Trust Official Blogs? Not anymore than I trust any Blog. We have watched a half dozen Admiral's use the CG Journal and Adm. Allen's Blog to justify why they have failed so miserably at Deepwater/ICGS. Now they are looking for a group hug from America to make them feel better about setting acquisition back another decade. You tell me who is doing the spinning here, us or them.

Wow, nothing as nice as having someone reverse your name and use it as their moniker. Both CGblog and CGreport have had guys like the new Jackson Thomas (and he means to confuse you with me Thomas Jackson) in the past. They tend to increase readership, and that's good. We have had a GS-14 on the Commandant's Staff, an Active Duty Captain in Hampton Roads, and one disgraced and now retired Captain among others take on the same project.

Thank God we have the 1st Amendment. Write on Mr. Thomas, Write on.

Thomas Jackson
Coast Guard Report.org

* A new Commandant not later than 1 June 2009
* A slow down on Modernization (command structure not ships and planes)
* A new third party investigation of the Noose incidents at the Academy absent any CGIS participation
* A new Coast Guard Director of the Office of Civil Rights

The reality is that we need to play catch up very quickly. Deepwater and ICGS have placed Coast Guard even more so behind the power curve. A reader on iCommandant.com left a comment that hits the nail on the head. Here it is:

Navy Commander Retired said...

Admiral,

As the Commandant of the Coast Guard and senior ranking officer, do you accept responsibility for where your Coast Guard is today?

With 110s at the Pier in Baltimore, and GALLATIN and DALLAS at the pier suffering serious corrosion and structural deterioration, your service seems less prepared than ever to meet its mission.

In 2001 GAO-01-564 warned that the deepwater acquisition strategy is unique and untried for a project of this magnitude, and it carries many risks which could potentially cause significant schedule delays and cost increases. The Deepwater Project faces risks in four key areas:

(1) planning the project around annual funding levels far above what the administration has told the Coast Guard it can expect to receive;

(2) keeping costs under control in the contract’s later years;

(3) ensuring that procedures and personnel are in place for managing and overseeing the contractor, once the contract is awarded; and

(4) minimizing potential problems with developing unproven technology. All of these risks can be mitigated to varying degrees, but not without management attention.

In 2004 GAO-04-380 again warned leadership that Coast Guard’s hands-off approach to make or buy decisions and its failure to assess the extent of competition raise questions about whether the government will be able to control costs in the Deepwater program.

And again in report after report, GAO continued to send the same messages of concern.

Again as the the Commandant and previously to that the Chief Staff do you accept responsibility for these significant failures which ultimately leave your service less prepared to meet the current needs.

In the U.S. Navy, a single fire aboard a ship is and can be reason for "relief for cause" of the Commanding Officer. Two fires guarantees relief of a Navy Commander. The Coast Guard seems to have taken the approach that fires at sea are business as usual.

Corrosion is another reason for relief of command in the U.S. Navy at regularly scheduled INSURV audits. Again, it appears the Coast Guard has accepted corrosion as a way of life. Corrosion prevention and control is an ongoing battle at sea for all Sailors. My concern is that our Coast Guard has simply become or always been accepting of it.

Failure to maintain a proper corrosion control program aboard a ship that would ultimately lead to that ship being tied to a pier has always been reason for "loss of confidence" in the U.S. Navy.

Admiral, the U.S. Coast Guard, its ships and the men and women serve are U.S. assets. Each important to your mission in protecting the people of America. Is it possibly time for someone else to take the helm and navigate our Coast Guard into safer waters?

With the now Billion Dollar set back known as Deepwater, and the very real "reality" the U.S. Coast Guard is lagging behind nearly every other Coast Guard in the world, you have to ask "how much longer can this go on?"

Why did CGblog switch to only comments by those who register?

Peter,

As far as I know only two media outlets other than Bloggers have suggested Allen for DHS secretary. The Middle East Times and the Washington Times who ran the MET story.

Thomas Jackson