 Hello team seeing our Richardson here with McPon Russ Smith kind of an end-of-year wrap-up to wrap up a terrific 2018 and even more important already start to look forward to 2019 so it's great to be here on Facebook live and McPon you got anything you want to say to the team before we get rolling I'm just grateful sir for this opportunity as much as we travel to reach those that we can't through Facebook live So thanks for this opportunity. Yeah, great. I think a lot of people have signed on We've got some questions ready to go So we'll get right to Q&A and then what we'll do is we'll have kind of a wrap-up at the end Just about how to set our minds for the holiday. Okay, thanks first question This just in all right. We'll future deployments look like Truman's deployment They came back to home port halfway through their deployment will future deployments be similar so as you may know the new national defense strategy and our new way of doing business is to Be less predictable. We call this dynamic force employment and so naval forces inherently maneuver forces we do our best when we are moving around the globe and Cause it everybody Our rivals to think about what we're doing and respond we want our rivals responding to what we're doing Now the Harry S Truman strike group was the first group strike group to go out with a dynamic force employment plan and We went to places that we haven't taken a carry on a long time We took the carrier above the Arctic Circle for the first time since 1991 We did a tremendous amount of work high-end naval exercising and training with some terrific allies and partners all of that just to try and exercise our full maneuver capability as As a naval force element Listen, it's about being a bit unpredictable Our rivals and so this time the Truman came back and did a working port visit in the middle of their deployment And they did that in Norfolk That's not going to be the plan every single time and so we're going to have to build some adaptability in build some flexibility in and all the while keeping this as under control and Informed as possible For our allies and partners and most importantly for our families So we'll look forward to doing more of this going forward certainly in 2019 We're going to learn a tremendous amount from the Truman strike groups deployment. We'll roll all those lessons going forward Okay, so it's going to be a bit of a new way of doing business. We'll make sure that we do it in a sustainable way And we'll keep everybody as informed as possible. Thanks. Great question. Great way to start Is the Navy encouraging sailors to opt into the blended retirement system? We don't really have a stand on whether you want to opt in or opt out It is a fact that about 80% of the sailors that join us don't stay for retirement. So the BRS does offer Sailors a lot more opportunity to walk out the door with something rather than nothing if you don't stay to retirement eligibility What I would encourage you to do and we've been asking you to do is make a deliberate decision If you don't opt in by December 31st the system will automatically opt you out if you're going to opt out That's okay, but it's better that you make the deliberate decision that you're going to have to live with By getting in logging in and making that decision yourself I encourage you to go to our fleet and family support center talk to our certified financial planners go to your financial Institutions wherever you do your banking get some really good informed advice and make a really good decision for you because It's your retirement and you're going to have to live with the consequences So be smart talk to people that can help you make smart decisions and make the decision. That's right for you Now I couldn't add anything more to that everybody has their own situation There's lots of advice out there make a deliberate decision Rather than just let the system default to it. Yes, sir. Great. Yeah, great answer second question See, you know it seems like freedom of navigation ops in the South China Sea have increased in the last year Is this something we can expect going into the future? Let me put these freedom of navigation ops into a little bit of broader context First of all, there is a system of international rules and norms out there There are you the United Nation convention on the law to see there are there are laws out there and The United States Navy will continue to fly and sail and operate wherever those international laws apply and allow and Furthermore will advocate for those laws For our allies and partners and in fact everybody, right? This is the system that has enabled a tremendous surge in prosperity for the world And so as part of that advocacy as part of that support for those laws We do these freedom of navigation ops and we do dozens of them around the world It is not just a thing that we do in the South China Sea and so it's important. It's an important part of our Advocacy for these laws that we do these freedom and navigation ops and we'll continue to do them going into the future So you can expect that Next what is the shift in focus regarding collateral duties? We've been talking about this for a while now and a few years ago The chief enable personnel De-weighted the the weight that collateral duties have at a selection board We can do that and we've done that at the selection board process The problem is some command teams and not all in fact not most But some