Saturday, April 19, 2008

Why would anyone reasonably expect anything to the contrary given what has come before
Posted by Peter A. Stinson

Yesterday, about the BERTHOLF, I wrote, "acceptance of the cutter could happen by the end of this month; guess we're going to see pretty soon which way the wind blows."

A loyal reader responded today by email:

I think you are putting too much stock that there is going to be something dramatic with the NSC over the next few weeks. Just look back at the modus operandi of Admiral Allen and his immediate staff. What makes you think that there is going to be a major pushback or a watershed event in regards to the NSC acceptance? The acceptance process will be conducted with the same methodologies (i.e., press and Congressional relations, etc.) employed by Admiral Allen and his immediate staff that has taken them to where the Coast Guard is now.

Why would anyone reasonably expect anything to the contrary given this fact?

I'm reminded of two quotes; first, "If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got." Second, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." The first is from that lovable author Unknown; the second is from George Santayana.

I'm thinking that perhaps I am wishful... and optimistic... and I keep thinking that at some point, it's all going to come clean.

But, the reality of the matter is that we will likely continue to have cover-ups and accusations and stonewalling and denying. We'll have double-talk and congressional talk and congressional testimony, all ad infinitum. And, at some point, we'll get a cutter or two to go with our new Spanish aircraft. And flag officers will retire and get high-paying jobs with contractors. And the American taxpayer will get stuck holding the bag. And the whistleblowers and the bloggers will be destroyed, one by one.

But I keep hoping, hope upon hope, that the Service will just come clear and fess up to the truth.

I know: wishful thinking on my part.

Posted on Saturday, April 19, 2008
   

Labels: by Peter Stinson

6 comments:

At Saturday, April 19, 2008 9:04:00 PM EDT Michael DeKort said...

Maybe someone involved on the program will find a way to get the right information to the right people and this will all get fixed? A little information or even an unnamed source would help tremendously. Time will tell. Who knows what will happen after that DD-250 is signed?

 

At Saturday, April 19, 2008 9:40:00 PM EDT Thomas Jackson said...

Here is what I think … everyone gets one chance to the right thing right, but many chances to correct a wrong. This could play out well for those involved and they all make it to retirement and wash their hands of their involvement in this fleecing of America.

OR they all get caught in a very wide ranging congressional inquiry some day where people who never thought they would see a congressional subpoena now find themselves in need a very expensive attorney.
I’m impressed if not scared for Peter Stinson who has made some pretty bold statements as of late. The Coast Guard does not like being called out, and they are being called out. Eventually the mainstream media will tire of what Clinton says about something she didn’t do, or who Obama hangs out and seeks guidance from. When they do, we the Bloggers of America will have this and other Coast Guard issues ready for them to publish and fill up white space.

 

At Sunday, April 20, 2008 10:08:00 PM EDT Mike said...

Hoorah! I agree with all of you - good to blog with you old friends... ;)

I'm beginning to think this whole thing has grown too big to be fixed, easier to cover up and hope it blows over. I stated this in one of my earlier postings, not sure I'm the first, but I do believe that these problems go beyond the CG. I've been poking around and well, if these problems really do get publicized because the CG fumbled it so bad, who else will get sucked into the vortex? I'm now thinking that there are other agencies and larger players involved (I knew I'd be accused of conspiracy theories, oh well, sorry). If these problems are surfacing in our projects, I would bet they have been going on for a long time in other OGA's projects as well. Our cabling/tempest and who elses? We recently heard of another Navy project potentially experiencing a similar problem, who else..?

Now, follow me here, if somebody really began to dig deep here, it might be a situation where its just too big and scary. Maybe that is why nobody seems to be biting off on the hook we are tossing out here. Lets say some of the big integrators (LM, NG, GD, etc...) get called on the carpet (as well they should), where does it end? Lots of dollars, lots of heads rolling, get the picture? Is that really what everybody wants? How many jobs could be affected? Will it jeapordize our capability development and thus our national security? Where does it all end?

I say we just continue business as usual - lets pretend nothing is wrong and hope it all just goes away (lalalalala - fingers in ear). what's wrong with that approach anyways? (you know I'm just kidding)... MM

 

At Sunday, April 20, 2008 10:28:00 PM EDT Not Thad's Sock Puppet said...

Why did the Coast Guard publish the Press Release about the NSC just two hours after Thad Allen left a meeting on Friday with a senior Repubican Congresscritter where he was asked resign his command.

 

At Monday, April 21, 2008 7:22:00 PM EDT Michael DeKort said...

This week, the House will debate a bill to fund the Coast Guard for the current fiscal year.

In addition, H.R. 2830, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2007, would make a variety changes to the Coast Guard's operations, including the contracting practices used by the Coast Guard for the Integrated Deepwater Program. The Coast Guard is a military branch of the United States
government involved in maritime law, mariner assistance, and search andrescue.

-------------

Deepwater funding, internal organization changes and the elimination of the lead integrators are in this bill.

 

At Tuesday, April 22, 2008 5:35:00 PM EDT Michael DeKort said...

I think I know what the CG is up to regarding the NSC DD-250 and TEMPEST. This article list the "8 starred" items the Navy said needs fixed or waived before they recommend the CG sign the document.

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/004134.html

Remember the CG said instrumented TEMPEST testing began 4/14 (This implies it has never been run before. That is not true, this is the final round and possibly the first one the CG "runs" as opposed to witnessing before signing the DD-250). The thing bothering me here is why the CG only mentioned that one reference to TEMPEST in that release.

Now I think I know why.

They were able to release the status of the NSC and list all of the KNOWN critical items without having to include TEMPEST. That means that should the tests fail they will not feel the need to update the data and add items beyond the original 8. This will make it easier to hide the problem and the waiver - when it comes time to sign the DD-250. Remember the CG has stated that TEMPEST is a major issue and may impact delivery (of course they change that story at will and when they think it is convenient to do so). How did they know it was a problem if they never ran the instrumented tests? (Of course they know because someone has run the instrumented and visual tests a long time ago and they have the docs from the Navy saying there were 350+ critical TEMPEST design flaws).

Also - notice the article mentions the "trial card" discrepancies. When I was on the project they didn't include C4ISR items as "trial cards" at this stage of the game on the 123s. They were kept on a separate open item list in a separate database. Are there no C4ISR issues in the "8 starred items" because they are separating trial cards from open items?

What we need to know - on the date of DD-250 signing - is what are ALL of the open issues, what criticality did they have, which ones did the Navy recommend fixing and how were they handled - fixed or waived.

 

Post a Comment