CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">   <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en-US">  <head profile="http://gmpg.org/xfn/11"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> <title>Steve Blank Navy</title> <link rel="pingback" href="https://steveblank.com/xmlrpc.php" /> <meta name='robots' content='max-image-preview:large' /> <style>img:is([sizes="auto" i], [sizes^="auto," i]) { contain-intrinsic-size: 3000px 1500px }</style>  <meta name="google-site-verification" content="NzQX03n5c3BUqAOH2ZZeaOzmFxIKopb99y0xo7ymJ7w" /> <meta name="msvalidate.01" content="77BB8773D8C1446AC1C1A19B8355A369" /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//secure.gravatar.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//stats.wp.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//widgets.wp.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//jetpack.wordpress.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s0.wp.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//public-api.wordpress.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//0.gravatar.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//1.gravatar.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//2.gravatar.com' /> <link rel='preconnect' href='//i0.wp.com' /> <link rel='preconnect' href='//c0.wp.com' /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Steve Blank » Feed" href="https://steveblank.com/feed/" /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Steve Blank » Comments Feed" href="https://steveblank.com/comments/feed/" /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Steve Blank » Navy Category Feed" href="https://steveblank.com/category/navy/feed/" /> <script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ window._wpemojiSettings = {"baseUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.0.3\/72x72\/","ext":".png","svgUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.0.3\/svg\/","svgExt":".svg","source":{"concatemoji":"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-emoji-release.min.js?ver=6.7.1"}}; /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(i,n){var o,s,e;function c(e){try{var t={supportTests:e,timestamp:(new Date).valueOf()};sessionStorage.setItem(o,JSON.stringify(t))}catch(e){}}function p(e,t,n){e.clearRect(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height),e.fillText(t,0,0);var t=new Uint32Array(e.getImageData(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height).data),r=(e.clearRect(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height),e.fillText(n,0,0),new Uint32Array(e.getImageData(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height).data));return t.every(function(e,t){return e===r[t]})}function u(e,t,n){switch(t){case"flag":return n(e,"\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f","\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200b\u26a7\ufe0f")?!1:!n(e,"\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf3","\ud83c\uddfa\u200b\ud83c\uddf3")&&!n(e,"\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc65\udb40\udc6e\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc7f","\ud83c\udff4\u200b\udb40\udc67\u200b\udb40\udc62\u200b\udb40\udc65\u200b\udb40\udc6e\u200b\udb40\udc67\u200b\udb40\udc7f");case"emoji":return!n(e,"\ud83d\udc26\u200d\u2b1b","\ud83d\udc26\u200b\u2b1b")}return!1}function f(e,t,n){var r="undefined"!=typeof WorkerGlobalScope&&self instanceof WorkerGlobalScope?new OffscreenCanvas(300,150):i.createElement("canvas"),a=r.getContext("2d",{willReadFrequently:!0}),o=(a.textBaseline="top",a.font="600 32px Arial",{});return e.forEach(function(e){o[e]=t(a,e,n)}),o}function t(e){var t=i.createElement("script");t.src=e,t.defer=!0,i.head.appendChild(t)}"undefined"!=typeof Promise&&(o="wpEmojiSettingsSupports",s=["flag","emoji"],n.supports={everything:!0,everythingExceptFlag:!0},e=new Promise(function(e){i.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",e,{once:!0})}),new Promise(function(t){var n=function(){try{var e=JSON.parse(sessionStorage.getItem(o));if("object"==typeof e&&"number"==typeof e.timestamp&&(new Date).valueOf()<e.timestamp+604800&&"object"==typeof e.supportTests)return e.supportTests}catch(e){}return null}();if(!n){if("undefined"!=typeof Worker&&"undefined"!=typeof OffscreenCanvas&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&URL.createObjectURL&&"undefined"!=typeof Blob)try{var e="postMessage("+f.toString()+"("+[JSON.stringify(s),u.toString(),p.toString()].join(",")+"));",r=new Blob([e],{type:"text/javascript"}),a=new Worker(URL.createObjectURL(r),{name:"wpTestEmojiSupports"});return void(a.onmessage=function(e){c(n=e.data),a.terminate(),t(n)})}catch(e){}c(n=f(s,u,p))}t(n)}).then(function(e){for(var t in e)n.supports[t]=e[t],n.supports.everything=n.supports.everything&&n.supports[t],"flag"!==t&&(n.supports.everythingExceptFlag=n.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&n.supports[t]);n.supports.everythingExceptFlag=n.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&!n.supports.flag,n.DOMReady=!1,n.readyCallback=function(){n.DOMReady=!0}}).then(function(){return e}).then(function(){var e;n.supports.everything||(n.readyCallback(),(e=n.source||{}).concatemoji?t(e.concatemoji):e.wpemoji&&e.twemoji&&(t(e.twemoji),t(e.wpemoji)))}))}((window,document),window._wpemojiSettings); /* ]]> */ </script> <link rel='stylesheet' id='all-css-cb7ade03dc0ef7ebc2e1117796e7d27c' href='https://steveblank.com/_static/??-eJydUdtuwyAM/aFRtkVV1YdqnzI5YFEv5iIMivj7kqqV0j5sWV8Qh3PRwZ6TomC4WhRtRLQlKXrkaCbFNGbITUtpjDtPYdcFb/PK8CPaoyVARo+hPIDE0DArRgembXJ3bo3XHhNDWSTl3KmlpHPDrdeTInF1FHo4lgRm0j7aysvfIMcqyFpmSr3XWIN9wX0j1P1ha0AhRqscMGOf6C9oayDT1M9/jUDqKCZTKhTDE9occYaMFqxt1ysF95fzu69bSzQErDi6KA/gvuMvf/o4DO/H437/OVwAUzb8iA==' type='text/css' media='all' /> <style id='wp-block-library-inline-css'> .has-text-align-justify{text-align:justify;} </style> <style id='wp-emoji-styles-inline-css'> img.wp-smiley, img.emoji { display: inline !important; border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; height: 1em !important; width: 1em !important; margin: 0 0.07em !important; vertical-align: -0.1em !important; background: none !important; padding: 0 !important; } </style> <style id='jetpack-sharing-buttons-style-inline-css'> .jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list{display:flex;flex-direction:row;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:0;list-style-type:none;margin:5px;padding:0}.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list.has-small-icon-size{font-size:12px}.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list.has-normal-icon-size{font-size:16px}.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list.has-large-icon-size{font-size:24px}.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list.has-huge-icon-size{font-size:36px}@media print{.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list{display:none!important}}.editor-styles-wrapper .wp-block-jetpack-sharing-buttons{gap:0;padding-inline-start:0}ul.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list.has-background{padding:1.25em 2.375em} </style> <style id='classic-theme-styles-inline-css'> /*! This file is auto-generated */ .wp-block-button__link{color:#fff;background-color:#32373c;border-radius:9999px;box-shadow:none;text-decoration:none;padding:calc(.667em + 2px) calc(1.333em + 2px);font-size:1.125em}.wp-block-file__button{background:#32373c;color:#fff;text-decoration:none} </style> <style id='global-styles-inline-css'> :root{--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--square: 1;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--4-3: 4/3;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--3-4: 3/4;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--3-2: 3/2;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--2-3: 2/3;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--16-9: 16/9;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--9-16: 9/16;--wp--preset--color--black: #000000;--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray: #abb8c3;--wp--preset--color--white: #ffffff;--wp--preset--color--pale-pink: #f78da7;--wp--preset--color--vivid-red: #cf2e2e;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange: #ff6900;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber: #fcb900;--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan: #7bdcb5;--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan: #00d084;--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue: #8ed1fc;--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue: #0693e3;--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple: #9b51e0;--wp--preset--gradient--vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(6,147,227,1) 0%,rgb(155,81,224) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(122,220,180) 0%,rgb(0,208,130) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(252,185,0,1) 0%,rgba(255,105,0,1) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(255,105,0,1) 0%,rgb(207,46,46) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(238,238,238) 0%,rgb(169,184,195) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--cool-to-warm-spectrum: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(74,234,220) 0%,rgb(151,120,209) 20%,rgb(207,42,186) 40%,rgb(238,44,130) 60%,rgb(251,105,98) 80%,rgb(254,248,76) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--blush-light-purple: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,206,236) 0%,rgb(152,150,240) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--blush-bordeaux: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(254,205,165) 0%,rgb(254,45,45) 50%,rgb(107,0,62) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-dusk: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,203,112) 0%,rgb(199,81,192) 50%,rgb(65,88,208) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--pale-ocean: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,245,203) 0%,rgb(182,227,212) 50%,rgb(51,167,181) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--electric-grass: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(202,248,128) 0%,rgb(113,206,126) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--midnight: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(2,3,129) 0%,rgb(40,116,252) 100%);--wp--preset--font-size--small: 13px;--wp--preset--font-size--medium: 20px;--wp--preset--font-size--large: 36px;--wp--preset--font-size--x-large: 42px;--wp--preset--font-family--albert-sans: 'Albert Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--alegreya: Alegreya, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--arvo: Arvo, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--bodoni-moda: 'Bodoni Moda', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--bricolage-grotesque: 'Bricolage Grotesque', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--cabin: Cabin, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--chivo: Chivo, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--commissioner: Commissioner, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--cormorant: Cormorant, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--courier-prime: 'Courier Prime', monospace;--wp--preset--font-family--crimson-pro: 'Crimson Pro', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--dm-mono: 'DM Mono', monospace;--wp--preset--font-family--dm-sans: 'DM Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--dm-serif-display: 'DM Serif Display', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--domine: Domine, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--eb-garamond: 'EB Garamond', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--epilogue: Epilogue, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--fahkwang: Fahkwang, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--figtree: Figtree, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--fira-sans: 'Fira Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--fjalla-one: 'Fjalla One', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--fraunces: Fraunces, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--gabarito: Gabarito, system-ui;--wp--preset--font-family--ibm-plex-mono: 'IBM Plex Mono', monospace;--wp--preset--font-family--ibm-plex-sans: 'IBM Plex Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--ibarra-real-nova: 'Ibarra Real Nova', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--instrument-serif: 'Instrument Serif', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--inter: Inter, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--josefin-sans: 'Josefin Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--jost: Jost, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--libre-baskerville: 'Libre Baskerville', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--libre-franklin: 'Libre Franklin', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--literata: Literata, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--lora: Lora, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--merriweather: Merriweather, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--montserrat: Montserrat, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--newsreader: Newsreader, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--noto-sans-mono: 'Noto Sans Mono', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--nunito: Nunito, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--open-sans: 'Open Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--overpass: Overpass, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--pt-serif: 'PT Serif', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--petrona: Petrona, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--piazzolla: Piazzolla, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--playfair-display: 'Playfair Display', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--plus-jakarta-sans: 'Plus Jakarta Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--poppins: Poppins, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--raleway: Raleway, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--roboto: Roboto, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--roboto-slab: 'Roboto Slab', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--rubik: Rubik, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--rufina: Rufina, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--sora: Sora, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--source-sans-3: 'Source Sans 3', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--source-serif-4: 'Source Serif 4', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--space-mono: 'Space Mono', monospace;--wp--preset--font-family--syne: Syne, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--texturina: Texturina, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--urbanist: Urbanist, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--work-sans: 'Work Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--spacing--20: 0.44rem;--wp--preset--spacing--30: 0.67rem;--wp--preset--spacing--40: 1rem;--wp--preset--spacing--50: 1.5rem;--wp--preset--spacing--60: 2.25rem;--wp--preset--spacing--70: 3.38rem;--wp--preset--spacing--80: 5.06rem;--wp--preset--shadow--natural: 6px 6px 9px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);--wp--preset--shadow--deep: 12px 12px 50px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);--wp--preset--shadow--sharp: 6px 6px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);--wp--preset--shadow--outlined: 6px 6px 0px -3px rgba(255, 255, 255, 1), 6px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);--wp--preset--shadow--crisp: 6px 6px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);}:where(.is-layout-flex){gap: 0.5em;}:where(.is-layout-grid){gap: 0.5em;}body .is-layout-flex{display: flex;}.is-layout-flex{flex-wrap: wrap;align-items: center;}.is-layout-flex > :is(*, div){margin: 0;}body .is-layout-grid{display: grid;}.is-layout-grid > :is(*, div){margin: 0;}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-flex){gap: 2em;}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-grid){gap: 2em;}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-flex){gap: 1.25em;}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-grid){gap: 1.25em;}.has-black-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-black-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-black-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red) !important;}.has-very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-cool-to-warm-spectrum-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--cool-to-warm-spectrum) !important;}.has-blush-light-purple-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--blush-light-purple) !important;}.has-blush-bordeaux-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--blush-bordeaux) !important;}.has-luminous-dusk-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-dusk) !important;}.has-pale-ocean-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--pale-ocean) !important;}.has-electric-grass-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--electric-grass) !important;}.has-midnight-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--midnight) !important;}.has-small-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--small) !important;}.has-medium-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--medium) !important;}.has-large-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--large) !important;}.has-x-large-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--x-large) !important;}.has-albert-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--albert-sans) !important;}.has-alegreya-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--alegreya) !important;}.has-arvo-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--arvo) !important;}.has-bodoni-moda-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--bodoni-moda) !important;}.has-bricolage-grotesque-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--bricolage-grotesque) !important;}.has-cabin-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--cabin) !important;}.has-chivo-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--chivo) !important;}.has-commissioner-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--commissioner) !important;}.has-cormorant-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--cormorant) !important;}.has-courier-prime-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--courier-prime) !important;}.has-crimson-pro-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--crimson-pro) !important;}.has-dm-mono-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--dm-mono) !important;}.has-dm-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--dm-sans) !important;}.has-dm-serif-display-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--dm-serif-display) !important;}.has-domine-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--domine) !important;}.has-eb-garamond-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--eb-garamond) !important;}.has-epilogue-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--epilogue) !important;}.has-fahkwang-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--fahkwang) !important;}.has-figtree-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--figtree) !important;}.has-fira-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--fira-sans) !important;}.has-fjalla-one-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--fjalla-one) !important;}.has-fraunces-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--fraunces) !important;}.has-gabarito-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--gabarito) !important;}.has-ibm-plex-mono-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--ibm-plex-mono) !important;}.has-ibm-plex-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--ibm-plex-sans) !important;}.has-ibarra-real-nova-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--ibarra-real-nova) !important;}.has-instrument-serif-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--instrument-serif) !important;}.has-inter-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--inter) !important;}.has-josefin-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--josefin-sans) !important;}.has-jost-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--jost) !important;}.has-libre-baskerville-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--libre-baskerville) !important;}.has-libre-franklin-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--libre-franklin) !important;}.has-literata-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--literata) !important;}.has-lora-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--lora) !important;}.has-merriweather-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--merriweather) !important;}.has-montserrat-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--montserrat) !important;}.has-newsreader-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--newsreader) !important;}.has-noto-sans-mono-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--noto-sans-mono) !important;}.has-nunito-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--nunito) !important;}.has-open-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--open-sans) !important;}.has-overpass-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--overpass) !important;}.has-pt-serif-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--pt-serif) !important;}.has-petrona-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--petrona) !important;}.has-piazzolla-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--piazzolla) !important;}.has-playfair-display-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--playfair-display) !important;}.has-plus-jakarta-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--plus-jakarta-sans) !important;}.has-poppins-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--poppins) !important;}.has-raleway-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--raleway) !important;}.has-roboto-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--roboto) !important;}.has-roboto-slab-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--roboto-slab) !important;}.has-rubik-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--rubik) !important;}.has-rufina-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--rufina) !important;}.has-sora-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--sora) !important;}.has-source-sans-3-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--source-sans-3) !important;}.has-source-serif-4-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--source-serif-4) !important;}.has-space-mono-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--space-mono) !important;}.has-syne-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--syne) !important;}.has-texturina-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--texturina) !important;}.has-urbanist-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--urbanist) !important;}.has-work-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--work-sans) !important;} :where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-flex){gap: 1.25em;}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-grid){gap: 1.25em;} :where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-flex){gap: 2em;}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-grid){gap: 2em;} :root :where(.wp-block-pullquote){font-size: 1.5em;line-height: 1.6;} </style> <style id='jetpack-global-styles-frontend-style-inline-css'> :root { --font-headings: unset; --font-base: unset; --font-headings-default: -apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI",Roboto,Oxygen-Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,"Helvetica Neue",sans-serif; --font-base-default: -apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI",Roboto,Oxygen-Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,"Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;} </style> <script type="text/javascript" id="jetpack-mu-wpcom-settings-js-before"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var JETPACK_MU_WPCOM_SETTINGS = {"assetsUrl":"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/wp-content\/mu-plugins\/wpcomsh\/vendor\/automattic\/jetpack-mu-wpcom\/src\/build\/"}; /* ]]> */ </script> <link rel="https://api.w.org/" href="https://steveblank.com/wp-json/" /><link rel="alternate" title="JSON" type="application/json" href="https://steveblank.com/wp-json/wp/v2/categories/2064" /><link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" title="RSD" href="https://steveblank.com/xmlrpc.php?rsd" /> <style>img#wpstats{display:none}</style> <meta name="description" content="Posts about Navy written by steve blank" /> <style type="text/css"> #header h1 a, #header h1 a:hover, #header .description { color: #eb221e; } </style>   <meta property="og:type" content="website" /> <meta property="og:title" content="Steve Blank Navy" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://steveblank.com/category/navy/" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Steve Blank" /> <meta property="og:image" content="https://s0.wp.com/i/blank.jpg" /> <meta property="og:image:alt" content="" /> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_US" />  <link rel="icon" href="https://s0.wp.com/i/webclip.png" sizes="32x32" /> <link rel="icon" href="https://s0.wp.com/i/webclip.png" sizes="192x192" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="https://s0.wp.com/i/webclip.png" /> <meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="https://s0.wp.com/i/webclip.png" />  <script type='text/javascript'> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-85363375-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' === document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script>  </head> <body class="archive category category-navy category-2064"><div id="container"> <div id="header"> <div id="menu"> <ul id="menu-menu" class="menu"><li id="menu-item-12086" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-home menu-item-12086"><a href="http://steveblank.com">Home</a></li> <li id="menu-item-12085" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-12085"><a href="https://steveblank.com/about/">About Steve</a></li> <li id="menu-item-12083" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-12083"><a href="https://steveblank.com/books-for-startups/">Startup Books</a></li> <li id="menu-item-12080" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-12080"><a href="https://steveblank.com/slides/">Slides/Videos</a></li> <li id="menu-item-25611" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-25611"><a href="https://steveblank.com/raising-money/">Fund Raising</a></li> <li id="menu-item-12082" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-12082"><a href="https://steveblank.com/tools-and-blogs-for-entrepreneurs/">Tools!</a></li> <li id="menu-item-12084" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-12084"><a href="https://steveblank.com/secret-history/">Secret History</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="header-box"> <div id="header-image"> <img src="https://steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/cropped-100_3947-ks-far-away-download10.jpg" alt="" /> </div> <div id="header-overlay"> <img src="https://steveblank.com/wp-content/themes/digg3/images/bg_header_overlay.png" alt="" /> </div> <div id="pagetitle"> <h1><a href="https://steveblank.com/" title="Steve Blank">Steve Blank</a></h1> </div> <div id="syndication"> <a href="https://steveblank.com/feed/" title="Syndicate this site using RSS" class="feed">Entries <abbr title="Really Simple Syndication">RSS</abbr></a> | <a href="https://steveblank.com/comments/feed/" title="Syndicate comments using RSS">Comments RSS</a> </div> <div id="searchbox"> <form method="get" id="searchform" action="https://steveblank.com/"> <div> <input type="text" value="" name="s" id="s" /> <input type="submit" id="searchsubmit" value="Search" /> </div> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div class="pagewrapper"><div id="page">  <div class="obar"> <ul> <li id="blog_subscription-3" class="widget widget_blog_subscription jetpack_subscription_widget"><h2 class="widgettitle">Email Subscription</h2> <div class="wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__container"> <form action="#" method="post" accept-charset="utf-8" id="subscribe-blog-blog_subscription-3" data-blog="6599589" data-post_access_level="everybody" > <div id="subscribe-text"><p>Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.