Dear Admiral Hill,
Indeed, it is my loss that we have not met before.  I know Admiral Barrett from our alumni meetings in Portland.  He was a driving force in the founding of that group out there.  And, I suppose, Jack and I took a shine to each others as opinionated SOBs who knew what a rat smelled like.  I had experienced the personal damages of political correctness as the Director of Engineering with the Washington State Ferry System in Seattle, a post-retirement job.  So, Jack and I have shared G-2 on the ethics instruction situation at the Academy.  My class, '64, sponsors the ethics textbook effort and innocently thought some years ago that this ethics effort was a benign way to help out the Academy.  Little did we realize what a buzz saw it would become.

By way of background, I retired I '88 on the exact day of obligated service for O-6 retired pay.  I had been ordered to command the Mayport AD which had a crew composed of 25% women.  She was to get ready for a six-month deployment and followed by a 12-month overhaul.  I could see which way the wind was blowing for "women in the Navy" and knew I would likely step on quite a few toes in such a command tour.  I fail to suffer fools gladly [years have mellowed me, somewhat], and could see defending obvious lies about readiness and the contribution women make to it would put me at odds with the "bosses" in DC.  Therefore, I thought it was time to make a change after 24 years.  Also, I commanded a Spruance and a 1200 psi DD.  A wonderful time but all good things have to end.

On to your package you sent me.

Admiral, we are brothers!  You said everything I wanted to say and did it much better than I could ever have attempted.  I believe we must get the females out of the male fighting units or suffer great defeats in some coming conflict.  I fully blame the military leadership for the mess the Navy is in today.  We cannot blame the civilians.  They come and go and have no real stake in the present and future operation of the Navy.  We do!  Also, the civilian leaders only achieve what the uniformed leaders cause to happen.  However, the dynamics of this tacit arrangement are more disturbing.   To get another star, another command, another plum assignment the senior officers of the Navy roll over and do what they know to be at odds with the best interests of their service.  I have seen this lack of ethics [I call it] many times.  Yes, we must follow orders but we also have a responsibility to defend the nation.  The Commander-in-Chief is not the only one with that responsibility.

One active-duty Admiral proclaimed to a small closed meeting of alumni [jack was there, too], that having more women in combat units actually increased readiness.  When challenged by Jack, he refused to admit the obvious and stuck to the "party line" using twisted logic and Washington "spin."  Most of us were incredulous at this political doublespeak.  When you get 250 Admirals operating and speaking along these lines [even in private among his classmates], you get the mess we have in the Navy today.  It is our fault, not the civilians' fault.  We let it happen.

I have not heard an Admiral over the past 10 years or so, speak up against any stupid thing the civilians or Congress has done to the military.  That is their job, for crying out loud!  Gen. Krulak is a classmate and one of the few who has done so … Someone needs to stand tall and tell the press, the Congress, the White House, the civilian leaders they are just wrong in their social experiments in the military.  We are being set up for losses that will make Korea look like a picnic.  Have we forgotten what Truman did to the military [no money] and how we paid for it in Korea with the blood of our young men?

I don't mind airing the Academy laundry in public.  We are a public institution, after all.  And the two most recent ethics problems will be prosecuted in state court for rape of another female Midshipman.  That will bepretty damn public, I would say.  I welcome non-grads like Beak Atkinson who will pick up the cudgel and shout from the rooftops.  Our uniformed leaders will not, it appears.

The issue of closing the Academies is insufficient to justify sweeping performance problems under the "in-house" rug.  People always want to close the Academies.  I will take my chances with the American public on that issue.

Yes, I am a "Clinton Hater" but moreover I am smart enough to see power hungry collectivists moving n to take over all aspects of our schooling; from the day care to the graduate schools.  I know what history has taught us about the crumbling from within like the Roman Empire.  How education was virtually lost for 600 years during the Dark Ages.  How the people of Europe could not fathom how the stone ruins ever got in their back yards, nor who would have built them.  Virtually, no one could read or write.  No progress was made until education was again supplied to the larger public about 1100 AD.  I see the same thing happening today, only faster.

People like you, Admiral, are the ones to alert the countryside and tell the truth.  Please keep at it.  And keep me on your mailing list.  I thoroughly enjoyed your piece.  Not all great patriots are on active duty.

Stay in fighting shape, Admiral.  We need you, shipmate.

Very Respectfully,

/S/ Bob
Robert D. Jones
CAPT, USN Ret.
USNA '64

P.S.  An observation:  In the Austin, TX area we just started a joint Academy luncheon/networking group.  The number of young grads in our group astonished me.  There are perhaps two career officers in the group of 75 or so.  The best and brightest men are hitting the silk after 4 to 5 years of active duty.  I feel it is because the military career is no longer anything "special."  It is just a government job, and a low paying job at that.

So, if you are bright, well educated, and trained leader, why not come to Austin and cash in on the roaring economy in the High Tech world?  Apparently, that is where many of our core career men are going.  Out the door.  Where are the core professionals in the military who will build the defense of the nation the next time we need them?  Working in High Tech in Austin?