're referring to is a type 3 NW uniform and the answer is no What you're wearing is what is authorized for shipboard Use and shipboard wear and of course when you're at sea the fire resistant coveralls is going to be the standard uniform for sailors at sea So we have no we have no intention of opening up NW you type 3s To shipboard use. Thanks for the question Let's get a question from our studio audience now All right to shootman from my night Marilyn This question is for fleet master chief with everything going on globally. Is there other plans to? implement some sort of training to help educate people sailors on geographic and political issues Thank you for the question Oh, yeah, and your rate was CT CT and to I think And I'm gonna ask them at my brand helping with this, but I believe as a as a organization We are continuing continually educating our sailors with regards to what's going on globally and how we need to be aware of Any type of Concerns or attacks or anything like that. I think we need to be there's a 365 day a year Attitude that we need to take especially when we do forward deploy But I want to almost you know brag on our our tenth fleet and our our CTs out there Communicating getting us information so we will know where we stand with regards to global terrorism Is that where you're sort of talking about? All right, so did those those chiefs back there set you up? Yeah, they're gonna get it when we're done No, that was a good question You know, we've got a long way to go to really take the Navy to the next level in terms of training We've got the right mechanisms in place when you look at Navy knowledge online It's it's kind of a at its infancy stage in growing and maturing But we got to take that to the next level and really get some interactive training That's a little bit more sophisticated than what we have today to get at your point So we can turn on it quickly. We can get fresh data fresh information for any sailors to point around the world To be able to get political insights as well as the counterterrorism insights that are required in the training today So your point is well taken and I think we do have to continue to work this Through better training methods and the technology's got it We got to move technology. We've got to move along with technology, which is real slow on that sometimes So we're working on that, but it's a great question. Thank you Sir we have a pre-recorded question coming in this time. It's from Diego Garcia This is MC3 Alex Medigard station aboard Diego Garcia. My question is for the chief of naval personnel Sir regarding the sequestration. What is the Navy's biggest challenge for the current fiscal year? It's really good to see in Diego Garcia. I've got a little time on that that tiny slit of island out there and It's a lot warmer out there than it is right here at the moment. So I'm Your question is a great question These are things that we we try to balance When we build a budget in the Navy every year and sequestration has made it very difficult because the cuts are significant And they're what we call arbitrary. We don't get to choose necessarily where those cuts come from So when we're making those trades, we got to understand the law and then we've got to understand where our limits are So I think what the CNO has discussed about his priorities about making sure the fleet is modern in the future and is also ready is What's most important and that's probably the area that we focus on the most From the personnel side of the house is how do we make sailors the most ready? They can be how good can the training be is it timely? Is it effective for the billet? You're going to so that when you arrive in the fleet at your unit You're ready to operate forward as we like to say so that those chat though the readiness piece is a big challenge And our challenge to keep the quality of service at a level where we keep quality sailors in the Navy It's probably our biggest challenge under sequestration in fact in any environment Trying to make sure that we we keep really good folks in the Navy so that we are ready when the time comes Thank you for that question. I think we have another sailor from our audience who wants to ask questions, sir So why don't you come on up? Chiefs are sneaky Good afternoon, sir CTI 3 Richardson from New York, Maryland I'd like you to comment sir if you could on sailors receiving their orders in a more timely manner The concern has come up about sailors having to wait a long time to get last minute orders more specifically sailors being skipped over those sailors who try to follow the seashore rotation that is The guidance but getting skipped over in CMS ideas. They try to follow that rotation. Yeah so last year under Under the continuing resolution and the government shutdown we we had to slow down Our ability to write orders far in advance because we were living month-to-month quarter-to-quarter in the budget world And so we were only being doled out money to get us to the end of the quarter So we couldn't commit to things that were beyond the end of a quarter if you follow me so yeah, we were notifying sailors and families much too late and But we couldn't do anything about that to be perfectly frank now that we have a budget You shouldn't be seeing that we should be back on a normal path to given six months notice Getting orders in hand being able to work through CMS ID Working with your career counselors working with the Bureau to make sure we give you plenty of notice and and see Opportunity out there for where you want to go in what job? So I think we're back off of that awful place We were last fall and it was not pretty and when we did not do a great job of Taking care of sailors by not giving them plenty of notification the budget constraints were what they were But we're off that now. We're back on the normal cycle Thank you Sir, we're going to take a question from Missala, Japan now. It was