</p> </div> <p id="subscribe-email"> <label id="jetpack-subscribe-label" class="screen-reader-text" for="subscribe-field-blog_subscription-3"> Email Address </label> <input type="email" name="email" required="required" value="" id="subscribe-field-blog_subscription-3" placeholder="Email Address" /> </p> <p id="subscribe-submit" > <input type="hidden" name="action" value="subscribe"/> <input type="hidden" name="source" value="https://steveblank.com/category/navy/"/> <input type="hidden" name="sub-type" value="widget"/> <input type="hidden" name="redirect_fragment" value="subscribe-blog-blog_subscription-3"/> <input type="hidden" id="_wpnonce" name="_wpnonce" value="fbe15cbe12" /><input type="hidden" name="_wp_http_referer" value="/category/navy/" /> <button type="submit" class="wp-block-button__link" name="jetpack_subscriptions_widget" > Sign me up! </button> </p> </form> <div class="wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__subscount"> Join 55.5K other subscribers </div> </div> </li> <li id="categories-356180491" class="widget widget_categories"><h2 class="widgettitle">Categories</h2> <ul> <li class="cat-item cat-item-64203016"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/2-minute-lessons/">2 Minute Lessons</a> (15) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-2450"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/air-force/">Air Force</a> (19) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-1457175"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/ardent/">Ardent</a> (9) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-45014641"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/business-model-versus-business-plan/">Business Model versus Business Plan</a> (64) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-4787488"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/california-coastal-commission/">California Coastal Commission</a> (9) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-1470"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/china/">China</a> (9) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-6987201"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/commencement-speeches/">Commencement Speeches</a> (9) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-23993"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/conservation/">Conservation</a> (4) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-3075385"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/convergent-technologies/">Convergent Technologies</a> (4) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-635806586"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/corporate-govt-innovation/">Corporate/Gov't Innovation</a> (131) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-697702677"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/covid-19-recovery/">Covid-19/Recovery</a> (10) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-1874987"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/customer-development/">Customer Development</a> (323) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-25337102"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/customer-development-manifesto/">Customer Development Manifesto</a> (34) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-16840"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/epiphany/">E.piphany</a> (13) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-697967638"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/educators-summit/">Educators Summit</a> (7) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-697967634"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/esl/">ESL</a> (8) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-64567312"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/familycareerculture/">Family/Career/Culture</a> (81) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-697967641"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/gordian-knot-center-for-national-security-innovation/">Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation</a> (11) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-479441927"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/hacking-for-defense/">Hacking For Defense</a> (41) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-526158618"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/hacking-for-diplomacy/">Hacking for Diplomacy</a> (10) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-697967637"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/hacking-for-recovery/">Hacking for Recovery</a> (5) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-105397"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/harvard-business-review/">Harvard Business Review</a> (12) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-684268037"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/innovation-doctrine/">Innovation Doctrine</a> (3) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-340390495"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/innovation-outposts/">Innovation Outposts</a> (4) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-217160777"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/investment-readiness-level/">Investment Readiness Level</a> (6) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-53169179"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/lean-launchpad/">Lean LaunchPad</a> (117) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-261983049"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/life-sciences-nih/">Life Sciences (NIH)</a> (26) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-16879037"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/market-types/">Market Types</a> (15) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-175"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/marketing/">Marketing</a> (27) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-28276971"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/mips-computers/">MIPS Computers</a> (2) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-697967640"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/national-security/">National Security</a> (40) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-2064 current-cat"><a aria-current="page" href="https://steveblank.com/category/navy/">Navy</a> (6) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-34826422"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/nih-national-institutes-of-health/">NIH (National Institutes of Health)</a> (17) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-16770755"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/nsf-national-science-foundation/">NSF (National Science Foundation)</a> (18) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-16848661"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/rocket-science-games/">Rocket Science Games</a> (10) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-137272104"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/science-and-industrial-policy/">Science and Industrial Policy</a> (27) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-16849552"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/secret-history-of-silicon-valley/">Secret History of Silicon Valley</a> (26) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-50184180"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/siriusxm-radio-show/">SiriusXM Radio Show</a> (50) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-235742"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/supermac/">SuperMac</a> (12) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-1591"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/teaching/">Teaching</a> (178) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-6"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/technology/">Technology</a> (86) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-697967636"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/technology-innovation-and-modern-war/">Technology Innovation and Great Power Competition</a> (17) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-697967642"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/technology-innovation-and-modern-war-2/">Technology Innovation and Modern War</a> (20) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-429989"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/tesla/">Tesla</a> (5) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-1"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/uncategorized/">Uncategorized</a> (8) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-202"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/venture-capital/">Venture Capital</a> (82) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-1087649"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/vertical-markets/">Vertical Markets</a> (5) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-715437"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/zilog/">Zilog</a> (5) </li> </ul> </li> <li id="rss_links-3" class="widget widget_rss_links"><h2 class="widgettitle">Get Steve Blank via your RSS Feed</h2> <ul><li><a target="_self" href="https://steveblank.com/feed/" title="Subscribe to posts">RSS - Posts</a></li><li><a target="_self" href="https://steveblank.com/comments/feed/" title="Subscribe to comments">RSS - Comments</a></li></ul> </li> <li id="recent-posts-2" class="widget widget_recent_entries"> <h2 class="widgettitle">Recent Posts</h2> <ul> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/10/22/quantum-computing-an-update/">Quantum Computing – An Update</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/10/08/how-saboteurs-threaten-innovation-and-what-to-do-about-it/">How Saboteurs Threaten Innovation–and What to Do About It</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/10/05/what-does-product-market-fit-sound-like-this/">What Does Product Market Fit Sound Like? This.</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/">How To Find Your Customer In the Dept of Defense – The Directory of DoD Program Executive Offices</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/08/13/security-clearances-at-the-speed-of-startups/">Security Clearances at the Speed of Startups</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/07/30/why-large-organizations-struggle-with-disruption-and-what-to-do-about-it/">Why Large Organizations Struggle With Disruption, and What to Do About It</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/06/27/lean-launchpad-stanford-2024-8-teams-in-8-companies-out/">Lean LaunchPad @Stanford 2024 – 8 Teams In, 8 Companies Out</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/06/24/hacking-for-defense-stanford-2024-lessons-learned-presentations/">Hacking for Defense @ Stanford 2024 – Lessons Learned Presentations</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/06/03/youre-invited-hacking-for-defense-and-lean-launchpad-final-presentations/">You’re Invited: Hacking for Defense and Lean LaunchPad Final Presentations</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/05/26/gordon-bell-r-i-p/">Gordon Bell R.I.P.</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="search-2" class="widget widget_search"><form method="get" id="searchform" action="https://steveblank.com/"> <div> <input type="text" value="" name="s" id="s" /> <input type="submit" id="searchsubmit" value="Search" /> </div> </form></li> <li id="archives-2" class="widget widget_archive"><h2 class="widgettitle">Archives</h2> <ul> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/10/'>October 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/09/'>September 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/08/'>August 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/07/'>July 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/06/'>June 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/05/'>May 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/04/'>April 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/03/'>March 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/02/'>February 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/01/'>January 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/12/'>December 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/11/'>November 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/10/'>October 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/09/'>September 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/08/'>August 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/07/'>July 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/04/'>April 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/02/'>February 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/01/'>January 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2022/11/'>November 2022</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2022/10/'>October 2022</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2022/09/'>September 2022</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2022/06/'>June 2022</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2022/05/'>May 2022</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2022/04/'>April 2022</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2022/03/'>March 2022</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2022/01/'>January 2022</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/12/'>December 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/11/'>November 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/10/'>October 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/09/'>September 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/08/'>August 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/07/'>July 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/06/'>June 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/05/'>May 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/04/'>April 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/03/'>March 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/02/'>February 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/01/'>January 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/12/'>December 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/11/'>November 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/10/'>October 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/09/'>September 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/08/'>August 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/07/'>July 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/06/'>June 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/05/'>May 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/04/'>April 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/03/'>March 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/02/'>February 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/01/'>January 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/12/'>December 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/11/'>November 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/10/'>October 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/09/'>September 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/06/'>June 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/05/'>May 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/04/'>April 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/03/'>March 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/01/'>January 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/12/'>December 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/11/'>November 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/10/'>October 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/09/'>September 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/08/'>August 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/07/'>July 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/06/'>June 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/04/'>April 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/03/'>March 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/02/'>February 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/01/'>January 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/11/'>November 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/10/'>October 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/09/'>September 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/08/'>August 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/07/'>July 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/06/'>June 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/05/'>May 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/04/'>April 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/03/'>March 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/02/'>February 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/01/'>January 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/12/'>December 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/11/'>November 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/10/'>October 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/09/'>September 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/08/'>August 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/07/'>July 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/06/'>June 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/05/'>May 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/04/'>April 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/03/'>March 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/02/'>February 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/01/'>January 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/12/'>December 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/11/'>November 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/10/'>October 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/09/'>September 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/08/'>August 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/07/'>July 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/06/'>June 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/05/'>May 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/03/'>March 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/02/'>February 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/01/'>January 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/12/'>December 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/11/'>November 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/10/'>October 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/09/'>September 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/08/'>August 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/07/'>July 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/06/'>June 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/05/'>May 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/04/'>April 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/03/'>March 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/02/'>February 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/01/'>January 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/12/'>December 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/11/'>November 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/10/'>October 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/09/'>September 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/08/'>August 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/07/'>July 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/06/'>June 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/05/'>May 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/04/'>April 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/03/'>March 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/02/'>February 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/01/'>January 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/12/'>December 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/11/'>November 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/10/'>October 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/09/'>September 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/08/'>August 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/07/'>July 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/06/'>June 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/05/'>May 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/04/'>April 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/03/'>March 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/02/'>February 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/01/'>January 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/12/'>December 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/11/'>November 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/10/'>October 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/09/'>September 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/08/'>August 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/07/'>July 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/06/'>June 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/05/'>May 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/04/'>April 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/03/'>March 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/02/'>February 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/01/'>January 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/12/'>December 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/11/'>November 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/10/'>October 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/09/'>September 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/08/'>August 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/07/'>July 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/06/'>June 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/05/'>May 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/04/'>April 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/03/'>March 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/02/'>February 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/01/'>January 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/12/'>December 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/11/'>November 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/10/'>October 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/09/'>September 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/08/'>August 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/07/'>July 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/06/'>June 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/05/'>May 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/04/'>April 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/03/'>March 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/02/'>February 2009</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="pages-2" class="widget widget_pages"><h2 class="widgettitle">Other Stuff</h2> <ul> <li class="page_item page-item-2"><a href="https://steveblank.com/about/">About Steve</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-22"><a href="https://steveblank.com/tools-and-blogs-for-entrepreneurs/">Startup Tools</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-62"><a href="https://steveblank.com/secret-history/">Secret History</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-68"><a href="https://steveblank.com/books-for-startups/">Books for Startups</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-11025"><a href="https://steveblank.com/slides/">Slides/Videos</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-25609"><a href="https://steveblank.com/raising-money/">Raising Money</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div>  <div class="narrowcolumnwrapper"><div class="narrowcolumn"> <div id="content" class="content"> <div class="post-31481 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-air-force category-gordian-knot-center-for-national-security-innovation category-hacking-for-defense category-national-security category-navy" id="post-31481"> <h2><a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/" rel="bookmark">How To Find Your Customer In the Dept of Defense – The Directory of DoD Program Executive Offices</a></h2> <div class="postinfo"> Posted on <span class="postdate">September 17, 2024</span> by steve blank </div> <div class="entry"> <p>Finding a customer for your product in the Department of Defense is hard: Who should you talk to? How do you get their attention?</p> <div id="attachment_31539" style="width: 217px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BUDs-training-team.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-31539" data-attachment-id="31539" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/buds-training-team/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BUDs-training-team.jpg?fit=2669%2C1683&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2669,1683" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>Looking for customers in the DoD</p> " data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BUDs-training-team.jpg?fit=300%2C189&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BUDs-training-team.jpg?fit=468%2C295&ssl=1" class="wp-image-31539 " src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BUDs-training-team.jpg?resize=207%2C130&ssl=1" alt="" width="207" height="130" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BUDs-training-team.jpg?resize=300%2C189&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BUDs-training-team.jpg?resize=1024%2C646&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BUDs-training-team.jpg?resize=150%2C95&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BUDs-training-team.jpg?resize=768%2C484&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BUDs-training-team.jpg?resize=1536%2C969&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BUDs-training-team.jpg?resize=2048%2C1291&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BUDs-training-team.jpg?w=936&ssl=1 936w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BUDs-training-team.jpg?w=1404&ssl=1 1404w" sizes="(max-width: 207px) 100vw, 207px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-31539" class="wp-caption-text">Looking for DoD customers</p></div> <p>How do you know if they have money to spend on your product?</p> <p>It almost always starts with a Program Executive Office.</p> <hr /> <p>The Department of Defense (DoD) no longer owns all the technologies, products and services to deter or win a war – e.g. AI, autonomy, drones, biotech, access to space, cyber, semiconductors, new materials, etc.</p> <p>Today, a new class of startups are attempting to sell these products to the Defense Department. Amazingly, there is no single DoD-wide phone book available to startups of who to call in the Defense Department.</p> <p>So I wrote one.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Think of the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eOZzQ-elodazM8kG8cXA5mgx21R4WUg9/view?usp=share_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PEO Directory</a> linked below as a “Who buys in the government?” phone book.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">The DoD buys hundreds of billions of dollars of products and services per year, and nearly all of these purchases are managed by Program Executive Offices. A Program Executive Office may be responsible for a specific program (e.g., the Joint Strike Fighter) or for an entire portfolio of similar programs (e.g., the Navy Program Executive Office for Digital and Enterprise Services). PEOs define requirements and their Contracting Officers buy things (handling the formal purchasing, issuing requests for proposals (RFPs), and signing contracts with vendors.) Program Managers (PMs) work with the PEO and manage subsets of the larger program.</p> <p>Existing defense contractors know who these organizations are and have teams of people tracking budgets and contracts. But startups? Most startups don’t have a clue where to start.</p> <p>This is a classic case of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_asymmetry" target="_blank" rel="noopener">information asymmetry</a> and it’s not healthy for the Department of Defense or the nascent startup defense ecosystem.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">That’s why I put this <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eOZzQ-elodazM8kG8cXA5mgx21R4WUg9/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PEO Directory</a> together.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">This first version of the directory lists 75 Program Executive Offices and their Program Executive Officers and Program/Project Managers.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Each Program Executive <em>Office</em> is headed by a Program Executive <em>Officer</em> who is a high ranking official – either a member of the military or a high ranking civilian – responsible for the cost, schedule, and performance of a major system, or portfolio of systems, some worth billions of dollars.</p> <p>Below is a summary of 75 Program Executive Offices in the Department of Defense.</p> <p>You can download the full 64-page document of Program Executive Offices and Officers with all 602 names <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eOZzQ-elodazM8kG8cXA5mgx21R4WUg9/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eOZzQ-elodazM8kG8cXA5mgx21R4WUg9/view?usp=sharing"><img data-recalc-dims="1" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="31488" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/directory-of-dod-peos-v0-8-page-1/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-1.png?fit=2550%2C2684&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2550,2684" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Directory of DoD PEOs v0.8 page 1" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-1.png?fit=285%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-1.png?fit=468%2C493&ssl=1" class="aligncenter wp-image-31488 size-large" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-1.png?resize=468%2C493&ssl=1" alt="" width="468" height="493" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-1.png?resize=973%2C1024&ssl=1 973w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-1.png?resize=285%2C300&ssl=1 285w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-1.png?resize=143%2C150&ssl=1 143w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-1.png?resize=768%2C808&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-1.png?resize=1459%2C1536&ssl=1 1459w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-1.png?resize=1946%2C2048&ssl=1 1946w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-1.png?w=1404&ssl=1 1404w" sizes="(max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px" /></a><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eOZzQ-elodazM8kG8cXA5mgx21R4WUg9/view?usp=sharing"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="31489" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/directory-of-dod-peos-v0-8-page-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-2.png?fit=2532%2C2700&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2532,2700" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Directory of DoD PEOs v0.8 page 2" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-2.png?fit=281%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-2.png?fit=468%2C499&ssl=1" class="aligncenter wp-image-31489 size-large" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-2.png?resize=468%2C499&ssl=1" alt="" width="468" height="499" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-2.png?resize=960%2C1024&ssl=1 960w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-2.png?resize=281%2C300&ssl=1 281w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-2.png?resize=141%2C150&ssl=1 141w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-2.png?resize=768%2C819&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-2.png?resize=1440%2C1536&ssl=1 1440w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-2.png?resize=1921%2C2048&ssl=1 1921w" sizes="(max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px" /></a></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eOZzQ-elodazM8kG8cXA5mgx21R4WUg9/view?usp=sharing"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="31490" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/directory-of-dod-peos-v0-8-page-3/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-3.png?fit=2537%2C901&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2537,901" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Directory of DoD PEOs v0.8 page 3" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-3.png?fit=300%2C107&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-3.png?fit=468%2C166&ssl=1" class="aligncenter wp-image-31490 size-large" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-3.png?resize=468%2C166&ssl=1" alt="" width="468" height="166" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-3.png?resize=1024%2C364&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-3.png?resize=300%2C107&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-3.png?resize=150%2C53&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-3.png?resize=768%2C273&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-3.png?resize=1536%2C546&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-3.png?resize=2048%2C727&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-3.png?w=936&ssl=1 936w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Directory-of-DoD-PEOs-v0.8-page-3.png?w=1404&ssl=1 1404w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px" /></a><strong>Caveats<br /> </strong>Do not depend on this document for accuracy or completeness.