For the United States that means a paradigm shift from a fifty year period of relative surplus in resources to an age of relative scarcity. For the Navy it means a smaller fleet - from 600 ships to 450, or even 300. The implication of that is: each ship will be more precious. In a fight that means each damaged ship will need to be repaired even more rapidly - and every ship that shots its weapons will have a more urgent need to reload.
And that is where we come in - supplying the Navy with well armed ships in a time of scarcity. Our responsibilities as Naval Reserve Engineering Duty Officers have never been more critical. At the same time we must be very precise about what we "Can Do." In a time of surplus it is easier to maintain a "Can Do" attitude - you could always find a way to augment resources to get the job done. In a time of scarcity margins are cut to the bone and "life saver" resources are unlikely. In today's resource climate you may be asked to do the impossible.
Don't just say "Can Do"! And then go off to fail - when you knew you would. That will jeopardize your credibility and integrity. Engineers often do miraculous technical jobs - that non-engineers have no way of understanding.
We have new paradigms to create. The Navy of the next fifty years will be far different from the Navy of the last fifty. We will be doing more things with the Marines, the Army, the Air Force, and the Coast Guard - jointness. And we will be concentrating on the white waters of the world - the littoral, coastal, areas. But still operating over the blue, deep-sea waters. Technology is going to be the edge for the United States as the countries of the world jockey for position in new alignments.
The Naval Reserve Engineering Duty community is one of the largest consulting engineering firms in the country - with about 1000 engineers. We are the Navy's "High Tech Brain Trust." Remember:
Do More (+) With Less (-) But Better (+++) And Tell About It (!) but listen, too (...) I am personally impressed with the high quality, the energy, and the intelligence of the Engineering Duty officers that I meet around the country - Reservists and Active Duty. In the NAVSEA Engineering Duty Officer "enriched" Reserve program we have over 4,000 officers and enlisted.
The times are changing and it is even more important to be "Twice a Citizen." Among recent dual citizen recruits, for example, our 51 Naval Reserve Engineering Duty Ensigns have 52 Bachelors, 31 Masters and 5 Doctorate degrees.
One Navy - Full Speed Ahead!