This is the power of the leader-leader structure. Only with this model can you achieve top performance and enduring excellence and development of additional leaders.
If the leader-leader model can work on board a nuclear submarine, it can work for you.
I worry that some readers will think of the list of mechanisms as prescriptions that, if followed, will result in the same long-term systemic improvements we saw on Santa Fe. I don’t think so. In my work as a consultant after leaving the U.S. Navy, I have discovered that each organization is different and unique. The people making up the organization have different backgrounds and a different level of tolerance for empowerment and a different sense of comfort in emancipation.
Your mechanisms will be structurally similar, but the specifics will be different. For example, we found that one of the most important mechanisms for control was to change the level in the organization where an individual’s vacation was approved. In your organization, it may not be the vacation policy. It may be the level at which discounts are approved for the customer. It may be the dollar amount an employee can obligate without higher authority. If you ask your people what authorities they would like in order to make their jobs easier, you’ll definitely get some ideas.
Deliberate action is being adopted across the submarine force. It’s known to the nukes as “point and shoot” and taught in the nuclear power training pipeline. Many commands enforce it and take it to heart.
“I intend to . . .” has also been spreading. I visited the USS New Mexico, a ship commissioned in 2010. While I was talking to the captain, the duty officer walked up to him and said, “Captain, I intend to . . .” That ship was running well.
As for “Don’t brief, certify!” the language of “certification” as opposed to briefing has caught on within the submarine force, but for many it’s just a different word for briefing.
• • •
For more information on how your organization can benefit from the leader-leader structure, I encourage you to visit my Web site (www.leader-leader.com) or contact me directly at [email protected]. On the Web site, I offer several tools for building a leader-leader structure, including the seven-step process for effective self-assessment that we developed on board Santa Fe.
Ultimately, the most important person to have control over is yourself—for it is that self-control that will allow you to “give control, create leaders.” I believe that rejecting the impulse to take control and attract followers will be your greatest challenge and, in time, your most powerful and enduring success.
AFTERWORD
Where Are They Now?
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER TOM STANLEY, XO on Santa Fe 1999–2000, went on to command the USS Los Angeles and was selected for major command. He commanded the submarine tender USS Frank Cable from 2009 to 2011. He is a captain in the Navy.
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER MIKE BERNACCHI, XO on Santa Fe 2000–2, went on to command the USS Alexandria and was selected for major command. He is in command of Submarine Squadron Four in New London, Connecticut.
LIEUTENANT DAVE ADAMS, weapons officer on Santa Fe 1998–2001, commanded the Khost Province PRT and went on to command the USS Santa Fe in 2010. He is selected for captain.
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER RICK PANLILIO, engineer on Santa Fe 1998–2001, went on to command the USS Springfield 2009–12. He is selected for captain.
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER BILL GREENE, navigator/operations officer (Nav/ops) on Santa Fe 1997–99, entered the Engineering Duty Officer program and is the commander of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
LIEUTENANT CALEB KERR, Nav/ops on Santa Fe 2000–4, commanded the Nuristan Province PRT and went on to command the USS Bremerton in 2010. He is currently a commander.
SENIOR CHIEF ANDY WORSHEK, chief sonarman on Santa Fe, served as chief of the boat on the USS Cheyenne, was selected for master chief, and served as the command master chief of Submarine Base Yokosuka (Japan).
CHIEF DAVID STEELE, chief fire controlman on Santa Fe 1996–2000, earned his bachelor’s degree, served as chief of the boat on the USS Bremerton, and served as command master chief for the Naval Submarine Support Command, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He is a master chief petty officer.
YN2 SCOTT DILLON, yeoman division leader on Santa Fe, was promoted to first class petty officer and chief while on Santa Fe. He is serving on the staff of the Commander, Submarine Forces. He is a senior chief petty officer.
SLED DOG, quartermaster on Santa Fe, successfully completed his tour in the Navy and has been honorably discharged.
GLOSSARY
Technical Terms, Slang, and Military Jargon
1MC Loudspeaker system allowing announcements throughout the ship.
ADCAP “Advanced Capability”—Mk 48 ADCAP torpedo. The main heavyweight armament of American submarines. Highly effective weapon against both submarines and surface ships. Santa Fe could carry more than twenty in its torpedo room.
ANAV Assistant Navigator. A senior enlisted man in the navigation department responsible for the preparation of charts and the safe navigation of the ship.
AWOL Absent without leave. Also known as UA, unauthorized absence. Departing your place of work without authorization.
BSP Brief stop for personnel. A quick entry into port during which the ship typically does not moor but meets a boat in the harbor to transfer personnel, mail, and, if fortunate, fresh fruits and vegetables.
BULL NUKE Senior nuclear-trained chief. Initially Chief Brad Jensen, who transferred without a successor. Santa Fe benefited greatly when Chief Mike Ciko came to be the bull nuke after the billet had been gapped for several months.