<br /> It is likely incomplete and contains errors.<br /> Military officers typically change jobs every few years.<br /> Program Offices get closed and new ones opened as needed.</p> <p>This means this document was out of date the day it was written. Still it represents an invaluable starting point for startups looking to work with DoD.</p> <p><strong>How to Use The PEO Directory As Part of A Go-To-Market Strategy<br /> </strong>While it’s helpful to know what Program Executive Offices exist and who staffs them, it’s even better to know where the money is, what it’s being spent on, and whether the budget is increasing, decreasing, or remaining the same.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">The best place to start is by looking through an overview of the entire defense budget <a href="https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/FY2025/FY2025_Budget_Request_Overview_Book.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. Then search for those programs in the linked PEO Directory. You can get an idea whether that program has $ Billions, or $ Millions.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Next, take a look at the <a href="https://comptroller.defense.gov/Budget-Materials/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">budget documents</a> released by the DoD Comptroller –<br /> particularly the <a href="https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/FY2025/FY2025_p1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">P-1 (Procurement</a>) and R-1 (<a href="https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/FY2025/FY2025_r1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">R&D</a>) budget documents.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Combining <a href="https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/FY2025/FY2025_p1.pdf">the budget document</a> with this PEO directory helps you narrow down which of the 75 Program Executive Offices and 500+ program managers to call on.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">With some practice you can translate the topline, account, or Program Element (PE) Line changes into a sales Go-To-Market strategy, or at least a hypothesis of who to call on.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Armed with the program description (it’s full of jargon and 9-12 months out of date) and the Excel download <a href="https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/FY2025/p1.xlsx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> and the Appendix <a href="https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/FY2025/p1_display.xlsx">here</a> –– you can identify targets for sales calls with DoD where your product has the best chance of fitting in.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">The people and organizations in this list change more frequently than the money.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Knowing the people is helpful only after you understand their priorities — and money is the best proxy for that.</p> <p><strong>Future Work<br /> </strong>Ultimately we want to give startups not only who to call on, and who has the money, but which Program Offices are receptive to new entrants. And which have converted to portfolio management, which have tried OTA contracts, as well as highlighting those who are doing something novel with metrics or outcomes.</p> <p>Going forward this project will be kept updated by the <a href="https://gordianknot.stanford.edu">Stanford Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation</a>.</p> <p>In the meantime send updates, corrections and comments to sblank@stanford.edu</p> <p><strong>Credit Where Credit Is Due<br /> </strong>Clearly, the U.S. government intends to communicate this information. They have published links to DoD organizations <a href="https://www.defense.gov/Resources/Military-Departments/A-Z-List/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>, even <a href="https://www.defense.gov/Resources/Military-Departments/A-Z-List/?tab=Social%20Media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listing DoD social media accounts</a>. But the list is fragmented and irregularly updated. Consequently, this type of directory has not existed in a usable format – until now.<br /> <iframe loading="lazy" width="100%" height="91" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F1919576798&width=false&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=false&show_comments=false&color=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false"></iframe></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-print"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-print sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/" target="_blank" title="Click to print" ><span>Print</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20How%20To%20Find%20Your%20Customer%20In%20the%20Dept%20of%20Defense%20-%20The%20Directory%20of%20DoD%20Program%20Executive%20Offices&body=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2024%2F09%2F17%2Fthe-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. You may need to create a new email yourself." data-email-share-nonce="dc90db2d35" data-email-share-track-url="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/?share=email"><span>Email</span></a></li><li class="share-facebook"><div class="fb-share-button" data-href="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/" data-layout="button_count"></div></li><li class="share-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/" data-text="How To Find Your Customer In the Dept of Defense - The Directory of DoD Program Executive Offices" >Tweet</a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><div class="linkedin_button"><script type="in/share" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/" data-counter="right"></script></div></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span>Reddit</span></a></li><li class="share-jetpack-whatsapp"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-jetpack-whatsapp sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/?share=jetpack-whatsapp" target="_blank" title="Click to share on WhatsApp" ><span>WhatsApp</span></a></li><li class="share-pinterest"><div class="pinterest_button"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2024%2F09%2F17%2Fthe-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos%2F&media=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F09%2FBUDs-training-team-300x189.jpg&description=How%20To%20Find%20Your%20Customer%20In%20the%20Dept%20of%20Defense%20-%20The%20Directory%20of%20DoD%20Program%20Executive%20Offices" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="beside"><img data-recalc-dims="1" src="https://i0.wp.com/assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png?w=468" /></a></div></li><li class="share-telegram"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-telegram sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/?share=telegram" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Telegram" ><span>Telegram</span></a></li><li class="share-tumblr"><a class="tumblr-share-button" target="_blank" href="https://www.tumblr.com/share" data-title="How To Find Your Customer In the Dept of Defense - The Directory of DoD Program Executive Offices" data-content="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/" title="Share on Tumblr"data-posttype="link">Share on Tumblr</a></li><li class="share-pocket"><div class="pocket_button"><a href="https://getpocket.com/save" class="pocket-btn" data-lang="en" data-save-url="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/" data-pocket-count="horizontal" >Pocket</a></div></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul></div></div></div><div class='sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded' id='like-post-wrapper-6599589-31481-67428107e44c5' data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/?ver=14.1-a.3#blog_id=6599589&post_id=31481&origin=steveblank.com&obj_id=6599589-31481-67428107e44c5&n=1' data-name='like-post-frame-6599589-31481-67428107e44c5' data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> <p class="postinfo"> Filed under: <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/air-force/" rel="category tag">Air Force</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/gordian-knot-center-for-national-security-innovation/" rel="category tag">Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/hacking-for-defense/" rel="category tag">Hacking For Defense</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/national-security/" rel="category tag">National Security</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/navy/" rel="category tag">Navy</a> | <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/#comments">2 Comments »</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-30190 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-corporate-govt-innovation category-national-security category-navy category-secret-history-of-silicon-valley" id="post-30190"> <h2><a href="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/" rel="bookmark">The Secret History of Minnesota Part 1: Engineering Research Associates</a></h2> <div class="postinfo"> Posted on <span class="postdate">December 11, 2023</span> by steve blank </div> <div class="entry"> <p>This post is the latest in the “<a href="http://steveblank.com/category/secret-history-of-silicon-valley/">Secret History Series</a>.” They’ll make much more sense if you watch the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo">video</a> or read some of the <a href="https://steveblank.com/secret-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><u>earlier posts</u></a> for context. See the <a href="http://steveblank.com/secret-history/">Secret History bibliography</a> for sources and supplemental reading.</p> <hr /> <div id="attachment_2394" style="width: 196px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/hp-letter.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2394" data-attachment-id="2394" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2009/06/22/2392/hp-letter/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/hp-letter.jpg?fit=2012%2C2210&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2012,2210" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"","camera":"Canon EOS 40D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1245094324","copyright":"","focal_length":"56","iso":"400","shutter_speed":"0.016666666666667","title":""}" data-image-title="HP Letter" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/hp-letter.jpg?fit=273%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/hp-letter.jpg?fit=468%2C514&ssl=1" class="wp-image-2394" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/hp-letter.jpg?resize=186%2C204&ssl=1" alt="" width="186" height="204" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2394" class="wp-caption-text">No Knowledge of Computers</p></div> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Silicon Valley emerged from work in World War II led by Stanford professor Fred Terman developing microwave and electronics for Electronic Warfare systems. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, spurred on by Terman, Silicon Valley was selling microwave components and systems to the Defense Department, and the first fledging chip companies (Shockley, Fairchild, National, Rheem, Signetics…) were in their infancy. <em>But there were no computer companies</em>. Silicon Valley wouldn’t have a computer company until 1966 when Hewlett Packard shipped the <a href="https://computerhistory.org/blog/50th-anniversary-of-the-hp-2116-minicomputer/">HP 2116 minicomputer</a>.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Meanwhile the biggest and fastest <em>scientific</em> computer companies were in Minnesota. And by 1966 they had been delivering computers for 16 years.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Minneapolis/St. Paul area companies ERA, Control Data and Cray would dominate the world of scientific computing and be an innovation cluster for computing until the mid-1980s. And then they were gone.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Why?</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Just as Silicon Valley’s roots can be traced to innovation in World War II so can Minneapolis/St. Paul’s. The story starts with a company you probably never heard of – Engineering Research Associates.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>It Started With Code Breaking<br /> </strong>For thousands of years, every nation has tried to keep its diplomatic and military communications secret. They do that by <a href="https://cloud.google.com/learn/what-is-encryption" target="_blank" rel="noopener">encrypting</a> (protecting the information by using a cipher/code) to scramble the messages. Other nations try to read those messages by attempting to break those codes.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">During the 1930s the U.S. Army and Navy each had their own small code breaking groups. The Navy’s was called CSAW (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OP-20-G" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Communications Supplemental Activity Washington</a>) also known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OP-20-G">OPS-20-G</a>. The Army codebreaking group was the <a href="https://www.nsa.gov/History/Cryptologic-History/Historical-Events/Article-View/Article/2740643/signal-intelligence-service/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Signal Intelligence Service</a> (SIS) at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlington_Hall">Arlington Hall</a><u>.</u></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">The Army focused on decrypting (breaking/decoding) Japan’s diplomatic and Army codes while the Navy worked on breaking Japan’s Naval codes. This was not a harmonious arrangement. The competition between the Army and Navy code breaking groups was so contentious <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2021/Jun/29/2002751422/-1/-1/0/ORIGINS_OF_NSA.PDF" target="_blank" rel="noopener">that in 1940 they agreed</a> that the Army would decode and translate Japanese diplomatic code on the even days of the month and the Navy would decode and translate the messages on the odd days of the month. This arrangement lasted until Dec. 7, 1941.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">At the start of WWII the Army and Navy code breaking groups each had few hundred people mainly focused on breaking Japanese codes. By the end of WWII, with the U.S. now fighting Germany, and the Soviet Union looming as a potential adversary U.S. code breaking would grow to 20,000 people working on breaking the codes of Germany, Japan and the Soviet Union.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">The two groups would merge in 1949 as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency#:~:text=History-,Formation,known%20as%20the%20Cipher%20Bureau." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Armed Forces Security Agency and then become the National Security Agency</a> (NSA) in 1952.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>The Rise of the Machines in Cryptography<br /> </strong>Prior to 1932 practically all code breaking by the Army and Navy was done by hand. That year they began using commercial <em>mechanical </em>accounting equipment – the IBM <a href="https://pattonhq.com/ibm.html">keypunch</a>, <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/sorters.html">card sorters</a>, reproducers and <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/tabulator.html">tabulators</a>. The Army and Navy each had their own approach to automating cryptography. The Navy had a Rapid Analytical Machines project with hopes to build machines to integrate optics, microfilm and electronics into cryptanalytic tools. (<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zpjpvxpJzMMp2BTsxx2PObH7IJopoq-u/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vannevar Bush at MIT was trying to build one for the Navy</a>.) As WWII loomed, the advanced Rapid Machines projects were put on hold, and the Army and Navy used hundreds of specially modified <em>commercial </em>IBM electromechanical systems to decrypt codes.</p> <div> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><em>Read the sidebars for more detailed information</em></p> <blockquote> <div> <div> <h3><b>Electromechanical Cryptologic Systems in WWII</b></h3> </div> </div> <p style="font-weight: 400;">By the spring 1941, the Army built the first special-purpose cryptologic attachment to the IBM punched card equipment – the <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2021/Jul/02/2002755855/-1/-1/0/FAMOUS-FIRST-FACTS.PDF">GeeWhizzer</a> using relays and rotary switches to help break the <a href="http://chris-intel-corner.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-japanese-j-19-fuji-code_1.html">Japanese diplomatic code</a>s. That same year, the Navy received the first in a series of <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2021/Jul/02/2002755855/-1/-1/0/FAMOUS-FIRST-FACTS.PDF">13 electro-mechanical IBM Navy Change Machines</a> to automate decrypting cipher systems used by the Japanese Navy. The Navy attachments were extensive modifications of IBM’s standard <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/sorters.html">card sorters</a>, reproducers and <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/tabulator.html">tabulators</a>. Some could be manually reconfigured via <a href="https://www.glennsmuseum.com/items/ibm_card/">plugboards</a> to do different tasks.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">During the war the Army and Navy built ~75 of these electro-mechanical and optical systems. Some were standalone units the size of a room.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">However, the bulk of the cryptoanalysis was done with IBM punch cards, sorters and tabulators, along with special <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/9781119061601.app3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">microfilm comparators from Eastman Kodak</a>. By the end of the War the Army and Navy had <a href="https://www.nsa.gov/Portals/75/documents/news-features/declassified-documents/friedman-documents/reports-research/FOLDER_154/41745979078521.pdf">750 IBM machines</a> using several million punch cards every day.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">IBM’s other mechanical contribution to cryptanalysts was the <a href="https://www.cryptomuseum.com/cam/cxco/index.htm">Letterwriter</a>, (codenamed CXCO) a desktop machine that tied together electric typewriters to teletype, automatic tape and card punches, microfilm and eventually to film-processing machines.<a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IBM-Letterwritter.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="30197" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/ibm-letterwritter/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IBM-Letterwritter.jpg?fit=719%2C361&ssl=1" data-orig-size="719,361" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="IBM Letterwritter" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IBM-Letterwritter.jpg?fit=300%2C151&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IBM-Letterwritter.jpg?fit=468%2C235&ssl=1" class="wp-image-30197 alignright" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IBM-Letterwritter.jpg?resize=229%2C115&ssl=1" alt="" width="229" height="115" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IBM-Letterwritter.jpg?w=719&ssl=1 719w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IBM-Letterwritter.jpg?resize=300%2C151&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IBM-Letterwritter.jpg?resize=150%2C75&ssl=1 150w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 229px) 100vw, 229px" /></a> By adding plug-boards they could automate some analysis steps. Hundreds of these were bought.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">The Navy’s most advanced cryptographic machine work in WWII was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Naval_Computing_Machine_Laboratory">building 125 U.S. versions</a> of the British code breaking machine called the <a href="https://www.cryptomuseum.com/crypto/bombe/">BOMBE</a>. These electromechanical <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombe">BOMBES</a> were used to crack the ENIGMA, the cipher machine used by the Germans.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/NCR-Bombe.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="30198" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/ncr-bombe/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/NCR-Bombe.jpg?fit=681%2C536&ssl=1" data-orig-size="681,536" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="NCR Bombe" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/NCR-Bombe.jpg?fit=300%2C236&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/NCR-Bombe.jpg?fit=468%2C368&ssl=1" class="wp-image-30198 alignright" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/NCR-Bombe.jpg?resize=242%2C191&ssl=1" alt="" width="242" height="191" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/NCR-Bombe.jpg?w=681&ssl=1 681w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/NCR-Bombe.jpg?resize=300%2C236&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/NCR-Bombe.jpg?resize=150%2C118&ssl=1 150w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 242px) 100vw, 242px" /></a>Designed by the Navy’s OPS-20-G team and <a href="http://www.jproc.ca/crypto/bombe_us.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">built at National Cash Register</a> (NCR) in Dayton, <a href="https://daytoncodebreakers.org/depth/wenger/">this same Computing Machine Lab would build ~25 other types of electromechanical and optical machines</a>, some the size of a room with <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/150065">3,500 tubes</a>, to assist in breaking Japanese and German codes. By the end of the war the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Naval_Computing_Machine_Laboratory">Naval Computing Machine Lab</a> was arguably building the most sophisticated electronic machines in the U.S. However, none of these machines were computers. They had no memory, and both were “‘hard-wired” to perform just one task.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">(Meanwhile in England the British code breaking group in <a href="https://bletchleypark.org.uk/our-story/75-years-since-colossus-arrived-at-bletchley/">Bletchley Park</a> built <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_computer">Colossus</a>, arguably the first digital computer. At the end of the War the British offered the Navy OPS-20-G code breaking group a Colossus but the Navy turned it down.)</p> </blockquote> </div> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Dual-Use Technology<br /> </strong>As the war was winding down, the leadership of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Naval_Computing_Machine_Laboratory">Navy Computing Machine Lab</a> in OPS-20-G was thinking about how they could permanently link commercial, academic and military computing science and innovation to the Navy. After discovering that no commercial company was willing to continue their wartime work of building the specialized hardware for codebreaking, the Navy realized they needed a new company. The decided that the best way to do that was to encourage a private for-profit company to spin out and build advanced crypto-computing systems.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">The Secretary of the Navy gave his OK and three officers in the Navy’s code breaking group (Commander Howard Engstrom, who had been a math professor at Yale; Lieutenant Commander William “Bill” Norris, an electrical engineer; and their contracting officer Captain Ralph Meader,) agreed to start a civilian company to continue building specialized systems to help break codes. While unique for the time, this public-private partnership was in-line with the wartime experiment of Vannevar Bush’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Scientific_Research_and_Development">OSRD</a> – using civilians in universities to develop military weapons.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Why Minneapolis/St. Paul?<br /> </strong>While it seemed like a good idea and had the Navy’s backing, the founders got turned down for funding by companies, investment bankers and everyone, until they talked to John Parker.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Serendipity came to Minneapolis-St. Paul when the Navy team met <a href="https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/107593/oh099jep.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Parker</a>. Parker was a ex Naval Academy graduate and a Minneapolis businessman who owned a glider manufacturing company and was well connected in Washington. Parker agreed to invest. In January 1946, they founded Engineering Research Associates (ERA). Parker became President, and got 50% of the company’s equity for a $20,000 investment (equal to $315K today) and guaranteed a $200,000 line of credit (equal to $3M today). The professional staff owned the other 50%. The new company moved into Parker’s glider hanger. Norris became the VP of Engineering, Engstrom the VP of Research, and Meader VP of Manufacturing.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">The company hit the ground running. 41 of the best and brightest ex-Navy technical team members of the Naval Computing Machine Lab in Dayton moved and became the initial technical staff of ERA. When the Navy added their own staff from the Dayton Laboratory the ERA facility was designated a Naval Reserve Base and armed guards were posted at the entrance. The company took on any engineering work that came their way but were kept in business developing new code-breaking machines for the Navy. Most of the machines were custom-built to crack a specific code, and increasingly used a new ERA invention – the magnetic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_memory">drum memory</a> to process and analyze the coded texts.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">ERA’s headcount grew rapidly. Within a year the company had 145 people. A year later, 420. And by 1949, 652 employees and by 1955, <a href="https://www.vipclubmn.org/Articles/1971Paper.pdf">1400</a>. Sales in their first fiscal year were $1.5 million ($22 million in today’s dollars).</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">During World War II the demands of war industries caused millions more Americans to move to where most defense plants located. Post-war era Americans were equally mobile, willing to move where the opportunities were. And if you were an engineer who wanted to work on the cutting edge of electronics, and electromechanical systems, ERA in Minneapolis-St. Paul was the place to be. (Applicants were told that ERA was doing electronics work for government and industry. Those who wanted more detail were given a number of cover stories. Many were told that ERA was working on airline seat reservation systems.)</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>How Did ERA Grow So Quickly?<br /> </strong>The Navy thought of ERA as its “captive corporation.” From the first day <a href="https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/107551/oh116wcn.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">ERA started with contracts from the Navy</a> OPS-20-G codebreaking group. ERA built the most advanced electronic systems of the time. Unfortunately for the company they couldn’t tell anyone as their customer was the most secret government agency in the country – the National Security Agency.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">ERAs systems were designed to solve problems defined by their Navy code-breaking customer. They fell into two categories: some projects were designed to automate existing workflows of decoding known ciphers; others were used to discover breaks into new ciphers. And with the start of the Cold War, that meant Soviet cryptosystems. ERAs cryptanalytic devices were most often designed to break only one particular foreign cipher machine (which kept a stream of new contracts coming.) The specific purpose and target of each of these systems with colorful codenames are still classified.</p> <blockquote> <h3 style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-help-wanted-ad-2-photo.