That comment gave me the perfect opening to talk about something that's been bothering me for a long time - our standards and our lack thereof. Let's get one thing out of the way.
Standards are boring.
And, that's exactly what happens to most attempts to standardize anything. The exceptions become the defacto standard. The fact is that standards are the key to survival in this technologically top-heavy world. We need them, but we need forward thinking, well defined, enforceable standards, that apply to all of DoD, not just Navy. The only thing that should influence what people should and do buy are those standards.