Road to 350: What Does the US Navy Do Anyway?

[Randy Daytona]

Who could have imagined* that, if left to its own devices, the private sector would choose not to do things that are not as profitable but are nevertheless in the national interest? And that in the long run, we would suffer as a result?

* Besides every economist, to say nothing of people with common sense

The point was that this shipbuilding industry, critical to national security, was protected by subsidies until President Reagan left it to die.

Subsidies , tariffs and whatever else is necessary should be used to return critical industries back to the US and override the economists and free traders.

 

[Dontcallmegump]

I'm not the SECNAV, CNO, or SECDEF.

But the fact that divisions with 5x the manning of submarines 'close' from 1000-1400 is taxpayer robbery.

The GRGB pay issue resulted in a lot of daggers thrown at incompetent YN.

If you think the Navy needs a culture shift.... well, you don't want people lifting up that piece of slate. Standby for more working hours.

My conclusion on why everything is so half assed, is because a good chunk of people are half assing everything. At least at the lower levels.

I'd love to see a culture shift away from "not my problem" or people who do the bare minimum, follow the letter of the procedure or whatever and then call it a day. Just give a damn and make sure you've done what you can to make it right.

I cant believe we cant do a lot better with the people and resources we have, just by having some pride in our work and wanting to do the best we can. The sum total of shrugs and willful incompetence is the rot we see taking a toll.

Novel stuff for sure, but im so tired of everything being coated by a malaise of shit.

 

[robav8r]

My conclusion on why everything is so half assed, is because a good chunk of people are half assing everything. At least at the lower levels.

I'd love to see a culture shift away from "not my problem" or people who do the bare minimum, follow the letter of the procedure or whatever and then call it a day. Just give a damn and make sure you've done what you can to make it right.

I cant believe we cant do a lot better with the people and resources we have, just by having some pride in our work and wanting to do the best we can. The sum total of shrugs and willful incompetence is the rot we see taking a toll.

Novel stuff for sure, but im so tired of everything being coated by a malaise of shit.

I think JFK tried to tackle this problem . . . .

Yeah, I know - old Baby Boomer stuff.

 

[Spekkio]

My conclusion on why everything is so half assed, is because a good chunk of people are half assing everything. At least at the lower levels.

I'd love to see a culture shift away from "not my problem" or people who do the bare minimum, follow the letter of the procedure or whatever and then call it a day. Just give a damn and make sure you've done what you can to make it right.

I cant believe we cant do a lot better with the people and resources we have, just by having some pride in our work and wanting to do the best we can. The sum total of shrugs and willful incompetence is the rot we see taking a toll.

Novel stuff for sure, but im so tired of everything being coated by a malaise of shit.

Consider for a moment that Congressmen are not as dumb as we think and the decision to man the Navy to 85% was in part based on policy makers knowing that people at many commands don't put in a full work-week compared to civilian counterparts.

Same reason we went under a spout of pay and benefit cuts under the Obama administration. Gotta pay for the ACA somehow.

 

[Randy Daytona]

Government takeover of failing defense contractors, similar to the FDIC a possibility.

Washington D.C. Mulls A Takeover Of Troubled U.S. Navy Contractors​

https://www.forbes.com/sites/craighooper/2025/12/08/washington-dc-mulls-a-takeover-of-troubled-us-navy-contractors/?ctpv=searchpage

 

[sevenhelmet]

Government takeover of failing defense contractors, similar to the FDIC a possibility.

Washington D.C. Mulls A Takeover Of Troubled U.S. Navy Contractors​

https://www.forbes.com/sites/craighooper/2025/12/08/washington-dc-mulls-a-takeover-of-troubled-us-navy-contractors/?ctpv=searchpage

Oh, God. The only thing worse than working for a defense contractor trying to please the USG would be your company getting taken over by the USG trying to please the USG. It won’t address micromanagement/creeping requirement problems, that’s for sure.

This idea might have merits in some sectors, but definitely count me out.

 

[BigRed389]

Oh, God. The only thing worse than working for a defense contractor trying to please the USG would be your company getting taken over by the USG trying to please the USG. It won’t address micromanagement/creeping requirement problems, that’s for sure.

This idea might have merits in some sectors, but definitely count me out.

This is the part you’re missing:

Restoring the threat of nationalization can help American defense contractors refocus their energy back on their businesses, incentivizing boardrooms to forgo indefensible dividends and stock buybacks to put money into recapitalization, modernization and workforce retention.

The latest hate on the big defense primes is that they take the money they’re given and instead of putting that profit into things to make them more competitive, they dump it into things that make them more attractive to shareholders.

I’m not sure how exactly they would actually implement it, and they could definitely make it worse, but at a minimum, having a seat on the board would provide the government insight into the financial priorities and operations of those multibillion dollar corporations. The other reality is it’s not actually that unusual for the government to take a steering role in how their defense industry operates. If anything we are the exception internationally, not the rule.

What’s interesting is that there is a lot of latitude being given to the Big Tech entrants, and I can see why some of the big legacy primes are salty about not being given the same freedom.

 

[taxi1]

the big defense primes

My mantra for any of these industries (defense, energy, financial (especially financial)) is that too big to fail is too big.

 

[hscs]

This is the part you’re missing:

The latest hate on the big defense primes is that they take the money they’re given and instead of putting that profit into things to make them more competitive, they dump it into things that make them more attractive to shareholders.

I’m not sure how exactly they would actually implement it, and they could definitely make it worse, but at a minimum, having a seat on the board would provide the government insight into the financial priorities and operations of those multibillion dollar corporations. The other reality is it’s not actually that unusual for the government to take a steering role in how their defense industry operates. If anything we are the exception internationally, not the rule.

What’s interesting is that there is a lot of latitude being given to the Big Tech entrants, and I can see why some of the big legacy primes are salty about not being given the same freedom.

On point - take a look at dividend increases / share buybacks for these major contractors.

 

[sevenhelmet]

On point - take a look at dividend increases / share buybacks for these major contractors.

Fair point- if you’re Lockheed or Boeing. How about the small contractors? How does this “help” them? I could see a lot of smaller companies exiting the space if USG is going to come in with their large organizational mindset and start running businesses. Doubly so for companies like my employer that primarily do commercial business, but have a small Defense business within the larger structure as a diversification effort.

My observation: We have the worst bureaucracy I have ever seen, and it’s only gotten harder to do things as an operator, warfighter, and/or contractor since I first entered the space in 2009.

I don’t believe MOaR gOVeRnmENt is the answer.

 

[hscs]

Fair point- if you’re Lockheed or Boeing. How about the small contractors? How does this “help” them? I could see a lot of smaller companies exiting the space if USG is going to come in with their large organizational mindset and start running businesses. Doubly so for companies like my employer that primarily do commercial business, but have a small Defense business within the larger structure as a diversification effort.

My observation: We have the worst bureaucracy I have ever seen, and it’s only gotten harder to do things as an operator, warfighter, and/or contractor since I first entered the space in 2009.

I don’t believe MOaR gOVeRnmENt is the answer.

It’s the subs that are the problem. If the big guys don’t invest in their subs and do things that only support their share price, then they eventually go out of business or cannot keep up with demand. Explain a 21% increase in dividend for a major contractor when not a single one of their products arrived on time.