prerecorded so My question is with future budget cuts on the way where do you see the Navy in terms of family readiness with budget cuts coming? to BA age BAS And reduction in commissaries Okay, you know you probably maybe you haven't read My little myth buster blog that I come out with every now and then but I spend a lot of time on the road Breaking some of these myths and and you and you just brought three of them up if you look at the budget in 15 BAH is going up BAS is going up and we're getting a whopping 1% pay raise Now now that's not a lot We've been used to bigger pay raises and bigger increases in those programs in the past But in these budget in this fiscally pressurized environment we've had to make some tough choices about where we can take risk and What we've decided to do is to slow the rate of growth in all those programs So while their increases, they're smaller than what you normally get but they are certainly not cuts to those programs And that's the myth that's out there that we're cutting BAH. We're cutting BAS. We're cutting your pay We are not doing those things, but we are slowing the rate of growth on commissaries a lot of discussion about commissaries But all that's going on with the commissaries right now is we are going to reduce the subsidy that commissaries get today We're not closing commissaries But we're going to reduce the subsidy which may and I say may depending on what area You're in it may cause an increase in some of the pricing that goes on in your local commissaries So that might be an added expense that you weren't expecting But we're not closing commissaries. We're not cutting them. So again myth busting A lot of those things are out there. It's easy to say we're cutting cutting cutting When in fact what we're really trying to do is just slow the rate of growth So that we can continue to modernize and we can keep the force structure that we need to operate the Navy And if in fact you haven't seen the admiral's blog you can catch it on Navy dot mill or on the Navy live blog So go ahead log on to Navy dot mill. You can find that link So our next question we're going to go back over to Norfolk, sir Good afternoon sir. This is IS-3 German from the USS Theodore Roosevelt. You already mentioned the 1% pay raises My question is will any other programs be cut and how will that affect Navy families? the There are no plans to cut any of our pays and allowances the only thing that has been cut Technically is imminent danger pay in certain regions of the world. So if you're deployed Donald cooks out there on deployment now in fifth fleet In June that imminent danger pay region will no longer be in effect. I think it's important for us to understand Why I mean we're coming off war in in the fifth fleet a or we're cut in the Senkai may or and when the combatant commander Decided over a year ago that it was time to start reducing the cost of that by reducing imminent danger pay in some of the regions Around his a or we started moving in that direction and that announcement was made right before the holidays So it came out and in June in the imminent danger pay is being cut in certain regions But what's not being cut, which is also a myth buster is that Combat tax exclusion zones are also going away with imminent danger pay not true We have not touched any of the combat tax exclusion zones and in some areas. We've actually added pays to places like Bahrain Where where there are some challenges with no commissaries and some expenses out there that we've added some money for sailors that are Deployed there, but the imminent danger pay for Bahrain for example is going to go away starting in June. So it's a little bit of There are some cuts to things that are DOD wide, but Navy specific I don't have any more than that to offer to you and I'm sure you're happy about that Thanks for the question Okay, we have a question that came in via our social media right now. It's from David Callis and he asked Are there any plan changes to the higher tenure policy? Great question, I have no plans to change the higher tenure policy I hate to give you a short answer, but you probably appreciate that No plans to change higher tenure We we often look at how we're going to shape the force of the future whether we need to do that through incentives to Ask people to leave when we need to but we're not in a position in the Navy right now Where we need people to leave I want people to stay I want good people to stay so our incentives are about keeping good quality people To stay not asking people to leave Good sir. We have a phone call coming in right now. It is from USS Link Champlain Lake Champlain go ahead with your question when you're ready I could barely hear you, but I think the question is Is the is the expected drawdown in the size of the army going to affect the Navy and the answer is I don't think so I think You're going to see some things that the army has to do to reduce its its size if that's the way they choose to go And that will affect only one thing and that is that sailors start to believe that what the army is doing is what we're going to do And and we're not okay I spoke earlier about the stability in our four structure the relative Same size of the manning profile throughout the next five years So I don't see the effects of what the army has may have to do Having an impact on us. I couldn't hear a part two of your question. Could you repeat that? No, I'm glad you asked the question. So we are not doing any anything Remotely close to optimal manning or minimal manning in the fleet. My targets right now are to raise manning in the fleet across the board to get ships units squadrons up to 90% fit which means the right sailor with the right training NEC In the right job and 95% fill so 95% of all the billets on On any of those units will be filled by a sailor with 90% of them being by the right sailor And you can imagine we need a buffer there because