From: NAVNEWS@nctamslant.navy.mil (Navy News Service)
Newsgroups: soc.veterans
Subject: NavNews Extra: Holiday Greetings from the CNO
Date: 23 Dec 1992 03:13:46 -0600
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

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Navy News Service - NAVNEWS BY EMAIL - navnews@nctamslant.navy.mil 
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The following message from the Chief of Naval Operations is forwarded 
for your information. 
 
R 210001Z DEC 92
FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//N00// 
TO NAVOP 
UNCLAS //N05000// 
NAVOP 034/92 
MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO// 
SUBJ/HOLIDAY GREETINGS// 
 
RMKS/1.  As we celebrate the holidays with friends, family and 
shipmates, we can look back proudly at another year of service to 
our country and forward to a new year of challenges and opportunities. 
This seems an appropriate time to consider what we've accomplished 
this year and what we can expect in the year ahead. 
 
2.  As we bring 1992 to a close, we have much to be grateful for and 
much to be proud of -- most recently the outstanding performance of 
the Navy-Marine Corps team in Somalia.  But the Navy as we know it 
today is fundamentally different from the Navy of just a year ago. 
We have made some significant and long lasting changes on every front. 
 
3.  We issued "...From the Sea," our new strategy which lays out our 
mission, our functions, our structure and our focus for the future. 
This white paper stresses the contributions of maritime forces in 
joint/combined operations and joins the Navy-Marine Corps team 
together much more closely to deal effectively with regional threats 
in coastal areas of the world.  It is the blueprint which will take 
us into the next century. 
 
4.  We made steady progress in implementing total quality leadership 
and standardizing operations, training and inspection procedures in 
the Atlantic and Pacific fleets.  We issued the first-ever Navy 
Policy Book and will distribute a "starter kit" in January to help 
Navy people put TQL to work at their commands.  We have continued our 
efforts to consolidate, streamline and eliminate duplication across 
the board.  We reorganized OPNAV to reduce headquarters staff, align 
it more closely with the Joint Staff and allow us to speak with one 
voice on program planning and procurement.  We also closed down 
operations in the Philippines and Holy Loch, bases where the Navy had 
maintained a presence for many years. 
 
5.  We changed our operational procedures to help us cope with a Navy 
that has 54 fewer ships than it did a year ago.  We gapped our 
presence in some areas, developed more flexible deployment schedules 
and tailored battle groups to respond to specific situations.  By 
doing so, we have returned optempo/perstempo pretty much to normal 
after operation desert storm, and we're working hard to maintain 
these rates despite the drawdown.  For the first time since World War 
II, we exercised with Russian ships and operated with them in the 
Persian Gulf.  Finally, we completed the removal of tactical nukes 
from all our ships. 
 
6.  While there have been many significant changes in our Navy over 
the past year, there have also been many important constants.  Even 
in this time of relative peace -- after dramatic changes in the world 
for which we can all be grateful -- our people are still out there, 
on station, ready to respond to crises, carry out national policy 
and protect American interests.  More than 180 Navy ships deployed 
this year to carry out these important missions.  Clearly, the cold 
war is over, but our people remain fully engaged throughout the 
world.  They are supporting relief efforts in Somalia and enforcing 
the no-fly zone over southern Iraq.  They are operating in the 
Adriatic and central Mediterranean, demonstrating our concern for 
events in the former Yugoslavia.  And you will find Navy people in 
the Pacific and Caribbean patrolling the favorite routes of drug 
smugglers. 
 
7.  1992 was another busy year for humanitarian assistance and 
disaster relief operations.  American military forces continued to 
provide assistance to the Kurdish people in Operation Provide Comfort 
and to give safe haven at Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to 
refugees fleeing instability and privation in Haiti.  Our people have 
delivered food and  medicines to parts of the former Soviet Union and 
Bosnia-Herzegovina.  Closer to home, Navy men and women have provided 
disaster relief supplies and helped with clean up and rebuilding 
efforts following hurricanes and typhoons in Florida, Hawaii and 
Guam. 
 
8.  We continued, individually and as teams, to make significant 
contributions to our communities.  Today, we have more than 1,000 
active partnerships to enhance education, health and citizenship of 
the nation's youth.  Nine of these Navy partnerships received 
point-of-light recognition from the White House in 1992.  About 
17,000 Navy people, both military and civilian employees, support 
various programs as tutors, mentors, classroom assistants, coaches 
and in other roles.  Recently, we announced a significant, 
evolutionary expansion of the Navy's education and community service 
efforts to include drug programs, health and fitness and 
environmental conservation.  The generosity and enthusiasm of Navy 
men and women are a source of great personal pride for me. 
 
9.  Keeping our focus on people in 1992, we made significant strides 
in quality of life issues including increased child care and MWR 
funding, improved medical and dental care and more and better Navy 
housing.  And a 1992 survey indicated our drug education and 
deterrence programs are paying major dividends. 
 
10. We maintained this commitment to our people as the number of men 
and women on active duty dropped by nearly 20,000 in the past year. 
A host of personnel initiatives allowed us to avoid forcing a single 
officer or petty officer to leave the Navy before reaching retirement 
eligibility.  For those who leave voluntarily, our transition 
assistance programs are in place to help people transition to a 
civilian lifestyle. 
 
11.  We have made significant progress toward instituting cultural 
changes needed to eliminate sexual harassment in our Navy.  Every man 
and woman in the Navy participated in a one-day stand-down for sexual 
harassment prevention training, and new training courses are being 
developed to ensure our people understand the Navy's core values of 
honor, commitment and courage. 
 
12.  If you want two good indicators of the state of the Navy today, 
consider that recruiting and retention are still at all time highs, 
and despite many changes and challenges, the Navy hasn't missed a 
beat.  You've gone everywhere we've needed you.  You've done 
difficult and dangerous work, and you've performed superbly.  The 
officers and sailors I meet are excited about the future and 
committed to doing the job. 
 
13.  The year ahead will be full of challenges for Navy people as we 
remain on station around the world.  We will continue to be called 
upon for a wide range of missions by our nation's leaders, but we 
will have fewer resources with which to execute these missions. 
Public and Congressional scrutiny will continue as competition for 
defense funds grows keener.  We will be required to demonstrate the 
cost effectiveness, as well as the combat effectiveness, of every 
platform, system and weapon.  The magnitude of the many challenges 
facing the Navy is clear; but if we pull together and keep our 
focus on people and quality of effort, we'll maintain our position as 
the world's finest Navy. 
 
14.  As we gather to observe the holidays, let us celebrate what 
we've accomplished in 1992 and the contributions we have made to our 
country, our communities and our fellow citizens.  The men and women 
on duty away from family and friends have a special place in our 
hearts during this holiday season. Thank you all for your sacrifices, 
your dedication and the great things you accomplished in 1992.  I 
look forward to a bright and fulfilling 1993.  My family and I wish 
all of you and hours a happy holiday and a safe, prosperous new year 
 
15. Released by ADM F. B. Kelso, II.// 
                                -USN-