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="30228" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/era-help-wanted-ad-2-photo/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-help-wanted-ad-2-photo.jpg?fit=384%2C392&ssl=1" data-orig-size="384,392" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="ERA help wanted ad 2 photo" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-help-wanted-ad-2-photo.jpg?fit=294%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-help-wanted-ad-2-photo.jpg?fit=384%2C392&ssl=1" class="alignright wp-image-30228" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-help-wanted-ad-2-photo.jpg?resize=156%2C159&ssl=1" alt="" width="156" height="159" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-help-wanted-ad-2-photo.jpg?w=384&ssl=1 384w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-help-wanted-ad-2-photo.jpg?resize=294%2C300&ssl=1 294w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-help-wanted-ad-2-photo.jpg?resize=147%2C150&ssl=1 147w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 156px) 100vw, 156px" /></a><strong>What Did ERA Build For the National Security Agency (NSA)?</strong></h3> <p style="font-weight: 400;">By the end of ERA’s first year, ERA had contracts for a digital device called Alcatraz which used thousands of vacuum tubes and relays. A contract for a system named O’Malley followed. Then two “exhaustive trial” systems called <a href="https://www.cryptomuseum.com/cam/hecate/index.htm">Hecate</a> for $250,000 ($3.2 million in today’s dollars) and the follow-on system, <a href="https://www.cryptomuseum.com/cam/warlock/index.htm">Warlock </a>($500,000 – $6.4 million today.) Warlock was so large that it was kept at the ERA factory and operated as a remote operations center.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Next were the <a href="https://www.nsa.gov/Portals/75/documents/news-features/declassified-documents/friedman-documents/reports-research/FOLDER_107/41743419078275.pdf">Robin machines, a photoelectric comparator</a>, used to attack the Soviet Albatross code. The first two were delivered in the end of 1950. Thirteen more were delivered to NSA over the next two years.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><em>ERA Disk Drives<br /> </em><span style="font-weight: 400;">One of the problems code breakers had was the difficulty of being able to store and operate on large sets of data. To do so, cryptanalysts used thousands of punched cards, miles of paper tapes and microfilm. ERA was the pioneer in the development of an early form of disk drives called magnetic drum memories.</span></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Drum-Memory-photos.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="30207" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/era-drum-memory-photos-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Drum-Memory-photos.jpg?fit=966%2C774&ssl=1" data-orig-size="966,774" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="ERA Drum Memory photos" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Drum-Memory-photos.jpg?fit=300%2C240&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Drum-Memory-photos.jpg?fit=468%2C375&ssl=1" class="wp-image-30207 alignright" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Drum-Memory-photos.jpg?resize=163%2C130&ssl=1" alt="" width="163" height="130" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Drum-Memory-photos.jpg?w=966&ssl=1 966w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Drum-Memory-photos.jpg?resize=300%2C240&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Drum-Memory-photos.jpg?resize=150%2C120&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Drum-Memory-photos.jpg?resize=768%2C615&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 163px) 100vw, 163px" /></a>ERA used these magnetic drums in the special systems they built for NSA and later in their Atlas computers. They also sold them as </span><a style="font-weight: 400;" href="https://d1yx3ys82bpsa0.cloudfront.net/brochures/era.magnetic-storage-systems.ca1958.102646316.pdf">peripherals to other computer companies</a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><a style="font-weight: 400;" href="http://www.jproc.ca/crypto/goldberg_and_demon.html">Goldberg</a><span style="font-weight: 400;">,</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> which followed, was another room-sized special purpose machine – a comparator with statistical capabilities – that took photoelectric sensing and paper tape scanning to new heights. </span><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Goldberg.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="30211" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/era-goldberg-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Goldberg.jpg?fit=897%2C585&ssl=1" data-orig-size="897,585" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="ERA Goldberg" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Goldberg.jpg?fit=300%2C196&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Goldberg.jpg?fit=468%2C305&ssl=1" class="wp-image-30211 alignright" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Goldberg.jpg?resize=205%2C134&ssl=1" alt="" width="205" height="134" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Goldberg.jpg?resize=300%2C196&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Goldberg.jpg?resize=150%2C98&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Goldberg.jpg?resize=768%2C501&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Goldberg.jpg?w=897&ssl=1 897w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 205px) 100vw, 205px" /></a></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Costing $250,000 ($3.2 million in today’s dollars), it had 7,000 tubes and was one of the first Agency machines to use a magnetic drum to store and handle data.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Another similarly sized system, <a href="http://www.jproc.ca/crypto/goldberg_and_demon.html">Demon</a>, followed. It was a dictionary machine designed to crack a Soviet code. It also used 34-inch-diameter magnetic drum to perform a specialized version of table lookup. Three of these large systems were delivered.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">ERA engineers operated at the same relentless and exhausting pace as they had done in war time – similar to how Silicon Valley silicon and computer companies would operate three decades later.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">For the next decade ERA would continue to deliver a stream of special-purpose code breaking electronic systems and subsystems for the Navy cryptologic community. (These NSA documents give a hint at the number and variety of encryption and decryption equipment at NSA in the early 1950’s: <a href="https://cryptomuseum.com/cam/files/NSA_19520613_CAM.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>, <a href="https://www.nsa.gov/Portals/75/documents/news-features/declassified-documents/friedman-documents/reports-research/FOLDER_107/41743419078275.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here,</a> <a href="https://www.nsa.gov/Portals/75/documents/news-features/declassified-documents/friedman-documents/reports-research/FOLDER_154/41745979078521.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>, <a href="https://www.nsa.gov/Portals/75/documents/news-features/declassified-documents/friedman-documents/reports-research/FOLDER_106/41743689078291.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>, and <a href="https://www.nsa.gov/Portals/75/documents/news-features/declassified-documents/friedman-documents/patent-equipment/FOLDER_425/41774259081336.pdf">here</a>.)</p> </blockquote> <p style="font-weight: 400;">ERA was undercapitalized and always looking for other products to sell. At the same time ERA was building systems for the NSA they pursued other lines of businesses; <a href="https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA952695.pdf">research studies on liquid fueled rockets</a>, <a href="https://vipclubmn.org/couplers.html">aircraft antenna couplers</a> (which turned into a profitable product line,) a Doppler Miss Distance Indicator, <a href="https://crosleyautoclub.com/GasPorter/GasPorter.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ground Support Equipment</a> (GSE) for airlines, and Project Boom to produce instrumentation for what would become underground nuclear tests. A 1950 study for the Office of Naval Research called <a href="http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/era/High_Speed_Computing_Devices_1950.pdf">High-Speed Computing Devices</a> – a survey of all computers then existent in the U.S. As there was no single source of information about what was happening in the rapidly growing computer field, this ERA report became the bible of early U.S. computers.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>The Holy Grail – A Digital Computer for Cryptography?<br /> </strong>As complicated as the ERA machines were, they were still single function machines, not general purpose computers. But up until 1946 no one had built a general purpose computer.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">With the war over what the Navy OP-20-G’s and Army SIS computing wizards really wanted was to create a single machine that could perform all the major cryptanalytic functions. The most important of the crypto techniques were based upon either locating repeated patterns, tallying massive numbers of letter patterns, and recognizing plain text, or performing some form of “exhaustive searching.”</p> <blockquote> <h3 style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>How the NSA Got Their First Computers</strong></h3> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Their idea was to put each of these major cryptanalytic functions in separate, dedicated, single-function hardware boxes and connect them through a central switching mechanism. That would allow cryptanalysts to tie them together in any configuration; and hook it all to free-standing input/output mechanisms. With a stock of these specialized boxes the agencies believed they could create any desired cryptanalytic engine.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Just as the consensus for this type of architecture was coalescing, a new idea emerged in 1946 – the concept of a general purpose digital computer with a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_architecture">von Neumann architecture</a>. In contrast to having many separate hardwired functions, a general purpose computer would have just the four basic arithmetic ones (add, subtract, multiple and divide) along with a few that allowed movement of data between the input-output components, memory, and a single central processor. In theory, one piece of hardware could be made to imitate any machine through an inexpensive and easily changed set of instructions.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Opponents to the project believed that a von Neumann design would always be too slow because it had only a single processor to do everything. (This debate between dedicated special purpose hardware versus general purpose computers continues to this day.)</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">The tipping point in this debate happened <a href="https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/sites/default/files/documents/3106067/Document-01.pdf">in 1946 when an OPS-20-G engineer went to the Moore School’s 1946 summer course on computers</a>. The Moore School’s computer group had just completed the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC">ENIAC</a>, arguably the first programmable digital computer, and they were beginning to sketch the outlines of their own new computer, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIVAC_I#:~:text=The%20UNIVAC%20I%20(Universal%20Automatic,the%20inventors%20of%20the%20ENIAC.">UNIVAC</a> the first computer for business applications. The engineer came back to the Navy computing group an advocate for building a general-purpose digital computer for codebreaking having convinced himself that most cryptanalysis could be performed through digital methods. He prepared a report to show that his device would be useful to everyone at OP-20-G. The report remained Top Secret for decades.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">The report detailed how a general-purpose machine could have successfully attacked the <a href="https://courses.csail.mit.edu/6.857/2019/project/24-Lami-Kallco-Guo-Shi.pdf">Japanese Purple codes</a> as well as German <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigma_machine">Enigma</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_(cryptography)">Fish</a> systems, and how it would be usefully against the current Soviet and <a href="https://www.cryptomuseum.com/crypto/hagelin/index.htm">Hagelin</a> systems.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">This changed everything for the NSA. They were now in the computer business.</p> </blockquote> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><em>ERA’s ATLAS<br /> </em>In 1948 the Navy gave ERA the contract to produce its first digital computer called ATLAS to be used by OPS-20-G for codebreaking.<a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Ad-for-Engineers.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="30209" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/era-ad-for-engineers-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Ad-for-Engineers.jpg?fit=1110%2C576&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1110,576" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="ERA Ad for Engineers" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Ad-for-Engineers.jpg?fit=300%2C156&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Ad-for-Engineers.jpg?fit=468%2C243&ssl=1" class="alignright wp-image-30209" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Ad-for-Engineers-300x156.jpg?resize=208%2C108&ssl=1" alt="" width="208" height="108" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Ad-for-Engineers.jpg?resize=300%2C156&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Ad-for-Engineers.jpg?resize=1024%2C531&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Ad-for-Engineers.jpg?resize=150%2C78&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Ad-for-Engineers.jpg?resize=768%2C399&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Ad-for-Engineers.jpg?w=1110&ssl=1 1110w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Ad-for-Engineers.jpg?w=936&ssl=1 936w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 208px) 100vw, 208px" /></a></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Twenty four months later, ERA delivered the first of two 24-bit ATLAS I computers. <a href="https://vipclubmn.org/Documents/Sperry%20UNIVAC%20-%20The%20First%20Computer%20Company%20-%20Chapter%203%20ERA%20by%20George%20Champine%20-%201979.pdf">The Atlas was 45’ wide and 9’ long. It weighed 16,000 pounds</a> and was water cooled. Each ATLAS I cost the NSA $1.3 million ($16 million in today’s dollars).</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">In hindsight, the NSA <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Rubicon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crossed the Rubicon</a> when the ATLAS I arrived. Today, an intelligence agency without computers is unimaginable. Its purchase showed incredible foresight and initiated a new era of cryptanalysis at the NSA. It was one of the handful of general purpose, binary computers anywhere. Ten<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KYd_QS4cONmf9YGO39aHJEf-hY8HglCV/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> years later the NSA would have 53 computers</a>.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Atlas-console-photo-.png?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="30215" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/era-atlas-console-photo/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Atlas-console-photo-.png?fit=800%2C640&ssl=1" data-orig-size="800,640" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="ERA Atlas console photo" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Atlas-console-photo-.png?fit=300%2C240&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Atlas-console-photo-.png?fit=468%2C374&ssl=1" class="alignright wp-image-30215" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Atlas-console-photo-.png?resize=200%2C160&ssl=1" alt="" width="200" height="160" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Atlas-console-photo-.png?w=800&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Atlas-console-photo-.png?resize=300%2C240&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Atlas-console-photo-.png?resize=150%2C120&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Atlas-console-photo-.png?resize=768%2C614&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" /></a>ERA asked the NSA for permission to offer the computer for commercial sale. The NSA required ERA to <a href="https://vaibhavsagar.com/blog/2019/09/08/popcount/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remove instructions that made the computer efficient for cryptography</a>, and that became the commercial version – the <a href="https://d1yx3ys82bpsa0.cloudfront.net/brochures/era.1101.1951.102646300.pdf">ERA 1101</a> announced in December 1951. It had no operating or programming manual and its input/output facilities was a typewriter, a paper tape reader, and a paper tape punch. At the time, no programming languages existed.</p> <p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1101-photo.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="30218" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/era-1101-photo/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1101-photo.jpg?fit=1226%2C828&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1226,828" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="ERA 1101 photo" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1101-photo.jpg?fit=300%2C203&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1101-photo.jpg?fit=468%2C316&ssl=1" class="alignleft wp-image-30218" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1101-photo.jpg?resize=200%2C135&ssl=1" alt="" width="200" height="135" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1101-photo.jpg?resize=1024%2C692&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1101-photo.jpg?resize=300%2C203&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1101-photo.jpg?resize=150%2C101&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1101-photo.jpg?resize=768%2C519&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1101-photo.jpg?w=1226&ssl=1 1226w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1101-photo.jpg?w=936&ssl=1 936w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" /></a></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">ERA had delivered a breakthrough computer without having an understanding of its potential application or what a customer might have to do to use the machine. In search of commercial customers, ERA set up a ERA 1101 computer in Washington and offered it to companies as a <a href="https://d1yx3ys82bpsa0.cloudfront.net/brochures/era.computation-center.1950.102646301.pdf">remote computing center</a>. As far as the commercial world knew ERA was a startup with no real computing expertise and this was their first offering. In addition, the only people with experience in writing applications for the 1101 were hidden away at NSA, and ERA was unable to staff the Arlington office to create programs for customers. Finally, ERA’s penchant for extreme secrecy left them unschooled in the art of marketing, sales, and Public Relations. When they couldn’t find any customers they donated the <a href="https://d1yx3ys82bpsa0.cloudfront.net/brochures/era.1101.1951.102646300.pdf">ERA 1101</a> to Georgia Tech.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">With their hands on their first ever general purpose digital computer, the Navy and ERA rapidly learned what needed to be improved. ERA’s follow-on computer, the ATLAS II was a 32-bit system with additional instruction extensions for cryptography. Two were delivered to NSA between 1953 and 1954. ATLAS II cost the NSA $2.3 million ($35 million today.)</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Late in 1952, a year before the ATLAS II was delivered to the NSA, ERA told <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remington_Rand" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Remington Rand</a> (who now owned the company) the ATLAS II computer existed (and the government had paid for its R&D costs) and it was competitive with the newly announced <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_701" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IBM 701</a>. When the ATLAS II was delivered to the NSA in 1953 they again asked for permission to sell it commercially (and again had to remove some instructions) which turned the Atlas II into the commercial <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIVAC_1103" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ERA/Univac 1103</a>. (see its 1956 reference manual <a href="http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/univac/1103/Univac_Scientific_1103A_Reference_Manual_1956.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.)</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1103-configuration-photo.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="30220" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/era-1103-configuration-photo/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1103-configuration-photo.jpg?fit=1570%2C962&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1570,962" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="ERA 1103 configuration photo" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1103-configuration-photo.jpg?fit=300%2C184&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1103-configuration-photo.jpg?fit=468%2C287&ssl=1" class="alignright wp-image-30220" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1103-configuration-photo.jpg?resize=200%2C123&ssl=1" alt="" width="200" height="123" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1103-configuration-photo.jpg?resize=1024%2C627&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1103-configuration-photo.jpg?resize=300%2C184&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1103-configuration-photo.jpg?resize=150%2C92&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1103-configuration-photo.jpg?resize=768%2C471&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1103-configuration-photo.jpg?resize=1536%2C941&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1103-configuration-photo.jpg?w=1570&ssl=1 1570w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1103-configuration-photo.jpg?w=936&ssl=1 936w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-1103-configuration-photo.jpg?w=1404&ssl=1 1404w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" /></a>This time with Remington Rand’s experience in sales and marketing, the computer was a commercial success with about twenty 1103s sold.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><em>ERA’s Bogart<br /> </em><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 1953, with the </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">ATLAS </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">computers in hand, the Navy realized that a smaller digital computer could be used for data conversion and editing, and to “clean up” raw data for input to larger computers. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">This was the </span><a style="font-weight: 400;" href="http://www.silogic.com/Athena/Bogart.html">Bogart</a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Bogart-Photo.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="30221" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/era-bogart-photo/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Bogart-Photo.jpg?fit=1244%2C866&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1244,866" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="ERA Bogart Photo" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Bogart-Photo.jpg?fit=300%2C209&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Bogart-Photo.jpg?fit=468%2C326&ssl=1" class="alignright wp-image-30221" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Bogart-Photo.jpg?resize=200%2C139&ssl=1" alt="" width="200" height="139" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Bogart-Photo.jpg?resize=1024%2C713&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Bogart-Photo.jpg?resize=300%2C209&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Bogart-Photo.jpg?resize=150%2C104&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Bogart-Photo.jpg?resize=768%2C535&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Bogart-Photo.jpg?w=1244&ssl=1 1244w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/ERA-Bogart-Photo.jpg?w=936&ssl=1 936w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" /></a></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Physically </span><a style="font-weight: 400;" href="http://www.silogic.com/Athena/Bogart.html">Bogart </a><span style="font-weight: 400;">was a “small, compact” (compared to the ATLAS) computer that weighed 3,000 pounds and covered 20 square feet of floor space. To get a feel of how insanely difficult it was to program a 1950’s computer take a look at the 1957 Bogart programming manual <a href="https://vipclubmn.org/BitsBakUp/BOGART%20Programmers%20Manual%20(July%201957).pdf">here</a>.) The Bogart design team was headed by <a href="https://www.nsa.gov/portals/75/documents/news-features/declassified-documents/history-today-articles/10%202018/05OCT2018%20SEYMOUR%20CRAY%20and%20NSA.pdf?ver=P3xsKeHprvcBBChHKi77Gw%3D%3D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seymour Cray</a>. E</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">RA delivered five Bogart machines to NSA. </span></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Seymour Cray would reuse features of the Bogart logic design when he designed the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Tactical_Data_System" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Navy Tactical Data System computers</a>, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/USQ-17" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UNIVAC 490</a> and the Control Data Corporation’s <a href="https://www.computerhistory.org/tdih/october/16/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CDC 1604</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDC_160_series" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CDC 160</a>.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">By 1953, 40% of the University of Minnesota electrical engineering graduates – including Cray – were working for ERA.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>The End of an ERA<br /> </strong>By 1952, the mainframe computer industry was beginning to take shape with office machine and electronics companies such as Remington Rand, Burroughs, National Cash Register, Raytheon, RCA and IBM. Parker, still the CEO, realized that the frantic chase of government contracts was unsustainable. (The relationship with the NSA’s procurement offices now run by Army staff, had become so strained that the Navy Computing Lab was unable to get an official letter of thanks sent to ERA for having developed the ATLAS.)</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Parker calculated that ERA needed $5 million to $10 million ($75 to $150 million in today’s dollars) to grow and compete with the existing companies in the commercial computing market. Even after the NSA took over the cryptologic work of OPS-20-G the formal contracts with ERA were done through the Navy’s Bureau of Ships. NSA was known as No Such Agency and on paper its relationship with ERA didn’t exist. As far as the public knew, ERA’s products were for “the Navy.” Given that ERA’s extraordinary technical work was unknown to anyone other than the NSA, Parker didn’t think he could raise the money via a public offering (venture capital as we know it didn’t exist.)</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Instead, in 1952, Parker sold ERA to Remington Rand (best known for producing typewriters) for $1.7M (about $12M in today’s dollars.) A year earlier, Remington Rand had bought <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eckert%E2%80%93Mauchly_Computer_Corporation">Eckert-Mauchly</a> – one of the first U.S. <em>commercial </em>computer companies – and its line of UNIVAC computers. They wanted ERA to get its government customers. ERA remained a standalone division. The ERA 1101 and 1103 became a part of the UNIVAC product line.</p> <p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/era-history-picture-edited.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="30225" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/era-history-picture-edited/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/era-history-picture-edited.jpg?fit=455%2C277&ssl=1" data-orig-size="455,277" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="era history picture edited" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/era-history-picture-edited.jpg?fit=300%2C183&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/era-history-picture-edited.jpg?fit=455%2C277&ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-30225" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/era-history-picture-edited.jpg?resize=455%2C277&ssl=1" alt="" width="455" height="277" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/era-history-picture-edited.jpg?w=455&ssl=1 455w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/era-history-picture-edited.jpg?resize=300%2C183&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/era-history-picture-edited.jpg?resize=150%2C91&ssl=1 150w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 455px) 100vw, 455px" /></a></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Parker became head of sales of the merged computer division. He left in 1956 and years later he became chairman of the Teleregister Corporation, the predecessor to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunker_Ramo">Bunker-Ramo</a>. He went on to become a director of several companies, including Northwest Airlines and Martin Marietta.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Remington Rand itself would be acquired by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperry_Corporation">Sperry</a> in 1955 and both ERA and Eckert–Mauchly were folded into a computer division called Sperry-UNIVAC. Much of ERA’s work was dropped, while their drum technology was used in newer UNIVAC machines. In 1986 Sperry merged with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burroughs_Corporation">Burroughs</a> to form <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unisys">Unisys</a>.