command teams in their ranking boards at the local level are still making decisions on sailors based on collateral duty and performance And unfortunately that can disadvantage a sailor when that e-ball goes in and it goes to the selection board and the mass Chiefs sit down and they rack and stack and they compare and we're looking for technical expertise We're looking for the rating experts that are going to help us get after the high-end fight I need everybody out there in the hinterland to really look at the evals that they're doing and look at the way they're evaluating their personnel and Make sure that you're picking the rating experts make sure you're picking the sailors who are doing the job We're paying them to do primarily and that's the thing that you're using to grade them and make and determine Who's the best and most fully qualified at your local level when you rank them and send those evals into the board? And that's how we're gonna pick the best talent. Did you say hinterland? I did sir Okay, so hey Think about has this just right. It's really all about becoming a Functional, you know sailor that is focused on the war fighting and operational problem that faces us So be a solid member of that operational team be ready to fight your command And that's what we want to be evaluated on that and Our character right our character and we want to make sure particularly as we get into leadership positions That we were putting the right types of people in front of our sailors that the people that know their job that are experts but also are the type of people from an integrity and Character standpoint that that live a life of honor courage and commitment. Those are the types of people we want leading our sailors So great question. Absolutely sir. All right Okay, as it stands, you know gloves can only be worn with the parka Can we change the instruction to include wearing gloves with the fleece when it's worn as a standalone outer garment? Okay, so this is one of those C&O moments I guess that I've got to decide whether the Navy can wear gloves with the fleece if it's worn as a standalone outer garment It's a tremendously weighty decision I'm gonna give it a few moments of thought make pond any thoughts. What do you think? I think it's a great idea It's a great idea. I do. Okay. It's done. You can wear gloves with the fleece when it's worn as a standalone outer garment easy Merry Christmas Sorry technical difficulties couldn't read that one So we can't Make pond. Why can't we negotiate for fallen orders if we are selected for a dependent restricted tour? The system right now only really allows us to look at and at prioritized billets out to 12 months So doing that won't really allow us to do bundled orders the good news that you're gonna love and in the comment section If you look down, you'll see a link to this that our people have placed You'll see a a detailing marketplace link that you should look on which will allow you to get a look at that a Quick look at how detailing marketplace is gonna look What cheap enabled personnel is put together with detailing marketplace is gonna do something we call tailored compensation Which is gonna give you the opportunity to do some things like bundled orders and give you some geographic stability or the ability to Take a little bit less our be SR SRB and get follow-on orders to maybe a different location that you want Take a hard tour for us in Bahrain Maybe you get follow-on orders to Norfolk if that's where you want to go It allows us greater detailing flexibility It allows you it'll allow you to move around perhaps between different skill sets that are related And allow you to do a lot of different things But we're moving towards a system that will allow whoever asks this question To get closer to what you're talking about with bundled orders and geographic stability We're just not quite there yet, but we're also not talking about if you look at that link about a Jetsons future We're talking about the next 18 to 24 months when we get this IT online and we really get the ability to do what we want to do Yeah, so coming right down the pike one to two years We're gonna be moving into this new regime which really allows us to have a lot more transparent and informed Conversation certainly about how we meet our mission as a Navy, but also about how we can tailor our Approach tailor your career to make you contribute to the Navy's mission, but also address your priorities So whether you hey if you want to go to one operational tour after another we got lots of jobs like that if you want to get some stability for Putting your children through school or something like that. We've we've got opportunities like that Maybe you want to get some education. We've got opportunities. So as we grow to understand your priorities better We can then tailor an approach, right? It allows us to first and foremost meet our mission as the most powerful Navy on earth And then also meet our mission to serve our sailors and their priorities as best we can sir Coming down the pike very soon Okay The what is so now coming back to me the collateral duty question again. All right, so we've I Think mcpond addressed this again. This is coming right off Facebook live How do I think about collateral duties mcpond nailed this it's a matter of what do we really prioritize as we choose our Leaders and those people who want to advance going forward. So We want those people to be chosen