it's not it's not a perfect solution people come and go for a variety of reasons But we are today the fleet in in the aggregate We are at 90 95 today And I'm sure there are sailors are listening to me right now on units and ships around the fleet they're going What are you talking about cmp? My ship's nowhere near there and I understand that I'm talking about in the aggregate So deployed units are pretty close to a hundred percent even greater than a hundred percent in some cases And then there are other units that are in the very early basic stages of an FRP That are nowhere near 90 95 But what we're working towards is getting everybody to that level Over the next year and I think you'll see positive change Especially this summer when a lot more sailors come out of come out of the training pipeline that we We put into the training pipe last year We we we assessed 40 000 sailors last year We're a normal year for us is 33 to 35 000 So we assessed a bunch more so that we could start filling in Some of those apprentice jobs that were vacant in the fleet So, uh, we're not looking at any schemes to go to optimal manning or minimal manning We're we're actually taking the opposite tack Which is to fill up demanding levels in these units so that we are ready to do what we have to do Thanks for the question Getting sailors at sea where we belong sir. Yes, ma'am All right We're going to go back over to san diego now. So san diego go ahead Good afternoon, sir Maybe f1 cooper from the pcd america As far as the ship's deploying is a 10 month deployment a new norm for our navy at the moment Shipmate, I'll tell you I know there's there's enough units out there that have done that kind of deployment It is not the norm the norm is probably closer to six and a half to seven months But I know for example More than a couple carriers in the last two years have not only done Nine month deployments, but have done back-to-back nine month deployments And that's primarily been driven By several factors, but the big one is is just kind of things like syria things like You know the crimina situation which could drive naval forces from one region to another and have to extend longer You know how volatile the persian gulf has been and and behavior of Of countries like iran and what that does to our posture. So It's difficult to tell how long deployments will be but until we can stabilize our frp And animal gourtney talks a lot about this optimized frp That he's that he's bringing forward and we're going to start here after truman gets home from its deployment today We're going to try to go to a more predictable and stable Deployment cycle inside of a normal frp. We haven't done that in years. It's been very challenging for the navy for a lot of reasons But I think the norm is much closer to six and a half to seven months And it's unusual to see us out at ten months, but it is happening Bmd ships are doing long deployments As an example. So that's why we are When I talked earlier, I don't know if you caught it But when we were talking about this high deployment allowance that is currently Suspended we can't we can't pay for sailors that they go on those longer deployments We we including the cno and the secretary of the navy Want to change that and allow us to start paying for deployments that last Seven eight nine ten months. So you get you get compensated for that extra time at sea Speaking of those who are at sea we have another phone call from lake champlain So lake champlain when you're ready go ahead Good afternoon admiral Lake champlain weapons department My question is Due to budget cuts and personnel cutbacks Is there any change in place to make the recruiting and recruit training process a more selective one to ensure more quality sailors are meeting the police? First of all, we're not cutting people I know that's hard to believe in this in this environment, but we are not cutting people Second of all, I think the question was What are we doing in recruiting to To raise the standard of recruits? Is that was that basic premise of your question? Okay You know the data that I see that comes in from recruiting command month after month and I see it every month Is it the quality of recruits based on? Test scores that you're all familiar with and high school graduates We are at a high we are at a high point in the navy in terms of recruiting In a sessions of sailors. So When you look at those two metrics, we're doing pretty darn good But I I I take from your question that you're not entirely happy with Everyone that you're getting out there. So I would I would ask you to give me some examples of the things that Are frustrating you by the quality of the sail that's coming out of Great Lakes or a schools and c schools Oh, Admiral some of the things that I'm seeing is um You have families that come here that We want to collect their paycheck and they don't want to do their jobs to earn it That's something that a test score is unable to test score Okay, so is there anything in the that recruits can do to screen somebody That maybe their personnel qualities aren't as high as as others Something that something that is that can't other for Yeah, I'll tell you what I'll take that one offline and maybe Write about it based on my recent our recent trip to Great Lakes where we sat down with The recruiters and and the rdcs at Great Lakes And give you some feedback about what we learned from that trip and there are some concerns and you've got some valid ones And I'll try to I'll try to write about that and inform you that way because it's I could spend The better part of the remaining hour here talking about it because it's really important great question And and I'll take that for action. Okay Thank you very much like champagne. We're going to go to our studio audience now. So go ahead Good morning, sir. My name is pet officer zeeman My question is with regards to the cyber warfare engineer program available