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Epilogue<br /> </strong>For the next 60 years the NSA would have the largest collection of commercial computers and computing horsepower in the world. They would continue to supplement those with dedicated special purpose hardware.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">The reorganization of American Signals Intelligence, leading to the creation of the <a href="https://cryptologicfoundation.org/community/bytes/this_day_in_history_calendar.html/event/2023/05/20/1684558800/1949-armed-forces-security-agency-created-/96271" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Armed Forces Signals Agency (AFSA)</a> in 1949, then <a href="https://www.nsa.gov/portals/75/documents/news-features/declassified-documents/cryptologic-spectrum/early_history_nsa.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the NSA in 1952</a>, contributed to the demise of the special relationship between ERA and the code- breakers. The integration of the Army and Navy brought a shift in who made decisions about computer purchasing. NSA inherited a computer staff from the Army side of technical SIGINT. They had different ties and orientations than the few remaining old Navy hands. As a result, the new core NSA group did not protest when the special group that integrated Agency and ERA work was disbanded. The 1954 termination of the Navy Computing Machine Lab in St. Paul went almost unnoticed.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">But the era of Minnesota’s role as a scientific computing and innovation cluster wasn’t over. In fact, it was just getting started. In 1957 ERA co-founder William Norris, and Sperry-Univac engineers Seymour Cray, Willis Drake, and ERA’s treasurer Arnold Ryden, along with a half dozen others, left Sperry-Univac and teamed up with three investors to form a new Minneapolis-based computer company: Control Data Corporation (CDC). For the next two decades Control Data would build the fastest scientific computers in the world.</p> <p><strong>Read all the Secret History posts <a href="https://steveblank.com/secret-history/#Secret%20History%20Backstory" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a></strong></p> <hr /> <iframe loading="lazy" width="100%" height="91" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F1720156728&width=false&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=false&show_comments=false&color=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false"></iframe> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-print"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-print sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/" target="_blank" title="Click to print" ><span>Print</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20The%20Secret%20History%20of%20Minnesota%20Part%201%3A%20Engineering%20Research%20Associates&body=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2023%2F12%2F11%2Fthe-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. You may need to create a new email yourself." data-email-share-nonce="3bf163b9e5" data-email-share-track-url="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/?share=email"><span>Email</span></a></li><li class="share-facebook"><div class="fb-share-button" data-href="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/" data-layout="button_count"></div></li><li class="share-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/" data-text="The Secret History of Minnesota Part 1: Engineering Research Associates" >Tweet</a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><div class="linkedin_button"><script type="in/share" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/" data-counter="right"></script></div></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span>Reddit</span></a></li><li class="share-jetpack-whatsapp"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-jetpack-whatsapp sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/?share=jetpack-whatsapp" target="_blank" title="Click to share on WhatsApp" ><span>WhatsApp</span></a></li><li class="share-pinterest"><div class="pinterest_button"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2023%2F12%2F11%2Fthe-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates%2F&media=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2023%2F12%2FERA-help-wanted-ad-2-photo.jpg&description=The%20Secret%20History%20of%20Minnesota%20Part%201%3A%20Engineering%20Research%20Associates" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="beside"><img data-recalc-dims="1" src="https://i0.wp.com/assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png?w=468" /></a></div></li><li class="share-telegram"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-telegram sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/?share=telegram" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Telegram" ><span>Telegram</span></a></li><li class="share-tumblr"><a class="tumblr-share-button" target="_blank" href="https://www.tumblr.com/share" data-title="The Secret History of Minnesota Part 1: Engineering Research Associates" data-content="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/" title="Share on Tumblr"data-posttype="link">Share on Tumblr</a></li><li class="share-pocket"><div class="pocket_button"><a href="https://getpocket.com/save" class="pocket-btn" data-lang="en" data-save-url="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/" data-pocket-count="horizontal" >Pocket</a></div></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul></div></div></div><div class='sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded' id='like-post-wrapper-6599589-30190-67428107ee17b' data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/?ver=14.1-a.3#blog_id=6599589&post_id=30190&origin=steveblank.com&obj_id=6599589-30190-67428107ee17b&n=1' data-name='like-post-frame-6599589-30190-67428107ee17b' data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> <p class="postinfo"> Filed under: <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/corporate-govt-innovation/" rel="category tag">Corporate/Gov't Innovation</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/national-security/" rel="category tag">National Security</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/navy/" rel="category tag">Navy</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/secret-history-of-silicon-valley/" rel="category tag">Secret History of Silicon Valley</a> | <a href="https://steveblank.com/2023/12/11/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates/#respond">Leave a comment »</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-28148 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-gordian-knot-center-for-national-security-innovation category-navy" id="post-28148"> <h2><a href="https://steveblank.com/2022/01/18/the-small-the-agile-and-the-many-the-navys-hedge/" rel="bookmark">What’s Plan B? – The Small, the Agile, and the Many</a></h2> <div class="postinfo"> Posted on <span class="postdate">January 18, 2022</span> by steve blank </div> <div class="entry"> <p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/proceedings.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="28183" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/proceedings/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/proceedings.jpg?fit=411%2C70&ssl=1" data-orig-size="411,70" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="proceedings" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/proceedings.jpg?fit=300%2C51&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/proceedings.jpg?fit=411%2C70&ssl=1" class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-28183" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/proceedings.jpg?resize=150%2C26&ssl=1" alt="" width="150" height="26" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/proceedings.jpg?resize=150%2C26&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/proceedings.jpg?resize=300%2C51&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/proceedings.jpg?w=411&ssl=1 411w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a>This post previously appeared in the <a href="https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2022/january/small-agile-and-many" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Proceedings of the Naval Institute</a>.</p> <hr /> <p>One of the most audacious and bold manifestos for the future of Naval innovation has just been posted by the Rear Admiral who heads up the <a href="https://www.onr.navy.mil/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Office of Naval Research</a>. It may be the hedge we need to deter China in the South China Sea.</p> <hr /> <p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1713770716.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="28150" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/sealionhuntinginaschool-swarmofmackerel/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1713770716.jpg?fit=7360%2C4912&ssl=1" data-orig-size="7360,4912" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"Shutterstock","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"Copyright (c) 2020 Mike Eyett\/Shutterstock. No use without permission.","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"Sea,Lion,Hunting,In,A,School,\/,Swarm,Of,Mackerel","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Sea,Lion,Hunting,In,A,School,/,Swarm,Of,Mackerel" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1713770716.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1713770716.jpg?fit=468%2C312&ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-28150" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1713770716.jpg?resize=468%2C312&ssl=1" alt="" width="468" height="312" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1713770716.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1713770716.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1713770716.jpg?resize=150%2C100&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1713770716.jpg?resize=768%2C513&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1713770716.jpg?resize=1536%2C1025&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1713770716.jpg?resize=2048%2C1367&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1713770716.jpg?w=936&ssl=1 936w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/shutterstock_1713770716.jpg?w=1404&ssl=1 1404w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px" /></a></p> <p><strong>While You Were Out<br /> </strong>In the two decades since 9/11, while the U.S. was fighting Al-Qaeda and ISIS, China <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2021/Nov/03/2002885874/-1/-1/0/2021-CMPR-FINAL.PDF" target="_blank" rel="noopener">built new weapons and developed new operational concepts</a> to negate U.S. military strengths. They’ve built ICBMs with conventional warheads to hit our aircraft carriers. They converted reefs in international waters into airbases, creating unsinkable aircraft carriers that extend the range of their aircraft and are armed with surface to air missiles make it dangerous to approach China’s mainland and Taiwan. <a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/China-Spratly-outposts.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="28162" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/china-spratly-outposts/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/China-Spratly-outposts.jpg?fit=272%2C230&ssl=1" data-orig-size="272,230" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="China Spratly outposts" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/China-Spratly-outposts.jpg?fit=272%2C230&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/China-Spratly-outposts.jpg?fit=272%2C230&ssl=1" class="alignright size-full wp-image-28162" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/China-Spratly-outposts.jpg?resize=272%2C230&ssl=1" alt="" width="272" height="230" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/China-Spratly-outposts.jpg?w=272&ssl=1 272w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/China-Spratly-outposts.jpg?resize=150%2C127&ssl=1 150w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 272px) 100vw, 272px" /></a></p> <p>To evade our own fleet air defense systems, they’ve armed their missiles with maneuvering warheads, and to reduce our reaction time they have missiles that travel at <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45811" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hypersonic</a> speed.</p> <p>The sum of these Chinese offset strategies means that in the South China Sea the U.S. can no longer deter a war because we can longer guarantee we can win one.</p> <p>This does not bode well for our treaty allies, Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea. Control of the South China Sea would allow China to control fishing operations and oil and gas exploration; to politically coerce other countries bordering in the region; to enforce an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the South China Sea; or to enforce a blockade around Taiwan or invade it.</p> <p><strong>What To Do About It?<br /> </strong>Today the Navy has aircraft carriers, submarines, surface combatants, aircraft, and sensors under the sea and in space. Our plan to counter to China can be summed up as, more of the same but better and more tightly integrated.</p> <p>This might be the right strategy. However, what if we’re wrong? What if our assumptions about the survivability of these naval platforms and the ability of our marines to operate, were based on incorrect assumption about our investments in material, operational concepts and mental models?</p> <p>If so, it might be prudent for the Navy to have a <em>hedge strategy</em>. Think of a hedge as a “just in case” strategy. It turns out the Navy had one in WWII. And it won the war in the Pacific.</p> <p><strong>War Plan Orange<br /> </strong>In the 1930s U.S. war planners thought about a future war with Japan. The result was “<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/War_Plan_Orange/KUGqAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=war+plan+orange&pg=PT8&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank" rel="noopener">War Plan Orange</a>” centered on the idea that ultimately, American battleships would engage the Japanese fleet in a gunnery battle, which the U.S. would win.</p> <p>Unfortunately for us Japan didn’t adhere to our war plan. They were bolder and more imaginative than we were. Instead of battleships, they used aircraft carriers to attack us. The U.S. woke up on Dec. 7, 1941, with most of our battleships sitting on the bottom of Pearl Harbor. The core precept of War Plan Orange went to the bottom with it.</p> <p>But the portfolio of options available to Admiral Nimitz and President Roosevelt were not limited to battleships. <em>They had a hedge strategy</em> <em>in place</em> in case the battleships were not the solution. The hedges? Aircraft carriers and submarines.</p> <p>While the U.S. Navy’s primary investment pre-WW2 was in battleships, <em>the Navy had also made a substantial alternative investment – in aircraft carriers and submarines</em>. The Navy launched the first aircraft carrier in 1920. For the next two decades they ran fleet exercises with them. At the beginning of the war the U.S. Navy had seven aircraft carriers (CVs) and one aircraft escort vessel (AVG). By the end of the war the U.S. had built <strong><em>111</em></strong><em> carriers</em>. (24 fleet carriers, 9 light carriers and 78 escort carriers.) 12 were sunk.</p> <p>As it turned out, it was carriers, subs, and the Marines who won the Pacific conflict.</p> <p><strong>Our Current Plan<br /> </strong>Fast forward to today. For the last 80 years the carriers in a <a href="https://www.acibc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Strike-Group-Infographic.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Carrier Strike Group</a> and submarines remain the preeminent formation for U.S. naval warfare.</p> <p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/strike-group.png?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="21914" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/strike-group/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/strike-group.png?fit=817%2C530&ssl=1" data-orig-size="817,530" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="strike group" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/strike-group.png?fit=300%2C195&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/strike-group.png?fit=468%2C304&ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-21914" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/strike-group.png?resize=468%2C304&ssl=1" alt="" width="468" height="304" /></a></p> <p>China has been watching us operate and fight in this formation for decades. But what if <a href="https://i.imgur.com/JMz8qyH.jpg">carrier strike groups</a> can no longer win a fight? What if the U.S. is underestimating China’s capabilities, intents, imagination, and operating concepts? What if they can disable or destroy our strike groups (via cyber, conventionally armed ICBMs, cruise missiles, hypersonics, drones, submarines, etc.)? If that’s a possibility, then what is the Navy’s 21st-century hedge? What is its Plan B?</p> <p><strong>Says Who?<br /> </strong>Here’s where this conversation gets interesting. While I have an opinion, think tanks have an opinion, and civilians in the Pentagon have an opinion, <a href="https://www.navy.mil/Leadership/Biographies/BioDisplay/Article/2236263/rear-admiral-lorin-selby/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RAdm Lorin Selby</a>, the Chief of the Office of Naval Research (ONR), has more than just “an opinion.” <a href="https://www.onr.navy.mil/en/Science-Technology/Departments">ONR</a> is the Navy’s science and technology systems command. Its job is to see over the horizon and think about what’s possible. Selby was previously deputy commander of the Naval Sea Systems Command (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Sea_Systems_Command" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NAVSEA</a>) and commander of the Naval Surface Warfare Centers (<a href="https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NSWC</a>). As the chief engineer of the Navy, he was the master of engineering the large and the complex.</p> <p>What follows is <a href="https://4916908a-86fc-48cb-bacf-64d55ffc94c8.filesusr.com/ugd/3d35e8_36ddf5158c344505a055fb1d85182a36.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">my paraphrasing RADM Selby’s thinking</a> about a hedge strategy the Navy needs and how they should get there.</p> <p><strong>Diversification<br /> </strong>A hedge strategy is built on the premise that you invest in different things, not more or better versions of the same.</p> <p>If you look at the Navy force structure today and its plan for the next decade, at first glance you might say they have a diversified portfolio and a plan for more. The Navy has aircraft carriers, submarines, surface combatants, and many types of aircraft. And they <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL32665" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plan for a distributed fleet architecture, including 321 to 372 manned ships and 77 to 140 large, unmanned vehicles</a>.</p> <p>But there is an equally accurate statement that this is not a diversified portfolio because all these assets share many of the same characteristics:</p> <ul> <li>They are all large compared to their predecessors</li> <li>They are all expensive – to the point where the Navy can’t afford the number of platforms our force structure assessments suggest they need</li> <li>They are all multi-mission and therefore complex</li> <li>The system-to-system interactions to create these complex integrations drive up cost and manufacturing lead times</li> <li>Long manufacturing lead times mean they have no surge capacity</li> <li>They are acquired on a requirements model that lags operational identification of need by years…sometimes decades when you fold in the construction span times for some of these complex capabilities like carriers or submarines</li> <li>They are difficult to modernize – The ability to update the systems aboard these platforms, even the software systems, still takes years to accomplish</li> </ul> <p>If the primary asset of the U.S. fleet now and in the future is the large and the complex, then surely there must be a hedge, a Plan B somewhere? (Like the pre-WW2 aircraft carriers.) In fact, there isn’t. The Navy has demos of alternatives, but there is no force structure built on a different set of principles that would complicate China’s plans and create doubt in our adversaries of whether they could prevail in a conflict.</p> <p><strong>The Hedge Strategy – Create “the small, the agile, and the many”<br /> </strong>In a world where the large and the complex are either too expensive to generate en masse or potentially too vulnerable to put at risk, “the small, the agile, and the many” has the potential to define the future of Navy formations.</p> <p><em>We need formations composed of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of unmanned vehicles above, below, and on the ocean surface. <u>We need to build collaborating, autonomous formations</u>…NOT a collection of platforms</em>.</p> <p>This novel formation is going to be highly dependent on artificial intelligence and new software that enables cross-platform collaboration and human machine teaming.</p> <p>To do this we need a different world view. One that is no longer tied to large 20th-century industrial systems, but to a 21st-century <em>software-centric</em> <em>agile </em>world.</p> <p><em>The Selby Manifesto</em>:</p> <ul> <li>Digitally adept naval forces will outcompete forces organized around principle of industrial optimization. “Data is the new oil and software is the new steel”</li> <li>The systems engineering process we have built over the last 150 years is not optimal for software-based systems. <ul> <li>Instead, iterative design approaches dominate software design</li> </ul> </li> <li>The Navy has world-class engineering and acquisition processes to deal with hardware <ul> <li>but applying the same process and principles to digital systems is a mistake</li> </ul> </li> <li>The design principles that drive software companies are fundamentally different than those that drive industrial organizations.</li> <li>Applying industrial-era principles to digital era technologies is a recipe for failure</li> <li>The Navy has access to amazing capabilities that already exist. And part of our challenge will be to integrate those capabilities together in novel ways that allow new modes of operation and more effectiveness against operational priorities</li> <li>There’s an absolute need to foster a collaborative partnership with academia and businesses – big businesses, small businesses, and startups</li> <li>This has serious implication of how the Navy and Marine Corps needs to change. What do we need to change when it comes to engineering and operating concepts?</li> </ul> <p><strong>How To Get “The </strong><strong>Small, The Agile, and The Many” Tested and In The Water?<br /> </strong>Today, “the small, the agile and the many” have been run in war games, exercises, simulations, and small demonstrations, but not built at scale in a formation of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of unmanned vehicles above, below and on the ocean’s surface. We need to prove whether these systems can fight alongside our existing assets (or independently if required).</p> <p>ONR plans to rapidly prove that this idea works, and that the Navy can build it. Or they will disprove the theory. Either way the Navy needs to know quickly whether they have a hedge. Time is not on our side in the South China Sea.</p> <p>ONR’s plan is to move boldly. They’re building this new “small, the agile, and the many”formation on digital principles and they’re training a new class of program managers – digital leaders – to guide the journey through the complex software and data.</p> <p>They are going to partner with industry using <em>rapid, </em>simple, and accountable acquisition processes, using it to get through the gauntlet of discussions to contract in short time periods so we can get to work. And these processes are going to excite new partners and allies.</p> <p>They’re going to use all the ideas already on the shelves, whether government shelves or commercial shelves, and focus on what can be integrated and then what must be invented.</p> <p>All the while they’ve been talking to commanders in fleets around the world. And taking a page from digital engineering practices, instead of generating a list of requirements, they’re building to the operational need by asking “what is the real problem?” They are actively listening, using Lean and design thinking to hear and understand the problems, to build a minimal viable product – a prototype solution – and get it into the water. Then asking, did that solve the problem…no? Why not? Okay, we are going to go fix it and come back in a few months, not years.</p> <p>The goal is to demonstrate this novel naval formation virtually, digitally, and then physically with feedback from in water experiments. Ultimately the goal is getting agile prototyping out to sea and doing it faster than ever before.</p> <p>In the end the goal is to effectively evaluate the idea of <strong>“</strong>the small, the agile, and the many.<strong>”</strong> How to iterate at scale and at speed. How to take things that meet operational needs and make them part of the force structure, deploying them in novel naval formations, learning their operational capabilities, not just their technical merits. If we’re successful, then we can help guarantee the rest of century.</p> <p><strong>What Can Go Wrong?<br /> </strong>During the Cold War the U.S. prided itself on developing offset strategies, technical or operational concepts that leapfrogged the Soviet Union. Today China has done that to us. They’ve surprised us with multiple offset strategies, and more are likely to come. The fact is that China is innovating faster than the Department of Defense, they’ve gotten inside our DoD <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boyd_%28military_strategist%29#OODA_loop">OODA loop</a>.</p> <p>But China is not innovating faster than our nation as a whole. Innovation in our commercial ecosystem — in AI, machine learning, autonomy, commercial access to space, cyber, biotech, semiconductors (all technologies the DoD and Navy need) — continues to solve the toughest problems at speed and scale, attracting the best and the brightest with private capital that dwarfs the entire <a href="https://www.cto.mil" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DoD R&E</a> (research and engineering) budget.</p> <p>RADM Selby’s plan of testing the hedge of “the small, the agile, and the many” using tools and technologies of the 21st century is exactly the right direction for the Navy.</p> <p>However, in peacetime bold, radical ideas are not welcomed. They disrupt the status quo. They challenge existing reporting structures, and in a world of finite budgets, money has to be taken from existing programs and primes or programs even have to be killed to make the new happen. Even when positioned as a hedge, existing vendors, existing Navy and DoD organizations, existing political power centers, will all see “the small, the agile, and the many” as a threat. It challenges careers, dollars, and mindsets. Many will do their best to impede, kill or co-opt this idea.</p> <p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IndoPacom-Forces.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="28157" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/indopacom-forces/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IndoPacom-Forces.jpg?fit=468%2C349&ssl=1" data-orig-size="468,349" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="IndoPacom Forces" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IndoPacom-Forces.jpg?fit=300%2C224&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IndoPacom-Forces.jpg?fit=468%2C349&ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-28157" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IndoPacom-Forces.jpg?resize=468%2C349&ssl=1" alt="" width="468" height="349" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IndoPacom-Forces.jpg?w=468&ssl=1 468w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IndoPacom-Forces.jpg?resize=300%2C224&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IndoPacom-Forces.jpg?resize=150%2C112&ssl=1 150w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px" /></a></p> <p>We are outmatched in the South China Sea. And the odds are getting longer each year. In a war with China we won’t have years to rebuild our Navy.</p> <p>A crisis is an opportunity to clear out the old to make way for the new. If senior leadership of the Navy, DoD, executive branch, and Congress truly believe we need to win this fight, that this is a crisis, then ONR and “the small, the agile, and the many” needs a direct report to the Secretary of the Navy and the budget and authority to make this happen.</p> <p>The Navy and the country need a hedge. Let’s get started now.