based on their primary war fighting and operational assignments And collateral duties are very important, but we don't want them to be a distraction to that That principal focus on becoming more lethal Navy. Okay. Thanks I've heard a lot about change the boot camp. Could you explain what those changes are? It's a great question. Absolutely We put a lot of work in We got a lot of feedback that boot camp wasn't focused on turning out sailors that were ready for the fleet environment and After taking a really long look and send a team of folks up there to take a look at what we do and how we do it deconstructing the syllabus that we have we Made a lot of structural changes and in short we stress the sailors that the recruits out We take them take a knee We give them the opportunity to learn how to cope with that stress and then we gradually increase pressure and decrease predictability Much like the fleet environment over the time that they're there until they get to the BST 21 trainer And then when they get to that BST 21 trainer They're actually graded on what they do and they're not new skill sets that they see for the first time They actually are doing things that they have been trained to do they've touched they felt all of the damage control training all of the Firefighting training the medical drills. They've done all those things in the ships and compartments. It's no longer 96 sailors watch while for sailors do Everyone gets repetitive touches on all this stuff and they get ready to do it There's a forming standard a PT standard they have to meet and there's a higher PT standard to graduate from boot camp and We're with the warrior toughness pilot We are turning out a sailor who is better equipped and better raw stock for the fleet to turn into that combat ready sailor Yeah, and so just as big pond said we're actually turning out sailors who are tougher this program has gotten more challenging But the other thing is is that the recruits are really rising to that challenge and there is Less attrition the fewer people dropping out now then there were before so it's really kind of a win-win We're getting a sailor who's more ready to report to their command and contribute to watch standing contribute to damage control be part of that operational team and Our graduation rate is actually going up. So it's really like you say they want a challenge They come to us wanting that challenge. That's why we're giving it to you. Yeah, that's why we join right so okay great question all right How's the Navy? Handling personnel has seemed to avoid see to see duty. Some of us are doing back-to-back sea duty while shipmates are doing years on shore This is a great question And if you think about some of the major personnel trends the major trends in the Navy There's probably two that we should keep in mind as we answer this question one is Our Navy is growing okay In fact, we are bringing in as many recruits as the system can bear right now about 40,000 recruits a year are going through Boot camp and onto a school and that's about the systems limit right now And we're looking to see if we can grow that but bottom line the Navy is a growing organization right now to meet our responsibilities to the nation Second, you know at the end of the day the Navy is about going to sea. That's why we exist we exist to exert Influence in the maritime domain we go forward We protect America from attack at sea we promote our interests around the world at sea and we promote and increase our prosperity by keeping sea lanes open Getting access to markets at sea and so this is this is the fundamental business of the Navy as we have taken a look across the naval Force all the fleets we are prioritizing and incentivizing all of those Opportunities to go to sea okay, so these are two big trends one. We're growing and two we're getting back to our sea going Purpose right when we get in our sea legs back, so you'll find that there's a lot of prioritization To fill all of those billets at sea and we'll take a little bit of risk on the shore, so those are the big trends Okay, this is another uniform question I'm not really prepared to answer it right now. It's has another thing to do with the fleeces Let me take this one under consideration for a little bit and make sure I understand it And if it's an easy one, we'll get right back out to you before the holidays. Okay. Thanks Okay, so this is a good question Is there a plan to speed up the process for obtaining a security clearance? The wait times have been out of control long and it's really starting to affect our Abilities to do our jobs and hire on new people well I'll tell you that is true, and that's not just the Navy's issue. That's really across the Department and We have a focus of the entire department's leadership on that. Certainly. I'm focused on it. Mig puns focused on it we've had some success with some Sort of tiger teens that go down to fleet concentration areas and help people fill out the paperwork Sometimes these delays really come from just you know, the paperwork wasn't filled out, right? And you know how long it takes just to get it out and get it back so we Can expedite and optimize this process by making sure that we fill the paperwork out Right the first time and that smooths the way getting through but we're hired on more people We're taking a very very focused look at what we need to do to get that time crunched down But here this loud and clear I 100% agree