to officers. Are there any Plans in the future to have a similar program available to the enlisted personnel Or with a growing need of cyber camp capabilities a more of an emphasis on Training for computer programming for enlisted Well boy, uh All I know right now and talking to animal branch and animal rogers and animal tie And others in that are working this really hard is that this whole information dominance era is exploding around us And so we're trying to get our arms around Making sure we we are targeting the right areas to to develop expertise both in the officer and in the enlisted Program, so uh, I don't have a specific answer I don't know fleet if you've got one on that particular one. No, sir. I don't I think as you shared with it We're continuing to look at ways that we can be more like animal talked about Up with the technology that we have today and getting there faster. Yeah Uh on the computer programming piece, I'll take that back And talk to animal branch about it and see if he's got some ideas And maybe we can write about that together and inform you Inform you that way if that's okay. Yes, sir. Thank you very much. Thanks for the question. Thank you Thank you. Let's go back to where it's warm. Let's go to san diego. So go ahead when you're ready Yes, sir css and rising with the uss pelaloo. My question is um, if our deployment or if our war is drawing down Why are our deployments getting longer? well, uh, if that's a great question it would be uh more along the lines of The nation has seen our Land forces at war for 12 years and beyond And and as those folks pull back You got to have a defensive back out there somewhere to make sure that no one Gets into any kind of mischief that we wouldn't want them in So the place you want to be is at sea where you've got kind of sovereignty and freedom of maneuver To respond and to provide a deterrent force as we're withdrawn And then once once we're out of their region on land It's always good to be sending signals to your allies as well as your potential enemies adversaries That we're still the united states is still out there That's what the navy's done throughout its history and we're going to continue to do it So the reason why they may get a little longer Is because we're trying to get ships back and get them into maintenance And to do that we may have to extend others To give those ships that have missed their maintenance availabilities And modernization availabilities and get a get an opportunity to get that done And so we're just going to kind of ebb and flow over the next couple years as we do that Get the maintenance levels and the modernization levels back up and then we can Re uh reset if you will the deployment cycles to align with what admiral gordon is trying to do with the OFRP Great question. Thank you All right, let's take another question from our audience Good afternoon, sir. This is mc1 gamble from here at defense media activity My question for you is the navy has been 100 on ta for the longest time and even when the other branches of services dropped ta the navy kept it at 100 percent, but i've heard talk of them possibly going down to maybe 75 percent. Do you have any word on that, sir? A question i can answer Talking about some skin in the game Heard that comment before skin in the game what we're talking about now first of all just for everybody's information for the rest of the fiscal year We're at 100 percent. We're not changing anything for the rest of the year. So you'll see a lot of um Advertisement and a lot of information out there about if you want to go to school Here's the time and we don't want anybody to get nervous that we're not going to have ta anymore We just want to make sure that we're given every sale the opportunity that qualifies to Utilize ta is taking advantage of that But what you might see is exactly what you talked about a 75 cent government navy pays 25 percent sailor pay because we believe that if there's some investment in there from the sailor They get become a little bit more committed This is not just something i can do because it's free and not that we've had a lot of sailors taking advantage of ta But again as we talk about The budget and ways that we can be good stewards of the budget budget. Here's an opportunity for us to Be mindful of 75 military 25 for the sailor and I think when I went back I'm not going to tell from long ago that was but when I first came in that's what I did I was on the 75 25 program and and I did not not want to go because I had to pay that 25 So I think it'll still be a good deal for sailors. What do you think? I think it would be a good deal mess chief Thank you mass chief. Thank you sir In regards to ta now that can still be used to pay for certifications through navy cool as well, correct? ta yes, yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. So we have lots of opportunities to go out there And get some education. So take advantage of them To fleet's point about we're at a hundred percent this year. We got cash folks I got cash to loan you for tuition assistance and we're not eating into the cash at the rate we expected So if you're thinking even thinking about Signed up for courses doing certifications Do it now get it signed up for while we still have that cash available Because once we cross over to the next fiscal year, we start over again. So there's opportunity for you right now That was prerecorded from uss truman. So we're going to go to that Hi, sir. I'm ellis one tompkins aboard uss harris truman and my question for you is is the navy generating a more effective sexual assault prevention program And if so, when can we expect to hear about that? Ellis one asks a great question as well So I think we've done as a navy done a very nice job Of of giving baseline training to educate people on what sexual assault is how to recognize Early behaviors that may lead to sexual assault And and giving people some tools