The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
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Dirty Little Secrets
Brilliant Ships, Commanded by Morons
by James Dunnigan
June 22, 2006
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
While the Chinese Navy (formally the
People's Liberation Army Navy, or PLAN) scares pundits with its
purchases of modern weapons and equipment, it is having less success in
updating its leadership. Actually, there are three problems with the
leadership. First, the senior admirals tend to be more concerned with
protecting their little fiefdoms, than in training their sailors to the
highest level of readiness for combat.
Second,
major portions of the navy still, despite years of orders from above,
tend to operate separately. Naval Aviation, the PLAN marines, and the
major fleets tend to operate like they were independent of any
centralized navy command. That is slowly changing, and that's because
you still have too many senior officers, some of them who started out
in the army, who are afraid to, well, rock the boat. These dinosaurs
don't really understand modern naval warfare, and are afraid of
speaking out, and risk letting their peers see that confirmed. Worse
yet, the admirals have not really accepted the fact that in any future
war, success would hinge on how closely the navy worked with the army
and air force. The admirals accept this "joint operations" stuff in
theory, but not so much in practice.
And
then there's the problems they are having upgrading the quality of
officers. Smart, ambitious and well educated Chinese college grads do
not see the navy as a prime career choice. There are much better jobs
available in the civilian sector. The navy is trying to attract grads
with technical degrees, to at least insure that all the new equipment
stays in working order. Bonuses and promises of rapid promotion are not
doing the job. The navy still has a reputation as a place where
promotions come first to those who are accomplished communists, not
skilled sailors.
As a result of all
these problems, the navy is heading for a future where it may have
brilliantly designed ships, commanded by morons. That's nothing new in
Chinese history, and there are commanders in the navy, and in more
senior positions, that are trying to avoid this fate. So far, progress
is more theoretical than real.
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