<br /> <iframe loading="lazy" width="100%" height="96" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F1247081935&width=false&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=false&show_comments=false&color=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false"></iframe></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-print"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-print sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2022/01/18/the-small-the-agile-and-the-many-the-navys-hedge/" target="_blank" title="Click to print" ><span>Print</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20What%27s%20Plan%20B%3F%20-%20The%20Small%2C%20the%20Agile%2C%20and%20the%20Many&body=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2022%2F01%2F18%2Fthe-small-the-agile-and-the-many-the-navys-hedge%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. You may need to create a new email yourself." data-email-share-nonce="5135356e52" data-email-share-track-url="https://steveblank.com/2022/01/18/the-small-the-agile-and-the-many-the-navys-hedge/?share=email"><span>Email</span></a></li><li class="share-facebook"><div class="fb-share-button" data-href="https://steveblank.com/2022/01/18/the-small-the-agile-and-the-many-the-navys-hedge/" data-layout="button_count"></div></li><li class="share-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2022/01/18/the-small-the-agile-and-the-many-the-navys-hedge/" data-text="What's Plan B? - The Small, the Agile, and the Many" >Tweet</a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><div class="linkedin_button"><script type="in/share" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2022/01/18/the-small-the-agile-and-the-many-the-navys-hedge/" data-counter="right"></script></div></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2022/01/18/the-small-the-agile-and-the-many-the-navys-hedge/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span>Reddit</span></a></li><li class="share-jetpack-whatsapp"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-jetpack-whatsapp sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2022/01/18/the-small-the-agile-and-the-many-the-navys-hedge/?share=jetpack-whatsapp" target="_blank" title="Click to share on WhatsApp" ><span>WhatsApp</span></a></li><li class="share-pinterest"><div class="pinterest_button"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2022%2F01%2F18%2Fthe-small-the-agile-and-the-many-the-navys-hedge%2F&media=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F12%2Fproceedings-150x26.jpg&description=What%27s%20Plan%20B%3F%20-%20The%20Small%2C%20the%20Agile%2C%20and%20the%20Many" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="beside"><img data-recalc-dims="1" src="https://i0.wp.com/assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png?w=468" /></a></div></li><li class="share-telegram"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-telegram sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2022/01/18/the-small-the-agile-and-the-many-the-navys-hedge/?share=telegram" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Telegram" ><span>Telegram</span></a></li><li class="share-tumblr"><a class="tumblr-share-button" target="_blank" href="https://www.tumblr.com/share" data-title="What's Plan B? - The Small, the Agile, and the Many" data-content="https://steveblank.com/2022/01/18/the-small-the-agile-and-the-many-the-navys-hedge/" title="Share on Tumblr"data-posttype="link">Share on Tumblr</a></li><li class="share-pocket"><div class="pocket_button"><a href="https://getpocket.com/save" class="pocket-btn" data-lang="en" data-save-url="https://steveblank.com/2022/01/18/the-small-the-agile-and-the-many-the-navys-hedge/" data-pocket-count="horizontal" >Pocket</a></div></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul></div></div></div><div class='sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded' id='like-post-wrapper-6599589-28148-67428108014ac' data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/?ver=14.1-a.3#blog_id=6599589&post_id=28148&origin=steveblank.com&obj_id=6599589-28148-67428108014ac&n=1' data-name='like-post-frame-6599589-28148-67428108014ac' data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> <p class="postinfo"> Filed under: <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/gordian-knot-center-for-national-security-innovation/" rel="category tag">Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/navy/" rel="category tag">Navy</a> | <a href="https://steveblank.com/2022/01/18/the-small-the-agile-and-the-many-the-navys-hedge/#comments">8 Comments »</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-26814 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-national-security category-navy category-technology-innovation-and-modern-war-2" id="post-26814"> <h2><a href="https://steveblank.com/2020/11/24/technology-innovation-and-modern-war-class-13-onr-rear-admiral-lorin-selby/" rel="bookmark">Technology, Innovation, and Modern War – Class 13 – ONR– Rear Admiral Lorin Selby</a></h2> <div class="postinfo"> Posted on <span class="postdate">November 24, 2020</span> by steve blank </div> <div class="entry"> <p>We just held our thirteenth session of our new national security class <a href="https://timw.sites.stanford.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Technology, Innovation and Modern War</a>. <a href="https://www.defense.gov/Our-Story/Biographies/Biography/Article/1306061/dr-joseph-h-felter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Joe Felter</a>, <a href="https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/zh-ch/people/raj-shah" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Raj Shah</a> and I designed a class to examine the new military systems, operational concepts and doctrines that will emerge from 21st century technologies – Space, Cyber, AI & Machine Learning and Autonomy.</p> <p>Today’s topic was <em>The Navy and Modern War</em><strong><em>.</em></strong></p> <p>Catch up with the class by reading our summaries of the previous twelve classes <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/technology-innovation-and-modern-war/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.</p> <hr /> <p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Lesson-13.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="26816" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/lesson-13/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Lesson-13.jpg?fit=960%2C540&ssl=1" data-orig-size="960,540" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Lesson 13" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Lesson-13.jpg?fit=300%2C169&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Lesson-13.jpg?fit=468%2C263&ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-26816" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Lesson-13.jpg?resize=468%2C263&ssl=1" alt="" width="468" height="263" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Lesson-13.jpg?w=960&ssl=1 960w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Lesson-13.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Lesson-13.jpg?resize=768%2C432&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px" /></a></p> <p>Some of the readings for this week included <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF10484" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Defense Primer: Dept of the Navy</a><strong>, </strong><a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R44175" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Navy Lasers and Railguns</a><strong>, </strong><a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11679" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Navy Large Surface Combatants</a><strong>, </strong><a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL32665" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans</a>, <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45757" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Navy Large Unmanned Surface and Undersea Vehicles</a><strong>, </strong><a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL33153" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">China’s Navy Modernization</a>.</p> <p>Our guest speaker was <a href="https://www.onr.navy.mil/en/About-ONR/Leadership/Chief-Naval-Research" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rear Admiral Lorin Selby</a>, Chief of Naval Research, United States Navy.</p> <p>Admiral Selby is responsible for the Naval Research Enterprise. It is the “venture capital” of the Navy and Marine Corps. It’s made up of <a href="https://www.onr.navy.mil" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ONR – the Office of Naval Research</a>, <a href="https://www.onr.navy.mil/en/Science-Technology/ONR-Global" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ONR Global</a>, the <a href="https://www.nrl.navy.mil" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Naval Research Laboratory</a>, and Special Projects (PMR 51.)</p> <p>His insights on the future of the Navy and reimagining Naval power are insightful, innovative and exciting.</p> <p>(ONR played a seminal role in the formation of Silicon Valley. Founded in August 1946 in the aftermath of World War II, ONR provided support of research projects at universities when government funding to universities had dried up. That same year, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/personal-investments/ng-interactive/2016/oct/04/frederick-terman-silicon-valley-mentor-stanford-hp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fred Terman</a> became Stanford’s dean of engineering, and he received four ONR research contracts for electronics and microwaves. These grants formed the heart of the Stanford Electronics Research Laboratory.)</p> <p>I’ve extracted and paraphrased a few of Admiral Selby’s key insights and urge you to read the entire transcript <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L_Cm4me9cIp_oaCYIKnJD2aNdFwqRUh6/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a> and watch his <a href="https://youtu.be/D08ItqASJZg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">video</a>.</p> <p><strong>The Naval Research Enterprise<a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ONR-Research-Portfolios.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="26819" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/onr-research-portfolios/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ONR-Research-Portfolios.jpg?fit=2919%2C1644&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2919,1644" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="ONR Research Portfolios" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ONR-Research-Portfolios.jpg?fit=300%2C169&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ONR-Research-Portfolios.jpg?fit=468%2C264&ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-26819" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ONR-Research-Portfolios.jpg?resize=468%2C264&ssl=1" alt="" width="468" height="264" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ONR-Research-Portfolios.jpg?resize=1024%2C577&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ONR-Research-Portfolios.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ONR-Research-Portfolios.jpg?resize=768%2C433&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ONR-Research-Portfolios.jpg?resize=1536%2C865&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ONR-Research-Portfolios.jpg?resize=2048%2C1153&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ONR-Research-Portfolios.jpg?resize=1200%2C676&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ONR-Research-Portfolios.jpg?w=936&ssl=1 936w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ONR-Research-Portfolios.jpg?w=1404&ssl=1 1404w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px" /></a><br /> </strong>This picture is a way I divvy up my Naval Research portfolio:</p> <ul> <li>On the left is the division that’s home to cyber and electronic warfare. A little bit of AI but really, mostly electronic warfare.</li> <li>The next area is ocean battlespace. This includes unmanned underwater vehicles – UUVs. And we do submarine applications and oceanographic research in that division. We take a great deal of pride in really understanding and knowing the ocean environment. Of course, the submarine is critical, but really everything from the weather, to the way our forces must flow, optimizing transit routes, all depends on currents, winds, weather. We use those factors to help us also determine what potential adversaries might or might not do. All that goes into the calculus of how we position our forces.</li> <li>In the middle are mission capable, persistent, survivable naval platforms. This division looks at the systems that are on our platforms, i.e. pumps, valves, materials science, corrosion. There’s science to be done in perfecting some of those, and they’re critical in the operation of these platforms. This branch looks at maintenance practices, trying to make sure we protect those.</li> <li>Warfighter performance looks at how the human body responds to stress. How we can optimize performance of the human body in combat, or in other stressful scenarios? How does the human brain work? How do we think? When I look at reimagined Naval power, I think a lot of that is not about things, it’s about processes. It’s about how we present information. It’s about how we process information, how we use machines to help us make decisions. This group traditionally has not had as much focus as the others. But I think it’s something we really need to go after.</li> <li>The far right is aviation. Jets, missiles, also directed energy, railguns, hypervelocity projectiles and hypersonics.</li> <li>And across the bottom is the Naval Accelerator run by Rich Carlin. This group figures out how do we go faster in getting things to the fleet. From an ideation to a thing to a Warfighter. How do we do that faster than anybody else?</li> </ul> <p><strong>Reimagining naval power is about the way we think and organize</strong>, <strong>not about hardware</strong><strong><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Reimagine-Naval-Power.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="26821" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/reimagine-naval-power/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Reimagine-Naval-Power.jpg?fit=2928%2C1638&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2928,1638" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Reimagine Naval Power" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Reimagine-Naval-Power.jpg?fit=300%2C168&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Reimagine-Naval-Power.jpg?fit=468%2C262&ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-26821" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Reimagine-Naval-Power.jpg?resize=468%2C262&ssl=1" alt="" width="468" height="262" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Reimagine-Naval-Power.jpg?resize=1024%2C573&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Reimagine-Naval-Power.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Reimagine-Naval-Power.jpg?resize=768%2C430&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Reimagine-Naval-Power.jpg?resize=1536%2C859&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Reimagine-Naval-Power.jpg?resize=2048%2C1146&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Reimagine-Naval-Power.jpg?resize=1200%2C671&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Reimagine-Naval-Power.jpg?w=936&ssl=1 936w, https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Reimagine-Naval-Power.jpg?w=1404&ssl=1 1404w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px" /></a><br /> </strong>I know you were assigned to read The <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kill-Chain-Defending-America-High-Tech/dp/B086KQC2H2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kill Chain</a>. Fascinating read. As I read through this book, it really resonated with me because this is the world we’re in today. Naval officers still tend to think of the solution to the problem set as “I’ll just get a better destroyer.” Or, “I’ll just get another aircraft carrier, or a bigger, faster submarine.” And I don’t think that’s the solution.</p> <p>This quote out of the book I thought was interesting, “Military innovation is less about technology than about operational and organizational transformation.” I hear you thinking, “You’re the Chief of Naval Research, and you’re saying that it’s less about technology?” Yeah, I am. When I say reimagined naval power, I’m not necessarily talking about new big gray ships or black submarines. I’m talking about changing our processes, changing about the way we think, and the way we are organized. I think a lot of the problems we have in acquisition today, in trying to go after these new technologies, is because of the way we’re organized. The way the Navy is established – separate system commands, one for Air, one for Sea systems, one for cyber systems, supply over here. They’re separate, you get stovepipes, and you get barriers. There’s friction between them. And all these differences come because of that, and that impedes progress. If we want to reimagine Naval power, we have to look in a mirror, recognize we need to change some things organizationally. We’ve got to change the way we do business.</p> <p><strong>What do you hope the fleet looks like 10 years from now to make it relevant in a fight with a near peer competitor? Is that a 355 ship Navy? Is it squadrons of unmanned vessels? Is it something in between?<br /> </strong>I think that it’s something in between. I think that you will see more unmanned, unattended things. They’ll be networked together. I think initially, what you’re going to see, and again, this is just the way we just tend to do things as human beings. When it comes to new tech, we take the new tech, and we jam it into a form factor of something we recognize and know. So what you’re going to see are unmanned surface vessels that look like the Sea Hunter. It looks like a catamaran. It looks like something you recognize and know. That thing, whatever it is, whether its underwater, surface, air, will initially operate in tandem with a manned platform.</p> <p>I think the answer is not just to go build bigger, faster gray-hulled ships or black submarines. We still need this for a while. We’re not going to stop, go to zero and do something else. It’s going to be a gradual thing. But I think there needs to be a plan with a trajectory of slowly weaning us off of these very highly complex and expensive vessels that takes us into something else. And some of that something else might be unmanned/uncrewed. Uncrewed vessels, unattended sensors, highly networked together, passing tracking information back and forth. I think that’s more of the future, combined with how we make decisions in a more efficient, faster manner than the adversary.</p> <p>You’re going to have these things as kind of wingmen that’ll be arrayed around your platform. And you may be able to send it a couple hundred miles out front to go do some probing of the adversary. Maybe it’s got some decoys and other things it can do while it’s out there, then it will then come back. You have to refuel it at some point, because it’s still going to have limited range. I think in 10 years, you’ll find many, many more unmanned things out there, but they will be operating close to the gray hull or the black hull submarine, able to go out and do things but come back. So I think that’s step one.</p> <p>But over time, it’s going to be driven by the younger generations, people like you who are not constrained by thinking it’s got to be a gray hull or a black hull thing. And they will come in and look at us and go, “If you’d change the form factor, you can make that thing….” It could be a surface thing, but could also be a semi-submersible, when it needs to be. Make it so it just drops below the surface a foot. And it can still cruise along slowly. Things like that will happen. Because, again, this does happen all throughout history as technologies have been introduced. We always try to take it and make it do what the old thing did.</p> <p><strong>An Example of New Tech First Looking Like the Old – Photonics Masts on a Submarine<br /> </strong>Submarines traditionally have a periscope. You look into the barrel; it’s got the mirrors and the glass and a prism at the top looking out. And you’re looking through a circle. That’s the world for a submariner. That’s what I looked at for 20 years, 25 years. Today, we’ve got these new, cool electronic photonics masts. Guess what? When you look at that picture in the control room of a submarine, you may be on a big flat screen, you may control it with a joystick, but it’s still looking at a slice of the world.</p> <p>We didn’t go, “Hey, if I put just four cameras or six cameras up there, and I was able to set them around looking, I can have a 360-degree camera all the time.” Well, we’re just now starting to do that. We started some R&D on that several years ago and it petered out because they didn’t have the money to keep it going. But now we’re back to, this is ridiculous, let’s get 360 out of that. That’s the challenge with new tech.</p> <p>The problem today is, it’s going so fast that if you wait a generation to make those kinds of advancements, you’re so far behind anybody — adversary, other companies — that you’re irrelevant. We’ve got to break that pattern. And some of that is changing those organizational constructs that still have us back in 1994. We’ve got to get to 2020, or 2018, or 2015. I’d be happy with that. But we’ve got to get out of 1994.</p> <p>As far as size, you may have seen the press. The SecDef just announced the <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/secretary-esper-previews-future-navy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Battle Force 2045</a>. It talks about between 120 and 240 unmanned things in concert with a bunch of manned things. And it talks about a much bigger Navy. We’ll see what happens. A lot depends what happens with Congress.</p> <p><strong>How do we find a balance between funding exquisite equipment that costs a lot of money, and that’s very hard to replace, with building lots of low-cost equipment, but that’s less capable, but easier to replace?<br /> </strong>We have this very big appetite for highly complex, which are exquisite, phenomenal, best in the world. No question about it, costs a lot of money to build. And oh, by the way, they cost even more money to maintain over the life of a 30-, 40- or 50-year platform. We need to get away from that. Part of the answer is a lot of these uncrewed surface or underwater vessels. But even those, when we send a design over to my friends in the Pentagon to develop requirements, what they come back wanting is exquisite, too. You take this thing that should cost $10 million or $20 million, and it comes back costing $100 million, or $200 million, or worse.</p> <p>I think if you could build cheaper, in more numbers that are maybe complicated, but not complex, that would be just fine. And I would build them so that they’re semi-disposable. You run them hard for 10 years, but you don’t spend a mint to refurbish them. You take them back to some yard, you recycle them. You take all materials out and build another one. That’s the way you’ve got to do it.</p> <p>Another thing we have to do is recognize that we’ve got some constraints. We’ve only got a certain number of shipyards that can build these highly complex destroyers, submarines, aircraft carriers. Our industrial base is very fragile. Since we are going to still build some of those for the foreseeable future, let those yards build those exquisite things. But we need to go the nontraditional yards down along the Gulf Coast, Pacific Northwest, and other parts of country – even to boat builders, yacht builders. Let’s go to those folks to build some these unmanned things. And let’s give them some money. Let’s move some defense industrial base money around. And we can develop new expertise in different pockets that we’ve never developed before. And let’s do that at scale. And build a lot. I think that’s one of the keys to this reimagined naval power. Because again, we just cannot afford to keep building the same things.</p> <p>If you went right now and asked the submariners what they want, they want <a href="https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/32167/the-navy-wants-money-to-get-started-on-its-future-ssnx-attack-submarine" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SSNX</a>, which is the next generation of submarine in roughly 2035. You talk to my aviator friends; they want <a href="https://news.usni.org/2020/08/18/navy-quietly-starts-development-of-next-generation-carrier-fighter-plans-call-for-manned-long-range-aircraft" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the next-gen fighter</a> about the same time. You talk to my surface warfare friends; they want the <a href="https://news.usni.org/2020/08/27/top-level-requirements-for-large-surface-combatant-in-development-planned-spy-6-backfit-effort-in-flux" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">large surface combatant</a> about the same time. Well, first of all that’s 15 years from now. So by our traditional design, build standards, that means you’ve got to start like right now, for all three. And we can’t afford that. There’s no way we can afford that.</p> <p>You may have noticed the SecDef’s <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/secretary-esper-previews-future-navy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Battle Force 2045</a> came out saying you need to go to three submarines per year. So there’s a tremendous recognition that we still own the undersea. And we need to maintain that dominance. But <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/secretary-esper-previews-future-navy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Battle Force 2045</a> doesn’t call for as many surface ships, it does call for next-gen fighters. And there’s a lot of reasons for that, which we can’t talk about here. But it does not call for the large ships. At least not in numbers, and not at the same time. We’ve got to deconflict these things, and we need to build different things that are much less expensive.</p> <p><strong>How has acquisition has changed? What specifically, if anything, has changed to make us move faster?<br /> </strong>Some of what’s changed is it we are using <a href="https://aida.mitre.org/ota/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">OTA’s – other transaction authorities</a>. We’ve been talking about this for a long time. We’re finally really trying to drive this hard. And we’re finally getting contract shops in different parts of the Navy using them. Up until probably only a couple years ago, it was only places like ONR that would do these nontraditional ways of buying things. We’ve now got the big SYSCOM acquisition shops and contract shops, realizing, “Hey, there’s something to that.”</p> <p><strong>How do you think about the development of technologies that cross traditional functional bounds?<br /> </strong>How do you get these folks together to solve these hard problems? We go inward, we try to find our smart folks in our own organizations that are somewhat constrained and tainted by the problem set already because they lived it. They’re inside of it.</p> <p>General Stanley McChrystal in his book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Team-of-Teams-audiobook/dp/B00UVW4RV0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Team of Teams</a> talked about how he organized to fight in the Middle East. What McChrystal realized was the value of the team of teams. The answers are not all inside my team, they may be in your team, or your team, or your team. The value or the power is how you net them all together. And so he used to do the same every single day. He would have this video teleconference. And he had one guy who ran the meeting. They would have a bunch of topics they would go over every day, a set of stuff you would do, an ops brief. And then they would have someone give a problem statement, and maybe a little bit of a brief. But then they let it go to the teams. The <em>teams</em>, not the team. And the synergy, the interactions of thought, it was incredible.</p> <p>That is the model I’m trying to figure out how to bring to my own ecosystem, and then net in all the other teams around me. Whether they’re different warfare centers, or different parts of the Navy, Army, Air Force, whoever industry, academia. Because that’s the power.</p> <p><strong>I’m curious to hear more about why Warfighter performance wasn’t as emphasized as the other areas</strong>.<br /> Traditionally, most of the money went to build those high-end destroyers and submarines and next-gen fighters. So that would be my vernacular in <a href="https://www.onr.navy.mil/Science-Technology/Departments/Code-32">code 32</a>, <a href="https://www.onr.navy.mil/Science-Technology/Departments/Code-33" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">33</a> <a href="https://www.onr.navy.mil/Science-Technology/Departments/Code-35" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">35</a>, not <a href="https://www.onr.navy.mil/Science-Technology/Departments/Code-34" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">34</a>, which is human performance. That’s the code that was on the right side of that graph. As a result of that, those other high-end things got all the money, that’s also where most of the R&D money went. And most of that was focused on either another submarine, another aircraft carrier, another fighter. And because of that, there was very little left to go do, kind of human forward stuff. I still contend that that is really where we as Americans have our advantage.</p> <p><strong>How do you recruit those people who are traditionally looking at the private sector as their career over to the Navy and to your research center?<br /> </strong>The way we traditionally do this is that someone like yourself, someone who’s in a grad program somewhere, gets involved in research sponsored by <a href="https://www.onr.navy.mil" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ONR</a>, or <a href="https://www.nrl.navy.mil" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NRL</a> and you get your doctorate and will become a postdoc. And you continue to do that research in some field of study that we are sponsoring. And then at some point, back in DC, a vacancy opens and they say, “Hey, you can apply for this job.” Next, you get a job. A lot of Ph.Ds in my headquarters building came out of academia where they got their doctoral degree in some <a href="https://www.onr.navy.mil/Education-Outreach" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">program sponsored by ONR</a>.</p> <p><strong>COVID Has Changed Our Thinking About Recruiting for ONR<br /> </strong>COVID has taught us a lot of things about how to work. Today, for instance, I was at work, but only about 30 to 35% of the workforce was there. Most people are working from home. We do some classified work, but we do enough unclassified work that you can do a lot of work from home. I told my team: “I don’t want to go back to whatever was called normal back in March. Let’s find something good that comes out of this pandemic.” I want to be able to hire people in California, in Washington State, in wherever and tell them, “Hey, you can stay there and still work for me. I may ask you to come to DC once a quarter to do some required training and just to do something else where we want to get together. But I will let you stay remote.”