about not only how to recognize but maybe how to deal with people that may be going down a destructive path What we haven't done in the fleet, but have done A great lakes has had a lot of peer on peer interaction small group settings very personal Where you can have frank honest discussions about this topic We tend to do it the old navy way. We build powerpoint slides We stand up in a theater with 100 200 300 400 people in it and and people start nodding off in the back And not paying attention, but we you know, we call it we call a training and off we go We cannot do that with sexual assault training So we're taking the training that we think is pretty darn effective at great lakes, which is that small peer to peer Um intervention kind of training and we're moving that to the waterfront as well So we're going to bring those smaller opportunities where you all get to sit down with peers and have a conversation learn from each other And and try to start attacking it because if you don't own this problem If you don't take ownership of it, we're never going to we're never truly going to affect change in the navy It can't be left up to guys like me and fleet mouth chief Okay, it's got it's got to come from you and we need to give you the tools And then we we frankly have to talk about it at that level And so that's our plan this year is to start bringing that training to the to the waterfront And to small in every unit around the navy so that that you have the benefit of that kind of training So, you know Often talks about creating a culture where sexual assault is not tolerated So what can sailors do? To help create that culture to be a part of it. What what is our part of this? I think um one of our responsibilities every sailor and I know we talked about this too is when we see something Um going on in our spaces around us. We need to talk about it We need to hold each other accountable We need to look each other and I and say shipmate not in my navy That's what we need to do But sometimes that's hard and we talk about the peer pressure of it and that's what they talk about in these large Excuse me small groups is that's hard. This is this is my shipmate. I've gone through boot camp We went through a school together now we're sailing the ship together and I see him walking down a path of destruction Sometimes that's hard for me to say Come on petty officer bellow. You know, you I know you want this job. You don't want to put yourself in that situation You know because then he might turn around and look at me And I'm no longer his friend now. Oh, oh, you're one of them. You're like that now and that's hard So that's what I think we need to do though is be able to To remind them that we are just having this conversation with them because we want them to be successful We want them to be in control of their Career however long that may be and not anybody else So it's standing up for each other and just looking each other and I and being honest with each other You know, it's several years ago and we we first started to attack this um sailors of of this Uh cohort group younger sailors said they started self organizing and we eventually we formalized it a little bit and called it c-sad And and that coalition of young sailors trying to provide opportunities for other young sailors to do something non-destructive and very beneficial to themselves to Their shipmates to this the local community in many cases has really kind of taken off around the fleet in In different areas. So we're we continue to encourage the c-sad organizations to get out there What I worry about is that we make it a precursor to uh, whether we select that person for sailor the year We've got us. We've got to allow c-sad to be what it was envisioned to be which is a self organizing Group of sailors that are trying to find opportunity to do something else Now what we've got to do what we owe that organization Around the fleet is some money to be able to go do the things they need to do whether it's just basic transportation to go out to habitat for humanity to go work a farm with a some Some veterans there or you go to a local hospital or in elderly care Those are the kinds of things that sailors get to do But but they're often restricted or limited by their ability to get there So we're looking at how we can provide some funding for that But I don't want the fleet to start taking this on as uh, as another association That it becomes um, you know competition for how you're going to advance that then it's counterproductive in my view Thank you very much Our next question. We're going to go back to san diego. So san diego. Go ahead whenever you're ready Hello, uh, good morning, sir. How are you doing? This is ad 1 christian from pcd america here in san diego And I had a question regarding to uh, the advancement program there as far as possibly be changing in the future Uh, there have been any guidelines regarding, uh, would it take effect as far as for the cap program? For these sailors out here to see to me All right, I heard you talk about two different programs you talked about the advancement exam And then I heard you talk about cap program. I think I heard you say that So as far as the advancement exam, let's talk about that first with regards to our initiative to Change the weighting that we put on whether it's your performance evaluation or whether it's the test score Probably not giving so many points for pna because you stuck around long enough And you've maxed out on your pna points and that's what gets you Over the standard score that you need to advance So we are looking at that and um, we see that probably coming in effect not until next year about the same time What about the cap? Did you ask? Okay I know majority of these sailors out here Me as a as far as a senior leader They they read it through navy times and they kind of hear through As far as other sailors that they make they may go away