that it's taken too long and we're getting after it Is there anything being done about sailors who are in closed-out rates? If by closed-out you mean closed-down rates like we're rolling zeros for advancement NPC makes every up every Every opportunity available to sailors in rates that have very little advancement Admiral Hughes and C&P goes over quotas for every single rate every single advancement cycle And we do everything we can one to avoid big swings between up and down numbers for advancement and to where there is Opportunity and we can take some risk where there is a rating that has zero opportunity We try to provide at least one or two quotas so We only had I think one or two ratings that had zero quota opportunities And that was just in rates where either they're about to close or we just can't promote growth because frankly There's no opportunity and we don't want to damage a rating far into the future We're trying to work out opportunities for growth in the future. So For ratings that are closing There are processes to cross-rating the related skill sets or other opportunities and like I said earlier with detailing marketplace That process is going to become a lot easier in the future. Is this something we're rating modernization? Yes, sir finding those related skill sets again We're especially at the apprentice level where you can find a quicker way to move over into something That's less backed up and provides greater opportunity to move up into greater positions of leadership is what we definitely want Yeah, so I think bottom line working together, you know, you working with the Navy with us We can find a path forward and we want to find a path for that We've invested a tremendous amount in you you've invested a tremendous amount of the Navy And it would just be a shame if we had to take that investment and just kind of cast it aside So let's find a way forward. Let's work together to find a transition plan. Okay? Okay You know, can you tell us what we can expect from a possible government shutdown? I think we're gonna be okay there Everybody's working on moving forward. It's hard to predict the future But we're gonna do everything we can to take care of our own and make sure that we have the least disruption Can we please provide feedback and or scoring from chief selection boards Unfortunately the bar is different every year the criteria is slightly different But certainly the competitive pool of sailors that competes every year is different because some are selected some are not some retire Some move on to other programs And so to compare and contrast and say hey, you were the you were the first non-select this year Does not mean that you should have any expectation that you will be selected next year because the competitive pool may be different next year to give you that false hope to have you have the To have you second guessing the board or somebody else second guessing what the board did if you're not in there in a part of that debate It's a little bit unfair and that's why we don't provide that narrative post board There are always post board briefs that talk about selection Highlights things that you should do when we talk about back-to-back short-duty back-to-back C-duty is usually something that plays very well in a selection board taking those challenging jobs and Succeeding in positions of technical expertise and leadership and focusing on those positive attributes that we look for those are always published And they're always available those Enlisted career paths that we publish long before a board that gives you an idea that those are briefed at a selection board And they're not a secret Those are the things that you should be focusing on as the things that you do to prepare yourself for a selection board and to Find advancement in selection Yes, so Said another way the other thing to make sure we consider is that the proceedings of the board are sealed, right? So those are Not to be talked about outside the the boardroom itself And so the details are just so the board members taking oath that they Protect those conversations, you know, you can imagine some some very very Specific and personal matters are talked about But just as big pond said the general trend the sustained superior performance at sea In those hard jobs those things have lasting value will always set you up or for goodness in terms of advancing Getting the types of jobs that you want Okay So, you know Wouldn't it be cheaper to upgrade the kitty hawk then buy a new CVN the answer is no All right, and no and oh by the way, we've got to be thinking into the future so if you think about the Future systems that are coming online the future weapons systems. They need a new sort of power generation system Right. It's one that's configured for pulse power think about the new air wing, right? It's gonna consist of a number of different types of aircraft and so the Gerald R. Ford class is Configured for that future it is ready to be you know that carry that is relevant for the next 50 or so years It gets to be very very Expensive to keep these older ships at sea in proper material condition And it's it's impossible to upgrade them in some cases to be ready for the future and so we do this type of analysis every time we think about a new class of ship and We do that kind of cost-benefit analysis as part of that and That that shapes the decisions we make so right now our best bet is to go forward into the