</p> <p>Because I think we were missing out on talent. A lot of people don’t come to DC and I don’t blame them.</p> <p><strong>How Can the Navy Attract More Diversity Into It’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) Fields?<br /> </strong>There’s a lot of concern in the DoD that we have some issues trying to attract STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) talent. So I’m trying to find ways to really amp up <a href="https://www.onr.navy.mil/Education-Outreach/naval-stem" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">our STEM programs</a>. I’m trying to find ways to attract more women, more diversity into our STEM field. Whether it’s undergrad internships or graduate internships. And I’m trying to find ways to get more people involved that we traditionally don’t get.</p> <p>We put together a panel to give us some thoughts on how to attract the kind of talent we’re not traditionally attracting. We found it’s in middle school where we lose a lot of kids. Most elementary school kids think science is cool. I think for most kids, there’s a wow factor in science, but somewhere in middle school to high school it stops being cool. And that’s really tragic.</p> <p>So we are figuring out ways to develop a cadre of mentors to go into the schools and help teachers and students, to pull them across that valley of death where we lose them. I think there’s far too many that we lose early for the wrong reasons. They don’t see someone that looks like them, they don’t think it’s cool, whatever. So we’re trying to figure that out.</p> <p>Read the entire <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L_Cm4me9cIp_oaCYIKnJD2aNdFwqRUh6/view?usp=sharing">transcript </a>of Admiral Selby’s talk and watch the video below.</p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" title="Adm Selby-ONR @Stanford Oct 29, 2020" width="468" height="351" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D08ItqASJZg?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p>If you can’t see the video click <a href="https://youtu.be/D08ItqASJZg">here</a>.</p> <p><strong>Lessons Learned</strong></p> <blockquote> <ul> <li>The U.S Navy is a historic crossroads</li> <li>We are going to start seeing uncrewed ships and submersibles <ul> <li>First as “wingmen” to existing surface ships and submarines</li> </ul> </li> <li>We can get more ships if build these new types of vessels so that they’re semi-disposable. <ul> <li>You run them hard for 10 years, but you don’t spend a mint to refurbish them, you recycle them</li> </ul> </li> <li>We can build these new types of vessels in numbers by using non-traditional shipyards <ul> <li>Keep the existing shipyards building traditional ships/submarines</li> <li>This will create new expertise in different pockets that we’ve never developed before.</li> </ul> </li> <li>This is in conflict with the existing major acquisition plans for future surface ships and submarines</li> </ul> </blockquote> <iframe loading="lazy" width="100%" height="90" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F938055430&width=false&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=false&show_comments=false&color=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false"></iframe> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-print"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-print sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/11/24/technology-innovation-and-modern-war-class-13-onr-rear-admiral-lorin-selby/" target="_blank" title="Click to print" ><span>Print</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Technology%2C%20Innovation%2C%20and%20Modern%20War%20%E2%80%93%20Class%2013%20%E2%80%93%20ONR%E2%80%93%20Rear%20Admiral%20Lorin%20Selby&body=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2020%2F11%2F24%2Ftechnology-innovation-and-modern-war-class-13-onr-rear-admiral-lorin-selby%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. You may need to create a new email yourself." data-email-share-nonce="6b584df53a" data-email-share-track-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/11/24/technology-innovation-and-modern-war-class-13-onr-rear-admiral-lorin-selby/?share=email"><span>Email</span></a></li><li class="share-facebook"><div class="fb-share-button" data-href="https://steveblank.com/2020/11/24/technology-innovation-and-modern-war-class-13-onr-rear-admiral-lorin-selby/" data-layout="button_count"></div></li><li class="share-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/11/24/technology-innovation-and-modern-war-class-13-onr-rear-admiral-lorin-selby/" data-text="Technology, Innovation, and Modern War – Class 13 – ONR– Rear Admiral Lorin Selby" >Tweet</a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><div class="linkedin_button"><script type="in/share" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/11/24/technology-innovation-and-modern-war-class-13-onr-rear-admiral-lorin-selby/" data-counter="right"></script></div></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/11/24/technology-innovation-and-modern-war-class-13-onr-rear-admiral-lorin-selby/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span>Reddit</span></a></li><li class="share-jetpack-whatsapp"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-jetpack-whatsapp sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/11/24/technology-innovation-and-modern-war-class-13-onr-rear-admiral-lorin-selby/?share=jetpack-whatsapp" target="_blank" title="Click to share on WhatsApp" ><span>WhatsApp</span></a></li><li class="share-pinterest"><div class="pinterest_button"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2020%2F11%2F24%2Ftechnology-innovation-and-modern-war-class-13-onr-rear-admiral-lorin-selby%2F&media=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F11%2FLesson-13.jpg&description=Technology%2C%20Innovation%2C%20and%20Modern%20War%20%E2%80%93%20Class%2013%20%E2%80%93%20ONR%E2%80%93%20Rear%20Admiral%20Lorin%20Selby" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="beside"><img data-recalc-dims="1" src="https://i0.wp.com/assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png?w=468" /></a></div></li><li class="share-telegram"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-telegram sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/11/24/technology-innovation-and-modern-war-class-13-onr-rear-admiral-lorin-selby/?share=telegram" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Telegram" ><span>Telegram</span></a></li><li class="share-tumblr"><a class="tumblr-share-button" target="_blank" href="https://www.tumblr.com/share" data-title="Technology, Innovation, and Modern War – Class 13 – ONR– Rear Admiral Lorin Selby" data-content="https://steveblank.com/2020/11/24/technology-innovation-and-modern-war-class-13-onr-rear-admiral-lorin-selby/" title="Share on Tumblr"data-posttype="link">Share on Tumblr</a></li><li class="share-pocket"><div class="pocket_button"><a href="https://getpocket.com/save" class="pocket-btn" data-lang="en" data-save-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/11/24/technology-innovation-and-modern-war-class-13-onr-rear-admiral-lorin-selby/" data-pocket-count="horizontal" >Pocket</a></div></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul></div></div></div><div class='sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded' id='like-post-wrapper-6599589-26814-674281080719a' data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/?ver=14.1-a.3#blog_id=6599589&post_id=26814&origin=steveblank.com&obj_id=6599589-26814-674281080719a&n=1' data-name='like-post-frame-6599589-26814-674281080719a' data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> <p class="postinfo"> Filed under: <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/national-security/" rel="category tag">National Security</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/navy/" rel="category tag">Navy</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/technology-innovation-and-modern-war-2/" rel="category tag">Technology Innovation and Modern War</a> | <a href="https://steveblank.com/2020/11/24/technology-innovation-and-modern-war-class-13-onr-rear-admiral-lorin-selby/#respond">Leave a comment »</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-21971 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-hacking-for-defense category-navy category-science-and-industrial-policy category-technology" id="post-21971"> <h2><a href="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/29/why-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2/" rel="bookmark">Why the Navy Needs Disruption Now (part 2 of 2)</a></h2> <div class="postinfo"> Posted on <span class="postdate">July 29, 2016</span> by steve blank </div> <div class="entry"> <p style="text-align:center;"><em>The future is here it’s just distributed unevenly</em> – Silicon Valley view of tech adoption</p> <p style="text-align:center;"><em>The threat is here it’s just distributed unevenly</em> – A2/AD and the aircraft carrier</p> <p>This is the second of a two-part post following my stay on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. <a href="https://steveblank.com/?p=21899" target="_blank">Part 1 talked about what I saw</a> and learned – the layout of a carrier, how the air crew operates and how the carrier functions in context of the other ships around it (the strike group.) But the biggest learning was the realization that disruption is not just happening to companies, it’s also happening to the Navy. And that the Lean Innovation tools we’ve built to deal with disruption and create continuous innovation for large commercial organizations were equally relevant here.</p> <p>This post offers a few days’ worth of thinking about what I saw. (If you haven’t, <a href="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/" target="_blank">read part 1 </a>first.)</p> <hr /> <p><strong>The threat is here; it’s just distributed unevenly – A2/AD and the aircraft carrier<br /> </strong>Both of the following statements are true:</p> <ul> <li>The aircraft carrier is viable for another 30 years.</li> <li>The aircraft carrier is obsolete.</li> </ul> <p><em>Well-defended targets<br /> </em>Think of an aircraft carrier as a $11 billion dollar portable air force base manned by 5,000 people delivering 44 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_F/A-18E/F_Super_Hornet" target="_blank">F/A-18 strike fighters</a> anywhere in the world.</p> <p>The primary roles of the 44 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_F/A-18E/F_Super_Hornet" target="_blank">F/A-18 strike fighters</a> that form the core of the carrier’s air wing is to control the air and drop bombs on enemy targets. For targets over uncontested airspace (Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, etc.) that’s pretty easy. The problem is that First World countries have developed formidable surface-to-air missiles – the Russian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-300_(missile)" target="_blank">S–300</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-400_(missile)" target="_blank">S-400</a> and the Chinese <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HQ-9/" target="_blank">HQ-9 </a>– which have become <u>extremely</u> effective at shooting down aircraft. And they have been selling these systems to other countries (Iran, Syria, Egypt, etc.). While the role of an aircraft carrier’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EA-18G_Growler" target="_blank">EA-18G Growlers</a> is to jam/confuse the radar of these missiles, the sophistication and range of these surface-to-air missiles have been evolving faster than the jamming countermeasures on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EA-18G_Growler" target="_blank">EA-18G Growlers</a> (and the cyber hacks to shut the radars down).</p> <p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/hq9.png?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="21978" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/29/why-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2/hq9/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/hq9.png?fit=394%2C429&ssl=1" data-orig-size="394,429" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Hq9" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/hq9.png?fit=276%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/hq9.png?fit=394%2C429&ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-21978" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/hq9.png?resize=394%2C429&ssl=1" alt="Hq9" width="394" height="429" /></a></p> <p>This means that the odds of a carrier-based F/A-18 strike fighter successfully reaching a target defended by these modern surface-to-air missiles is diminishing yearly. Unless the U.S. military can take these air defense systems out with drones, cruise missiles or cyber attack, brave and skilled pilots may not be enough. Given the F/A-18’s are manned aircraft (versus drones), high losses of pilots may be (politically) unacceptable.</p> <p><em>Vulnerable carriers<br /> </em>If you want to kill a carrier, first you must find it and then you have to track it. In WWII knowing where the enemy fleet located was a big – and critical – question. Today, photo imaging satellites, satellites that track electronic emissions (radio, radar, etc.) and satellites with synthetic aperture radar that can see through clouds and at night are able to pinpoint the strike group and carrier 24/7. In the 20<sup>th</sup> century only the Soviet Union had this capability. Today, China can do this in the Pacific and to a limited extent, Iran has this capability in the Persian Gulf. Soon there will be enough commercial satellite coverage of the Earth using the same sensors, that virtually anyone able to pay for the data will be able to track the ships.</p> <p>During the Cold War the primary threat to carriers was from the air – from strike/fighters dropping bombs/torpedoes or from cruise missiles (launched from ships and planes). While the Soviets had <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akula-class_submarine" target="_blank">attack submarines</a>, our anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) capabilities (along with very noisy Soviet subs pre-<a href="https://news.usni.org/2014/09/02/john-walker-spy-ring-u-s-navys-biggest-betrayal" target="_blank">Walker spy ring</a>) made subs a secondary threat to carriers.</p> <p>In the 20<sup>th</sup> century the war plan for a carrier strike group used its fighter and attack aircraft and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomahawk_(missile)" target="_blank">Tomahawk cruise missiles</a> launched from the cruisers to destroy enemy radar, surface-to-air missiles, aircraft and communications (including satellite downlinks). As those threats are eliminated, the carrier strike can move closer to land without fear of attack. This allowed the attack aircraft to loiter longer over targets or extend their reach over enemy territory.</p> <p>Carriers were designed to be most effective launching a high number of sorties (number of flights) from ~225 miles from the target. For example, we can cruise offshore of potential adversaries (Iraq and Syria) who can’t get to our carriers. (Carriers can standoff farther or can reach further inland, but they have to launch F-18’s as refueling tankers to extend the mission range. For example, missions into Afghanistan are 6-8 hours versus normal mission times of 2-3 hours.)</p> <p>In the 21st century carrier strike groups are confronting better equipped adversaries, and today carriers face multiple threats before they can launch an initial strike. These threats include much quieter submarines, long-range, sea-skimming cruise missiles, and in the Pacific, a potential disruptive game changer – ballistic missiles armed with non-nuclear maneuverable warheads that can hit a carrier deck as it maneuvers at speed (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DF-21#DF-21D_.28CSS-5_Mod-4.29_Anti-ship_ballistic_missile" target="_blank">DF-21d</a> and the longer range <a href="http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/chinas-df-26-anti-ship-ballistic-missile-what-does-the-16260?page=2" target="_blank">DF-26</a>).<a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/d21d-range.png?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="21980" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/29/why-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2/d21d-range/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/d21d-range.png?fit=800%2C612&ssl=1" data-orig-size="800,612" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="d21d range" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/d21d-range.png?fit=300%2C230&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/d21d-range.png?fit=468%2C358&ssl=1" class="alignright wp-image-21980 size-medium" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/d21d-range.png?resize=300%2C230&ssl=1" alt="d21d range" width="300" height="230" /></a></p> <p>In the Persian Gulf the carriers face another threat – <a href="http://www.janes360.com/images/assets/571/36571/Surviving_the_swarm_new.pdf" target="_blank">Fast Inshore Attack Craft</a> (FIAC) and speedboats with anti-ship cruise missiles that can be launched from shore.</p> <p>The sum of all these threats – to the carrier-based aircraft and the carriers themselves – are called anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capabilities.</p> <p>Eventually the cost <em>and probability </em>of defending the carrier as a manned aircraft platform becomes untenable in highly defended A2/AD environments like the western Pacific or the Persian Gulf. (This seems to be exactly the problem the manned bomber folks are facing in multiple regions.) But if not a carrier, what will they use to project power? While the carrier might become obsolete, the mission certainly has not.</p> <p>So how does/should the Navy solve these problems?</p> <p><strong>Three Horizons of Innovation<br /> </strong>One useful way to think about in innovation in the face of increasing disruption / competition is called the “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0738203092/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0738203092&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwsteveblank-20&linkId=6DL2L3MYML7GXVNH" target="_blank">Three Horizons of Innovation</a><u>.</u>” It suggests that an organization should think about innovation across three categories called “Horizons.”</p> <ul> <li>Horizon 1 activities support <em>executing </em>the<em> </em>existing mission with ever increasing efficiency</li> <li>Horizon 2 is focused on <em>extending</em> the core mission</li> <li>Horizon 3 is focused on <em>searching for and creating</em> brand new missions<br /> (<a href="http://slideshare.net/sblank/innovation-at-50x-081515-51681670" target="_blank">see here for background</a> on the Three Horizons.)</li> </ul> <p>Horizon 1 is the Navy’s core mission. Here the Navy executes against a set of known mission requirements (known beneficiaries, known ships and planes, known adversaries, deployment, supply chain, etc.) It uses existing capabilities and has <em>comparatively</em> low risk to get the next improvement out the door.</p> <p>In a well-run organization like the Navy, innovation and improvement occurs <em>continuously </em>in Horizon 1. Branches of the Navy innovate on new equipment, new tactics, new procurement processes, more sorties on newer carriers, etc. As fighter pilots want more capable manned aircraft and carrier captains want better carriers, it’s not a surprise that Horizon 1 innovations are upgrades – the next generation of carriers – <a href="http://thefordclass.com/" target="_blank">Ford Class</a>; and next generation of navy aircraft – the <a href="https://www.f35.com/about/variants/f35c" target="_blank">F-35C</a>. As a failure here can impact the Navy’s current mission, Horizon 1 uses traditional product management tools to minimize risk and assure execution. (And yes, like any complex project they still manage to be over budget and miss their delivery schedule.)</p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" title="F-35 Sea Trials USS Nimitz (CVN-68)" width="468" height="263" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/APuYyfq12ts?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p>Because failure here is unacceptable, Navy Horizon 1 programs and people are managed by building repeatable and scalable processes, procedures, incentives and promotions to execute and the mission.</p> <p>In Horizon 2, the Navy <em>extends </em>its core mission. Here it looks for new opportunities within its existing mission (trying new technology on the same platform, using the same technology with new missions, etc.) Horizon 2 uses mostly existing capabilities (the carrier as an aircraft platform, aircraft to deliver munitions) and has moderate risk in building or securing new capabilities to get the product out the door.</p> <p>An example of potential Naval Horizon 2 innovations is unmanned drones flying off carriers to do the jobs fighter pilots hate such <a href="https://news.usni.org/2016/02/01/pentagon-to-navy-convert-uclass-program-into-unmanned-aerial-tanker-accelerate-f-35-development-buy-more-super-hornets" target="_blank">as serving as airborne tankers</a> (who wants to fly a gas tank around for 6 hours?) and ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance), another tedious mission flying around for hours that could be better solved with a drone downlinking ISR data for processing on board a ship.</p> <p>However, getting the tanker and ISR functions onto drones only delays the inevitable shift to drones for strike, and then for fighters. The problem of strike fighters’ increasing difficulty in penetrating heavily defended targets isn’t going to get better with the new <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/26/politics/f-35-delay-air-force/" target="_blank">F-35C</a> (the replacement for the F/A-18). In fact, it will get worse. Regardless of the bravery and skill of the pilots, they will face air defense systems evolving at a faster rate than the defensive systems on the aircraft. It’s not at all clear in a low-intensity conflict (think Bosnia or Syria) that civilian leadership will want to risk captured or killed pilots and losing planes like the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/26/politics/f-35-delay-air-force/" target="_blank">F-35C</a> that cost several hundred million dollars each.</p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" title="X-47B Historic Drone Carrier Landing" width="468" height="263" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kw3m7bqrQ64?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p>Management in Horizon 2 works by <em>pattern recognition and experimentation inside the current mission model</em>. Ironically, institutional inertia keeps the Navy from deploying unmanned assets on carriers. In a perfect world, drones in carrier tanker and ISR roles should have been deployed by the beginning of this decade. And by now experience with them on a carrier deck could have led to first, autonomous wingmen and eventually autonomous missions. Instead the system appears to have fallen into the “real men fly planes and command Air Wings and get promoted by others who do” mindset.</p> <p>The Navy does not lack drone demos and prototypes, but it has failed to <em>deploy</em> Horizon 2 innovations <em>with speed and urgency.</em> Failure to act aggressively here will impact the Navy’s ability to carry out its mission of sea control and power projection. (<a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.hudson.org/files/publications/201510SharpeningtheSpearTheCarriertheJointForceandHighEndConflict.pdf" target="_blank">The Hudson Institute report</a> on the future of the carrier is worth a read, and a <a href="http://www.rand.org" target="_blank">RAND</a> report on the same topic comes out in October.)</p> <p>If you think Horizon 2 innovation is hard in the Navy, wait until you get to Horizon 3. This is where disruption happens. It’s how the aircraft carrier disrupted the battleship. How nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines changed the nature of strategic deterrence, and how the DF-21/26 and artificial islands in the South China sea changed decades of assumptions. And it’s why, <em>in most organizations, innovation dies</em>.</p> <p>For the Navy, a Horizon 3 conversation would <u>not</u> be about better carriers and aircraft. Instead <em>it would focus on the core reasons the Navy deploys a carrier strike group</em>: to show the flag for deterrence, or to control part of the sea to protect shipping, or to protect a Marine amphibious force, or to project offensive power against any adversary in well-defended areas.</p> <p>A Horizon 3 solution for the Navy would start with basic need of these missions (sea control, offensive power projection – sortie generation) the logistic requirements that come with them, and the barriers to their success like A2/AD threats. Lots of people have been talking and writing about this and lots of Horizon 3 concepts have been proposed such as <a href="http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2015-01/distributed-lethality" target="_blank">Distributed Lethality</a>, <a href="http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2015-05/breaking-anti-access-wall" target="_blank">Arsenal Ships</a>, underwater drone platforms, etc.</p> <p><a href="https://youtu.be/21dFaIIeXpU">https://youtu.be/21dFaIIeXpU</a></p> <p>Focussing on these goals – not building or commanding carriers, or building and flying planes – is really, really hard. It’s hard to get existing <em>operational </em>organizations to think about disruption because it means they have to be thinking about obsoleting a job, function or skill they’ve spent their lives perfecting. It’s hard <em>because any large organization is led by people who succeeded as Horizon 1 and 2 managers</em> and operators (not researchers). Their whole focus, career, incentives, etc. has been about building and make the current platforms work. And the Navy has excelled in doing so.</p> <p>The problem is that <em>Horizon 3 solutions take different people, different portfolio, different process and different politics</em>.</p> <p><em>People: </em>In Horizon 1 and 2 programs people who fail don’t get promoted <em>because in a known process failure to execute is a failure of individual performance. </em>However, applying the same rules to Horizon 3 programs – no failures tolerated – means we’ll have no learning and no disruptive innovations. What spooks leadership is that in Horizon 3 <em>most of the projects will fail. </em>But using Lean Innovation they’ll fail quickly and cheaply.</p> <p>In Horizon 3 the initial program is run by mavericks – the crazy innovators. In the Navy, these are the people you want to court martial or pass over for promotion for not getting with current program. (In a startup they’d be the founding CEO.) These are the fearless innovators you want to create new and potentially disruptive mission models<em>. Failure to support their potential disruptive talent means it will go elsewhere.</em></p> <p><em>Portfolio: </em>In Horizon 3, the Navy is essentially incubating a startup. And not just one. <em>The Navy needs a portfolio of Horizon 3 bets</em>, for the same reason venture capital and large companies have a <u>portfolio </u>of Horizon 3 bets – <em>most of these bets will fail</em> – but <em>the ones that succeed are game changers</em>.</p> <p><em>Process: </em>A critical difference between a Horizon 3 bet and a Horizon 1 or 2 bet is that <em>you don’t build large, expensive, multi-year programs to test radically new concepts</em> (think of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zumwalt-class_destroyer">Zumwalt class destroyers</a>). You use “Lean” techniques to build Minimal Viable Products (MVPs). MVPs are whatever it takes to get you the most learning in the shortest period of time.</p> <p>Horizon 3 groups operate with <a href="http://steveblank.com/2009/04/10/good-enough-decision-making/" target="_blank">speed and urgency</a> – <em>the goal is rapid learning</em>. They need to be physically separate from operating divisions in an incubator, or their own facility. And they need their own plans, procedures, policies, incentives and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) <em>different from those in Horizon 1. </em></p> <p>The watchwords in Horizon 3 are “If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.”</p> <p><em>Politics: </em>In Silicon Valley most startups fail. That’s why we invest in a portfolio of new ideas, not just one. We embrace failure as an integral part of learning. We do so by realizing that <em>in Horizon 3 we are testing hypotheses</em> – a series of unknowns – not executing knowns. Yet failure/learning is a dirty word in the world of promotions and the “gotcha game” of politics. To survive in this environment Horizon 3 leaders must learn how to communicate up/down and sideways that they are not running Horizon 1 and 2 projects.</p> <p>Meanwhile, Navy and DOD leadership has to invest in, and clearly communicate their innovation strategy across all three Horizons.</p> <p>Failure to manage innovation across all three Horizons and failure to make a <em>portfolio</em> of Horizon 3 bets means that the Navy is exposed to disruption by new entrants. Entrants unencumbered by decades of success, fueled by <em>their</em> own version of manifest destiny.</p> <p><strong>Lessons Learned</strong></p> <blockquote> <ul> <li>Our carriers are a work of art run and manned by professionals <ul> <li>Threats that can degrade or negate a carrier strike group exist in multiple areas</li> <li>However, carriers are still a significant asset in almost all other combat scenarios</li> </ul> </li> <li>Speed and urgency rather than institutional inertia should be the watchwords for Horizon 2 innovation</li> <li>Horizon 3 innovation is about a clean sheet of paper thinking <ul> <li>It’s what Silicon Valley calls <em>disruption</em></li> <li>It requires different people, portfolio, process and politics</li> </ul> </li> <li>The Navy (and DOD) must manage innovation across all three Horizons <ul> <li>Allocating dollars and resources for each</li> </ul> </li> <li>Remembering that todays Horizon 3 crazy idea is tomorrow Horizon 1 platform</li> </ul> </blockquote> <p>Thanks to the crew of the U.S.S. Vinson, and Commander Todd Cimicata and Stanford for a real education about the Navy.