CAPTAIN By rank, an O6. The rank above commander and below rear admiral. By position, the commanding officer of a ship or submarine. What’s potentially confusing is that the rank of submarine captain is commander but we call him “captain.” Alternatively, the rank of a squadron commander, called a commodore by position, is a captain.
CO Commanding officer, “captain” of a nuclear-powered submarine. A commander by rank.
COB Chief of the boat. The senior enlisted man on the submarine. Santa Fe had a series of highly effective COBs: Mike Bruner, Robert Patton, and Jeff VanBlaracum.
CONN Raised area in the control room around the periscope station. Typically where the officer of the deck would stand watch.
CONTROL The control room. A room in the forward compartment, upper level, where the submarine is controlled, periscopes manned, and ship control functions executed.
COPY Radio download from the satellite. The download came unqueried at specific times, allowing the submarine to remain in radio silence. Also called “downloading” the broadcast.
CORPSMAN Medically trained petty officer or chief assigned to a submarine, called “Doc.” Corpsman Don “Doc” Hill played a key role in keeping the crew healthy, which allowed Santa Fe to remain on station for extended periods of time.
COW Chief of the watch. The watch stander responsible for operating the forward mechanical systems such as masts and antennae, trim and drain and ventilation. Reports to the DOOW.
CSP COMSUBPAC. Commander, Submarine Forces, Pacific. The officer in charge of the Pacific submarine force from the international date line to the West Coast, a rear admiral. Responsible for preparing submarines to deploy. Also “SUBPAC” when referring to the staff as a whole, not just the admiral. Rear Admiral Al Konetzni was COMSUBPAC when I was assigned to Santa Fe and was highly supportive of our initiatives.
DEPLOYMENT Scheduled six-month tour away from home port. Submarines in the Pacific deployed to the western Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Arabian Gulf. Santa Fe conducted two deployments to the Arabian Gulf while I served as commander: one in 1999 and one in 2001. During Operation Enduring Freedom some deployments were extended to more than nine months.
DIM Daily intentions message. A scripted message transmitted daily for the battle group directing all ship movements.
DOC See Corpsman.
DOOW Diving officer of the
watch, also called “Dive,” the watch stander, typically a chief, responsible for RAMOD—reaching and maintaining ordered depth.
DOWNLOAD See Copy.
EAB Emergency air breathing device. A mask, connected with an air hose to an air manifold, to be worn in the event that the atmosphere in the submarine became unbreatheable because of smoke or contaminants.
ENG OR CHENG Engineer or chief engineer. Responsible for the engineering department and the nuclear reactor. Santa Fe benefited from having Rick Panlilio as the engineer for my entire command tour.
EP Early promote. The highest fitness report evaluation. No more than 20 percent of the group evaluated can be ranked EP.
EPM Electric propulsion motor. A backup electric motor used when the steam-powered main engines are not available. The EPM drives the ship at slow speed.
ESL Equipment status log. A list of all equipment in a reduced or degraded status, needing repair, calibration, or maintenance. Typically runs into the thousands of items.
ET Electronics technician. An electronics technician was referred to as a “wire rate,” meaning he primarily dealt with electronics and wires. Could specialize as radiomen, navigational quartermasters, or nuke ETs for the reactor plant.
FCS Fire control system. The computer system used to program and control the weapons (missiles and torpedoes) the submarine shoots.
FFV Fresh fruits and vegetables, when resupplied.
FITREP Fitness Report. Annual evaluation report.
FT Fire control technician. Fire control refers to control of “fires” in the sense of outgoing weapons.
INSURV A material inspection by a group of officers from the Board of Inspection and Survey. Their reports carry significant weight and expose the submarine force to “big Navy” observers.
KHAKIS The officers and chiefs taken together as a group. So named because they wear the same khaki uniform.
MANEUVERING A control room within the engine room where the reactor and propulsion plants are controlled. At sea, four watch standers stand watch in maneuvering: an officer and three nukes.
MESSAGE BOARDS Clipboard on which radio messages were routed; now done electronically via e-mail.
NAV OR NAV/OPS Navigator or navigator/operations officer. One of the three nuclear-trained department heads aboard the submarine. The other two are the Weps and the Eng. Santa Fe had two highly effective navigators: Bill Greene for the 1999 deployment and Caleb Kerr for the 2001 deployment.
NAVSUPE Navigation supervisor. A senior enlisted or junior officer watch station supervising the quartermaster. Stationed when the navigation picture was sufficiently delicate to require additional supervision.
NJP Nonjudicial punishment. A form of military justice that allows the captain to invoke near-immediate punishment without a trial by court-martial. Also called “captain’s mast.”
NUKES Nuclear-trained enlisted men. Nukes operated the propulsion plant and comprised over one third of the crew.
OOD Officer of the deck. The watch officer responsible for directing the movement of the ship and control of the watch team. The captain’s on-watch representative.