future with the Ford class carrier and that's going to be relevant and a major part of our Navy For as far as we can see Can we please speed up the process for single sailors to receive BH after they apply? What I will tell you and this is my shameless plug for NPC and for CNP Is the my Navy career center if you haven't had a chance to give them a call? Please do it's around the clock 24-hour service It's replacing the PSD process which can be cumbersome and absolutely had customer service hours These people will help you 24 hours a day seven days a week. They're standing by for your call Call them and use that. I don't have the number. We'll post it in the comments section. So you have it available But the reason that we're going to this model is so that you can get that kind of help When you need it where you need it anywhere you are around the globe because we are a 24-hour operation and sailors to Deserve that 24-hour service. So if you find it's not working we want your feedback And I've been saying that everywhere we've gone because all we're getting so far is a lot of positive feedback And so if there is negative feedback, we want to tweak the machine to make it work But we've been getting a lot of positive feedback So please keep flexing that system because we know as we start to close PSD's down that we're going to continue to sort of cause that change in the system that will throw people off and We're going to get commentary. So help us help you make that more robust and work well But but use that number my Navy career center will help you We've had thousands and thousands of people use my native career center and just as big bun said the Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive people are getting their problems and issues fixed there And so and we're listening to feedback just as big fun said to make it even better So that that's a great answer and a great plug for that that capability. Okay, we're going to go to the last question now And it's for mcplot What do you say to sailors and their families who think that asking for help with their mental health may affect their career or their security clearance? I really appreciate the opportunity to answer this question. So The holidays can be tough Any time of year can be tough with with what we do as a business, you know between deployments And even being at home during the holidays, you know, sailors carry a heavy burden and we recognize that Over the course of my 30 year career, I've maintained an SCI clearance and I have used clergy I've used our counseling services and I've done that to find a balance in my life And I've maintained my security clearance throughout because I've used those rather than turning to other means to self-medicate and find relief It's okay not to be okay. It's not okay not to ask for help We need to be good shipmates and teammates to ourselves and to each other to be able to look at each other and listen and recognize when sometimes we just need to be a good ear and Sometimes recognize when being a good ear is not enough because what that friend of yours is dealing with is a little bit too heavy And you need to get an expert who deals with that professionally Involved and get them some help. So this is where we need that eat me cap to me cap eyeball to eyeball Help from each other to look out for each other because that's what we do We're teammates. We're sailors and we look out for each other No, I'll tell you what I'll just leverage off of that and kind of bring our Facebook live session to a close here We are a team right and the highest performing teams the world champion teams and Many of you out there know what I'm talking about because you've been part of champion teams before they come together. They know What's on their teammates minds what their teammates are going through? They support one another right and so this is what world championship teams do This is what makes them world champions. And so as we move into the holidays I want all of you to know that you are members of the world's best Navy. We are the world champion Navy that Members of a world champion team. They carry themselves differently. They understand that they've got to come to practice They've got to come to training. They've got to be part of that team so that when that that moment arises When you've got to really deliver You have prepared with your team To be your absolute very best at that moment and so as we go into the holidays Everybody finds some time to get a little bit of rest, right? That's you know, this is a great leave period but do so mindful of One do so responsibly. Okay, make sure you get rested But we need you to come back the new year is going to take off and accelerate very quickly And we need you to come back rest it and ready to go and to even on leave Let's stay in touch with one another make sure we're reaching out We're we're we're taking leave and resting as a team so that we can come back and be stronger as a team in 2019 there'll be a lot of stuff coming out to talk about the forward direction in 2019 I'm going to be putting out a message that that sort of focuses on the way ahead and We need every player to be at their full strength to maintain The United States Navy as the most powerful in the Navy Everybody going out there and have a happy holiday Enjoy yourself spend some time with your family spend some time with your shipmates and we'll see in the new year Let's get to it. We are Navy