Downsides and we're taking a program away. So it kind of takes that initiative for I'll say it kind of work harder towards maybe receiving maybe being that one selectee from That program so that's kind of my concern that you know, I kind of wanted to know if there's any been guidelines As far as they are they're gonna be taking away the program or they actually downsizing it because of the advancement All right, as far as the cap program, there's another myth buster. We get to um Stomp out we are not doing away with the cap program as of now cap is um In places as it's always been we are looking at again Just making sure that we are providing every sailor the opportunity that they have At every command the opportunity that they have to cap that number one performer That they have within their command There's no taking away. There's no reducing the numbers. There's always been a percentage There's always been a percentage related to how many Caps they command gets based on the size and that's still going to be in place shipmate. So nope, that's another Myth that we're going to stomp out right here cap is not going away. It's in place We're just going to make sure we're tighten it up now I will share with you we do have some concerns as we continue manning the force properly and making sure that we have the right skills um We're concerned about competitive rates and what I mean when I talk about competitive rates are those rates that are over man So you might see something come out with regards to making sure that we do not put a any rate out there Um in a position where they're over man So now your shipmate can't advance on the navy advancement of them because we've capped them So you have sailors that are getting capped which we want them to be capped But then you have sailors that are taking a navy advancement exam That can't get advanced because there's no more quotas because we've used them all in cap So that's just one thing that we um as we go through the program are going to make sure that we keep a close eye on So we don't put any of our rates in a situation where they become over man Hope that answers your question shipmate Okay, next we have a question that came in via social media A sailor wrote and asks i've been hearing that boot camp will be three months long by implementing combat training How would fleet sailors go about getting that training? What have you heard about it, sir? Okay another myth um So boot boot camp is eight weeks eight and a half weeks. Uh, we're not going to change that Um, if we did change it, I'd ask everybody who didn't do the full three months to go back through. Is that okay? No, okay Now I think what what he's asking though is uh, he's heard of some some other types of combat training I'm not aware of that. We're certainly not going to add to boot camp to uh to to to provide that So I'd have to I'd have to learn a little bit more about what specifically the sailors referring to But boot camps eight weeks eight and a half weeks. No plans to change it under that We are going to take a brief studio question Sir peter officer bower from fleet cyber I've got a quick question. Uh, I know you're getting a lot of questions about the budget talks, uh with regards to personnel but if With the budget talks uh Are there any plans to close bases or ports? Uh If there are do you know of any? So he asked a brief question. I can give a briefer answer. No No no plans now you're going to read about uh, you know Members in congress debating whether we need to do another brak in the future Um, you may hear uh folks in osd talk about it But we have no plans to to close bases or units At this at this time none All right, thanks for the question. Thank you very much, sir And we're going to take a real quick question from san diego san diego. Go ahead Good afternoon, sir One of my questions is with the change on the investment system Are they going to planning on adding points for people to have dual warfare designations and maybe for a fitness physical fitness assessment of scores And whether you have dual warfare qualifications those were not two of the things that went into the change that's going to come up for the Advancement exam Thank you for the question Okay, that is all we have time for. I want to thank you so much admiral fleet bell though for joining us And uh, we have a few moments left until we get to the next question. Thank you So much admiral fleet bell though for joining us And uh, we have a few moments for some closing remarks if you would like to give some Well, first of all, thanks for allowing us to come out here and uh, I appreciate everybody coming to listen and ask great questions Um, I I guess I'm most impressed by the the level of the questions Great questions. They allowed us to talk about things that we're working on back in uh in the bureau That are designed to support sailors and families Throughout the fleet and and I could tell you as hard as these these days are in terms of understanding where we are With the budget and what's happening with force structure We're in a really good place in the navy because of decisions that have been made over the last couple years To stabilize the force now, I think if there's a message that I'd like you to take back To your units and to your shipmates is that the navy's in a relatively stable position And it looks like we're going to stay that way for as far as we can see But that also means we're going to be out there operating A little bit, you know more than uh more than we have. Thank you I really apologize for cutting you off for cutting you off but uh, thank you once again for joining us and uh taking part in today's all hands call if you want Or if your submitted questions were not answered on the air, they will be answered on ah dot mill So check them out there On behalf of defense media activity. I'm petty officer brandy wills. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you