ORSE Operational Reactor Safeguards Examination. A crucible event in any submariner’s life! A comprehensive underway evaluation that tests all aspects of the submarine’s ability to operate and maintain the nuclear propulsion plant.
PACE Program for Afloat College Education. A Navy program for taking college courses while deployed.
PCO Prospective commanding officer. An officer in the training pipeline assigned to take command of a submarine.
PD Periscope depth. A depth shallow enough for the periscope and other masts to reach above the surface but deep enough to keep the sail below the surface to prevent counterdetection.
PNA “Passed, not advanced.”
POD Plan of the day. Daily schedule and administrative notices.
POMCERT Certification for deployment. A key milestone to allow the submarine to depart home port for extended operations against potential adversaries. Being certified means that the submarine is ready in all respects—training, manning, equipment, and weapons—to go to war.
PORT/STARBOARD Said of watch station if there are only two personnel standing it. This means that each watch stander is “six-on, six-off.” They stand six hours of watch and have six hours “off.” It’s a prescription for sleep deprivation.
PRT Provincial Reconstruction Team. Civilian-military team charged with coordinating economic development, tribal relations, and governance in a specific province of Afghanistan.
QMOW Quartermaster of the watch. The watch stander responsible for maintaining the ship’s position. Stands in the control room and qualified personally by the captain, a highly visible and stressful watch.
RHIB Rigid hull inflatable boat. The type of small boat that the USS Rainier used to resupply Santa Fe in the Strait of Hormuz in 2001.
SCOPE Periscope. Santa Fe had two periscopes: an “attack” scope, with a narrow cross section and no electronics, and a “type 18” scope, with a wider cross section and comprehensive electronics suite.
SCUTTLEBUTT Rumor, gossip. The scuttlebutt is actually a water fountain, a place where sailors congregate and share stories.
SSBN Naval designation for a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine. The USS Will Rogers was SSBN-659.
SSM Ship System Manual. Book of procedures for how to run the forward part of the submarine.
SSN Naval designation for a nuclear-powered attack submarine. The USS Santa Fe was SSN-763.
SSORM Standard Submarine Organization and Regulations Manual. The manual specifying the organizational structure and major administrative procedures aboard the submarine.
STAND-DOWN A period of significantly reduced activity aboard the submarine. The in-port watches are reduced to a bare minimum, and training and maintenance are not scheduled. Most crew members need to report for work about every other day. It is desired to have a stand-down period just before and upon return from deployment.
STRAIT OF HORMUZ Strait between the Arabian Gulf and the Arabian Sea (Indian Ocean). Forty percent of the world’s oil tankers pass through this strait. The strait runs between Iran on the north and Oman and the United Arab Emirates on the south.
STRAIT OF MALACCA The five-hundred-mile-long strait between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean. Runs between Indonesia on the south and Malaysia and Singapore on the north. A submarine cannot operate submerged in the Strait of Malacca because it is too shallow. One quarter of the world’s traded goods pass through this strait.
SUBPAC See COMSUBPAC, CSP.
SUPPO Supply officer. The only nonnuclear-trained officer aboard the submarine. Runs the supply department. Santa Fe had two supremely capable supply officers in John Buckley and Chuck Dunphy. Sometimes called “Chop” for “Pork Chop” because their lapel pins look like pork chops.
TLAM Tomahawk land-attack missile. The Tomahawk was the primary tactical weapon we had with which to attack land targets. Santa Fe carried twelve TLAMs in the vertical launch tubes in the bow and could dedicate space in the torpedo room for additional missiles to be launched from the four torpedo tubes. The Tomahawk missile is very accurate and can fly one thousand miles.
TRE Tactical Readiness Evaluation. A comprehensive underway inspection that tests the submarine’s ability to execute its wartime missions. The TRE involves shooting exercise torpedoes at friendly ships and submarines playing adversary roles.
UA Unauthorized absence. Also known as AWOL.
VLS Vertical launch system. Twelve vertical launch missile tubes added to the bow of the submarine. This was one of the differences between the original 688-class submarine and the “improved,” or 688i-class, submarines.
WARDROOM Dining room for the officers. It also serves as a training room, an operational planning room, a meeting room, and if necessary, as the surgical operating room as well.
WEPS Weapons officer. One of the three nuclear-trained department heads abo
ard the submarine. The other two are the Eng and Nav. Santa Fe benefited from having Dave Adams as the weapons officer for both the 1999 and the 2001 deployments. Dave took command of Santa Fe in 2011.
XO Executive officer, Exec, the second in command of a nuclear-powered submarine. Would replace the captain if he became incapacitated. A lieutenant commander by rank. Tom Stanley was the XO for the 1999 deployment, and Mike Bernacchi was the XO for the 2001 deployment.
NOTES
1. John M. Gibbons, “I Can’t Get No . . . Job Satisfaction, That Is” (2009 Job Satisfaction Survey), The Conference Board, January 2010, http://www.conference-board.org/ publications/publicationdetail.cfm?publicationid=1727 (accessed April 3, 2012).
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