QUESTIONS RAISED RE USINDOPACOM READINESS FOR COMBAT: 2/4: Vectors: Heroes, Villains, and Heartbreak on the Bridge of the U.S. Navy Hardcover – April 4, 2023 by Thomas B. Modly (Author)
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 1 September 2024
⏱️ 8 minutes
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Summary
https://www.amazon.com/Vectors-Heroes-Villains-Heartbreak-Bridge/dp/1642257036
Thomas Modly had an eclectic career in the military, academia, business, and government when he answered the call to service in 2017 and returned to the Navy where his career began. His experience, as chronicled in these pages, tells the story of Secretary Modly’s quest to advance the Department of the Navy’s preparedness for the challenges of this century. As Acting Secretary of the Navy he held fast to the mantra of “acting, not pretending,” and thus advocated aggressively for the Navy and Marine Corps’ future ― a future he believed would be defined by uncertainty and unpredictability. Every Friday he wrote a personal message to the entire Department regardless of rank. Those messages were called SECNAV Vectors. Each Vector was intended to clearly communicate his priorities and to establish a rapport with all levels of the organization. The subject of each Vector was inspired by real events that occurred in real time. As these events unfolded , the Secretary’s unyielding emphasis on being prepared for unpredictable events are proven to be prescient as the Navy found itself, unintentionally, in the center of COVID-19 crisis.
1940 IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY HEADQUARTERS TOKYO
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is |
| 0:05.0 | the Bess I in the world. I'm John Bachelor with Tom Motley. |
| 0:08.0 | His new book is Vectors, Heroes, Villains, and Heartbreak |
| 0:11.0 | on the bridge of the USS.S.S. Navy. |
| 0:13.0 | Tom is now acting Secretary of the Navy |
| 0:16.0 | in the steam post with challenges in all directions, |
| 0:19.0 | and all we can do is mention a few of them. |
| 0:22.0 | First, what is 355 plus, Tom? What did that mean then? |
| 0:27.4 | Yes, well, in 2016, the Navy commissions three different studies to look at what the future force structure should look like, |
| 0:35.8 | how many aircraft carriers, how many destroyers, how many frigates, etc, what that mix would look like and how many they should |
| 0:46.8 | have or set as a North Star to try and achieve. At that particular time we had about 275 shifts that have been a significant decline |
| 0:51.0 | from the 600 ship Navy under President Reagan and Secretary layman. |
| 0:57.6 | And we were looking at a threat environment that was becoming far more complex and challenging |
| 1:02.3 | with the Chinese Navy and others threatening |
| 1:05.4 | fars. So they did these studies and they focused in on one that suggested that the |
| 1:12.1 | best force mix was 355 ships. |
| 1:15.0 | And so that then became part of where they were trying to head. |
| 1:20.0 | It didn't become official policy until President Trump ran through election and he |
| 1:25.3 | claimed it and said that he was going to drive towards this 350 ship maybe and the |
| 1:30.5 | Congress put it in law that that was the goal for the nation. |
| 1:34.0 | So that's where the 355 comes from. |
| 1:36.5 | When I was sworn in as under secretary, |
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