<br /> <iframe loading="lazy" width="100%" height="66" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F276078979&width=false&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=false&show_comments=false&color=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false"></iframe></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-print"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-print sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/29/why-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2/" target="_blank" title="Click to print" ><span>Print</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Why%20the%20Navy%20Needs%20Disruption%20Now%20%28part%202%20of%202%29&body=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2016%2F07%2F29%2Fwhy-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. You may need to create a new email yourself." data-email-share-nonce="d7001d4a57" data-email-share-track-url="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/29/why-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2/?share=email"><span>Email</span></a></li><li class="share-facebook"><div class="fb-share-button" data-href="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/29/why-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2/" data-layout="button_count"></div></li><li class="share-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/29/why-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2/" data-text="Why the Navy Needs Disruption Now (part 2 of 2)" >Tweet</a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><div class="linkedin_button"><script type="in/share" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/29/why-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2/" data-counter="right"></script></div></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/29/why-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span>Reddit</span></a></li><li class="share-jetpack-whatsapp"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-jetpack-whatsapp sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/29/why-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2/?share=jetpack-whatsapp" target="_blank" title="Click to share on WhatsApp" ><span>WhatsApp</span></a></li><li class="share-pinterest"><div class="pinterest_button"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2016%2F07%2F29%2Fwhy-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2%2F&media=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F07%2Fd21d-range.png&description=Why%20the%20Navy%20Needs%20Disruption%20Now%20%28part%202%20of%202%29" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="beside"><img data-recalc-dims="1" src="https://i0.wp.com/assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png?w=468" /></a></div></li><li class="share-telegram"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-telegram sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/29/why-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2/?share=telegram" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Telegram" ><span>Telegram</span></a></li><li class="share-tumblr"><a class="tumblr-share-button" target="_blank" href="https://www.tumblr.com/share" data-title="Why the Navy Needs Disruption Now (part 2 of 2)" data-content="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/29/why-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2/" title="Share on Tumblr"data-posttype="link">Share on Tumblr</a></li><li class="share-pocket"><div class="pocket_button"><a href="https://getpocket.com/save" class="pocket-btn" data-lang="en" data-save-url="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/29/why-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2/" data-pocket-count="horizontal" >Pocket</a></div></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul></div></div></div><div class='sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded' id='like-post-wrapper-6599589-21971-674281080c312' data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/?ver=14.1-a.3#blog_id=6599589&post_id=21971&origin=steveblank.com&obj_id=6599589-21971-674281080c312&n=1' data-name='like-post-frame-6599589-21971-674281080c312' data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> <p class="postinfo"> Filed under: <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/hacking-for-defense/" rel="category tag">Hacking For Defense</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/navy/" rel="category tag">Navy</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/science-and-industrial-policy/" rel="category tag">Science and Industrial Policy</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/technology/" rel="category tag">Technology</a> | <a href="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/29/why-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2/#comments">8 Comments »</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-21899 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-hacking-for-defense category-navy category-science-and-industrial-policy category-technology" id="post-21899"> <h2><a href="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/" rel="bookmark">Why the Navy Needs Disruption Now (part 1 of 2)</a></h2> <div class="postinfo"> Posted on <span class="postdate">July 28, 2016</span> by steve blank </div> <div class="entry"> <p style="text-align:center;"><em>The future is here it’s just distributed unevenly</em> – Silicon Valley view of tech adoption</p> <p style="text-align:center;"><em>The threat is here it’s just distributed unevenly</em> – A2/AD and the aircraft carrier</p> <p>Sitting backwards in a plane with no windows, strapped in a 4-point harness, wearing a life preserver, head encased in a helmet, eyes covered by googles, your brain can’t process the acceleration. As the<a href="https://youtu.be/pVRRY01Gd4Y?t=2m58s" target="_blank"> C-2 A Greyhound</a> is hurled off an aircraft carrier into the air via a catapult, your body thrown forward in the air, until a few seconds later, hundreds of feet above the carrier now at 150 miles per hour you yell, “Holy Shxt.” And no one can hear you through the noise, helmet and ear protectors.</p> <hr /> <p>I just spent two days a hundred miles off the coast of Mexico aboard the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Carl_Vinson" target="_blank">U.S.S. Carl Vinson</a> landing and taking off on the carrier deck via a small cargo plane.<a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/nimitz-class-carrier.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="21950" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/nimitz-class-carrier/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/nimitz-class-carrier.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1500,1000" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="nimitz class carrier" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/nimitz-class-carrier.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/nimitz-class-carrier.jpg?fit=468%2C312&ssl=1" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-21950 alignright" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/nimitz-class-carrier.jpg?resize=150%2C100&ssl=1" alt="nimitz class carrier" width="150" height="100" /></a></p> <p>Taking off and landing is a great metaphor for the carrier. It’s designed to project power – and when needed, violence.</p> <p>It’s hard to spend time on a carrier and not be impressed with the Navy, and the dedicated people who man the carrier and serve their country. And of course that’s the purpose of the two-day tour. The Navy calls its program <a href="https://steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/5726-8a.pdf" target="_blank">Outreach: Americas Navy</a>. Targeting key influencers (who they call <a href="http://www.public.navy.mil/airfor/Pages/distinguishedvisitor.aspx" target="_blank"><em>Distinguished Visitors</em></a>,) the Navy hosts 900/year out to carriers off the West Coast and 500/year to carriers on the East Coast. These tours are scheduled when the carriers are offshore training, not when they are deployed on missions. I joined <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewell" target="_blank">Pete Newell</a> (my fellow instructor in the <a href="http://hacking4defense.stanford.edu/index.html" target="_blank">Hacking for Defense</a> class) and 11 other Stanford faculty from <a href="http://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/people/faculty" target="_blank">CISAC</a> and the <a href="http://www.hoover.org/fellows" target="_blank">Hoover Institution</a>.</p> <p>I learned quite a bit about the physical layout of a carrier, how the air crew operates and how the carrier functions in context of the other ships around it (the strike group.) But the biggest learning was the realization that disruption is not just happening to companies, it’s also happening to the Navy. And that the Lean Innovation tools we’ve built to deal with disruption and create continuous innovation for large commercial organizations were equally relevant here.</p> <p><strong>The Carrier<br /> </strong>U.S. aircraft carriers like the Vinson (there are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimitz-class_aircraft_carrier" target="_blank">9 others</a>) are designed to put the equivalent of an Air Force base anywhere on any ocean anywhere in the world. This means the U.S. can show the flag for deterrence (don’t do this or it will be a bad day) or to control some part of the sea (to protect commercial and/or military shipping, or protect a Marine amphibious force – on the way or at a place they will land); and project power (a euphemism for striking targets with bombs and cruise missiles far from home).</p> <p>On an aircraft carrier there are two groups of people – the crew needed to run the carrier, called the <a href="http://fas.org/irp/doddir/navy/rfs/part04.htm" target="_blank"><em>ship’s company</em></a>, and the people who fly and support the aircraft they carry, called the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrier_Air_Wing_Two" target="_blank"><em>Air Wing</em></a>. The Vinson carries ~2,800 people in the ship’s company, ~2,000 in the Air Wing and ~150 staff.</p> <p>Without the Air Wing the carrier would just be another big cruise ship. The Air Wing has 72 aircraft made up of jet and propeller planes. The core of the Air Wing are the 44 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_F/A-18E/F_Super_Hornet" target="_blank">F/A-18 strike fighters</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0vKjewofLU" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0vKjewofLU</a></p> <p>The F/A-18 strike fighters are designed to do two jobs: gain air superiority by engaging other fighter planes in the air or attack targets on the ground with bombs (that’s why they have the F/A designation). Flying on missions with these strike fighters are specially modified F/A-18’s – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EA-18G_Growler" target="_blank">EA-18G Growlers</a> that carry electronic warfare jammers which electronically shut down enemy radars and surface-to-air missiles to ensure that the F/A-18s get to the target without being shot down.</p> <p>Another type of plane on the carrier is the propeller-driven <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-2_Hawkeye" target="_blank">E-2C Hawkeyes</a>, which is an airborne early warning plane. Think of the Hawkeyes as airborne air traffic control. Hawkeyes carry a long-range radar in a dome above the fuselage, and keep the strike group and the fighters constantly aware of incoming air threats. They can send data to the fighters and to other ships in the battle group which identifies the location of potential threats. They can also detect other ships at sea.</p> <p>The other planes in the carrier’s Air Wing are 16 helicopters: 8 MH-60S <a href="http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/mh_60s/" target="_blank">Nighthawk</a> helicopters for logistics support, search and rescue and special warfare support; and 8 MH-60R Seahawks to locate and attack submarines and to attack Surface targets. <a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/seahawk-helicopter.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="21912" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/seahawk-helicopter/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/seahawk-helicopter.jpg?fit=1350%2C1659&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1350,1659" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="seahawk helicopter" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/seahawk-helicopter.jpg?fit=244%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/seahawk-helicopter.jpg?fit=468%2C575&ssl=1" class="alignright wp-image-21912 size-thumbnail" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/seahawk-helicopter.jpg?resize=122%2C150&ssl=1" alt="seahawk helicopter" width="122" height="150" /></a>They carry sonobuoys, dipping sonar and anti-submarine torpedoes. And last but not least, there is the plane that got us on the carrier, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_C-2_Greyhound" target="_blank">C2-A Greyhound</a> – the delivery truck for the carrier.</p> <p><strong>You’re not alone<br /> </strong>Carriers like the Vinson don’t go to sea by themselves. They’re part of a group of ships called the “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrier_Strike_Group_1" target="_blank">carrier strike group</a>.” A strike group consists of a carrier, two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ticonderoga-class_cruiser" target="_blank">cruisers</a> with <a href="http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=2200&tid=1300&ct=2" target="_blank">Tomahawk cruise missiles</a> which can attack land targets, and two destroyers and/or frigates with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegis_Combat_System" target="_blank">Aegis surface to air missiles</a> to defend the carrier from air attack. (In the past, the strike group was assigned an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia-class_submarine" target="_blank">attack submarine</a> to hunt for subs trying to kill the carrier. Today the attack subs are in such demand they are assigned by national authorities on an as-needed basis.) The strike group also includes replenishment ships that carry spare ammunition, fuel, etc. (The 150 staff on the carrier include separate staff for the strike group, Air Wing, carrier, surface warfare (cruisers with tomahawk missiles) and air defense (Aegis-armed destroyers.)</p> <p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/strike-group.png?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="21914" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/strike-group/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/strike-group.png?fit=817%2C530&ssl=1" data-orig-size="817,530" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="strike group" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/strike-group.png?fit=300%2C195&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/strike-group.png?fit=468%2C304&ssl=1" class="aligncenter wp-image-21914 size-large" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/strike-group.png?resize=468%2C304&ssl=1" alt="strike group" width="468" height="304" /></a>The strike group also receives antisubmarine intelligence from P-3/<a href="http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/confessions-of-a-pilot-behind-the-us-navys-airborne-sub-1598415741" target="_blank">P-8 anti-submarine aircraft</a> and towed arrays on the destroyers, and additional situational awareness from imaging, Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) and radar sensors and satellites.</p> <p>Before our group flew out to the carrier, we were briefed by <a href="http://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioID=469" target="_blank">Vice-Admiral Mike Shoemaker</a>. His job is aviation Type Commander (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Navy_type_commands" target="_blank">TYCOM</a>) for all <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy" target="_blank">United States Navy</a> naval aviation units (responsible for aircrew training, supply, readiness, etc.) He also wears another hat as the commander of all the Navy planes in the Pacific. It was interesting to hear that the biggest issue in keeping the airplanes ready to fight are <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/sequester" target="_blank">sequestration</a> and budget cuts. These cuts have impacted maintenance, and made spare parts hard to get. And no pay raises make it hard to retain qualified people.</p> <p>Then it was time to climb into our <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_C-2_Greyhound" target="_blank">C-2 Greyhound</a> for the flight out to the aircraft carrier. Just like a regular passenger plane, except you put on a life vest, goggles, ear plugs, and over all that a half helmet protecting the top and back of your head while enclosing your ears in large plastic ear muffs. Then you and 25 other passengers load the plane via the rear ramp, sit facing backwards in a plane with no windows and wait to land.</p> <p><strong>On the U.S.S. Vinson<br /> </strong>Landing on an aircraft carrier is an equally violent act. When you make an arrested landing, a tail hook on the plane traps one of the four arresting cables stretched across the deck, and you decelerate from 105 mph to zero in two seconds. When the plane hit the arresting wire on the carrier deck, it <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DtPCYdgf2E" target="_blank">came to a dead stop in 250 feet</a>. There was absolutely no doubt that we had landed (and a great lesson on why you were wearing head protection, goggles and strapped into your non-reclining seat with a four-point harness). As the rear ramp lowered, we were assaulted with the visual and audio cacophony of crewmen in seven different colored shirts on the deck swarming on and around F-18s, E2Cs, helicopters, etc., all with their engines running.</p> <p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/flight-deck-shirts.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="21927" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/flight-deck-shirts/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/flight-deck-shirts.jpg?fit=3058%2C578&ssl=1" data-orig-size="3058,578" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="flight deck shirts" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/flight-deck-shirts.jpg?fit=300%2C57&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/flight-deck-shirts.jpg?fit=468%2C88&ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-21927" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/flight-deck-shirts.jpg?resize=468%2C88&ssl=1" alt="flight deck shirts" width="468" height="88" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/lpd18/Pages/Bio1_May302014_Aug232015.aspx" target="_blank">Captain Doug Verissimo</a> and his executive officer Captain Eric Anduze, welcomed us to the carrier. (One of my first problems onboard was translating <a href="https://steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/military-ranks.jpg" target="_blank">Navy ranks into their Army/Air Force equivalents</a>. For example, a navy captain equals an Air Force/Army Colonel, and a rear admiral is a brigadier general, etc.)</p> <p><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="21925" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/flight-deck/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/flight-deck1.jpg?fit=2926%2C1170&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2926,1170" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="flight deck" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/flight-deck1.jpg?fit=300%2C120&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/flight-deck1.jpg?fit=468%2C187&ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-21925" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/flight-deck1.jpg?resize=468%2C187&ssl=1" alt="flight deck" width="468" height="187" />Then for the next two days the carrier’s public affairs officer led us on the “shock and awe” tour. In four years in the Air Force I had been stationed on four fighter bases, three of them in war zones, some with over 150 planes generating lots of sorties. But I had to grudgingly admit that watching F-18s landing on a 300-foot runway 60 feet above the water, on a pitching deck moving 30 mph at sea – one a minute – <em>at night</em> – was pretty impressive. And having us stand on the deck less than 50 feet away from these planes as they landed trapping the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrestor_wires" target="_blank">arrestor wires</a>, and launched via a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_catapult" target="_blank">catapult</a> was a testament to the Navy’s PR acumen. Most of crew on the flight deck are in their late teens and maybe early 20s. (And for me, hard to believe 4 decades ago in some other life I was doing that job.) Standing on the deck on a Navy carrier, it’s impossible not to be impressed with the precision choreography of the crew and the skill of their pilots.</p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" title="Aircraft Carrier USS Carl Vinson Night Flight Operations" width="468" height="263" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wj97iN-6KEA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p>Our group climbed the ladders (inclined at a 68-degree angle – there are no stairs) up and down the 18 decks (floors) of the ship. We saw the hangar deck where planes were repaired, the jet engine shop, jet engine test cell, arresting cable engine room, the bridge where they steer the ship, the flag bridge (the command center for the admiral), the flight deck control and launch operations room (where the aircraft handler keeps track of all the aircraft on the flight deck and in the hangar), and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqErgrFjw3k" target="_blank">carrier air traffic control center (CATCC)</a>.<a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/lpo.jpeg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="21986" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/lpo/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/lpo.jpeg?fit=2448%2C3264&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2448,3264" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.2","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 6 Plus","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1469090169","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.15","iso":"80","shutter_speed":"0.066666666666667","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="LPO" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/lpo.jpeg?fit=225%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/lpo.jpeg?fit=468%2C624&ssl=1" class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-21986" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/lpo.jpeg?resize=113%2C150&ssl=1" alt="LPO" width="113" height="150" /></a></p> <p>At each stop an officer or enlisted man gave us an articulate description of what equipment we were looking at and how it fit into the rest of the carrier.</p> <p>(What got left out of the tour was the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g55zsOflAQ0" target="_blank">combat direction center (CDC),</a> the munitions elevators, ships engines and any of the avionics maintenance shops and of course, the nuclear reactor spaces.)</p> <p>During lunch and dinners, we had a chance to talk at length to the officers and enlisted men. They were smart, dedicated and proud of what they do, and frank about the obstacles they face getting their jobs done. Interestingly they all echoed Vice-Admiral Shoemaker’s observation that the biggest obstacles they face are political – <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/sequester" target="_blank">sequestration</a> and budget cuts.</p> <p>Just before we left we got a briefing from the head of the Carrier Strike Group, <a href="http://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioID=726" target="_blank">Rear Admiral James T. Loeblein</a> about the threats the carrier and the strike group face.</p> <p>Then it was off to be catapulted back home.<a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/img_8187.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="21997" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/img_8187/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/img_8187.jpg?fit=3264%2C2448&ssl=1" data-orig-size="3264,2448" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.2","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 6","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1469016443","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.15","iso":"320","shutter_speed":"0.066666666666667","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="IMG_8187" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/img_8187.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/img_8187.jpg?fit=468%2C351&ssl=1" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-21997" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/img_8187.jpg?resize=150%2C113&ssl=1" alt="IMG_8187" width="150" height="113" /></a></p> <p>It’s clear that the public affairs office has a finely tuned PR machine. So if the goal was to impress me that the Navy and carriers are well run and manned – consider it done.</p> <p>However, it got me thinking… new aircraft carrier’s cost $11 billion. And we have a lot of them on order. Given the threats they are facing are they going to be viable for another 30 years? Or is the aircraft carrier obsolete?</p> <p>Tomorrow’s post will offer a few days’ worth of thoughts about carriers, strike groups and how the Navy can continue to innovate with carriers and beyond.</p> <p><strong>Lessons Learned – part 1 of 2</strong></p> <blockquote> <ul> <li>Our carriers are a work of art run and manned by professionals</li> <li>Lots more <a href="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/29/why-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2/" target="_blank">in part 2, in the next post</a>…</li> </ul> </blockquote> <p>Thanks to the crew of the U.S.S. Vinson, and Commander Todd Cimicata and Stanford for a real education about the Navy.<br /> <iframe loading="lazy" width="100%" height="66" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F275912497&width=false&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=false&show_comments=false&color=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false"></iframe></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-print"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-print sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/" target="_blank" title="Click to print" ><span>Print</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Why%20the%20Navy%20Needs%20Disruption%20Now%20%28part%201%20of%202%29&body=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2016%2F07%2F28%2Fthe-navy-carriers-and-disruption%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. You may need to create a new email yourself." data-email-share-nonce="61fec70cb6" data-email-share-track-url="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/?share=email"><span>Email</span></a></li><li class="share-facebook"><div class="fb-share-button" data-href="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/" data-layout="button_count"></div></li><li class="share-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/" data-text="Why the Navy Needs Disruption Now (part 1 of 2)" >Tweet</a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><div class="linkedin_button"><script type="in/share" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/" data-counter="right"></script></div></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span>Reddit</span></a></li><li class="share-jetpack-whatsapp"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-jetpack-whatsapp sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/?share=jetpack-whatsapp" target="_blank" title="Click to share on WhatsApp" ><span>WhatsApp</span></a></li><li class="share-pinterest"><div class="pinterest_button"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2016%2F07%2F28%2Fthe-navy-carriers-and-disruption%2F&media=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F07%2Fimg_8187.jpg&description=Why%20the%20Navy%20Needs%20Disruption%20Now%20%28part%201%20of%202%29" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="beside"><img data-recalc-dims="1" src="https://i0.wp.com/assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png?w=468" /></a></div></li><li class="share-telegram"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-telegram sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/?share=telegram" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Telegram" ><span>Telegram</span></a></li><li class="share-tumblr"><a class="tumblr-share-button" target="_blank" href="https://www.tumblr.com/share" data-title="Why the Navy Needs Disruption Now (part 1 of 2)" data-content="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/" title="Share on Tumblr"data-posttype="link">Share on Tumblr</a></li><li class="share-pocket"><div class="pocket_button"><a href="https://getpocket.com/save" class="pocket-btn" data-lang="en" data-save-url="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/" data-pocket-count="horizontal" >Pocket</a></div></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul></div></div></div><div class='sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded' id='like-post-wrapper-6599589-21899-6742810811b13' data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/?ver=14.1-a.3#blog_id=6599589&post_id=21899&origin=steveblank.com&obj_id=6599589-21899-6742810811b13&n=1' data-name='like-post-frame-6599589-21899-6742810811b13' data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> <p class="postinfo"> Filed under: <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/hacking-for-defense/" rel="category tag">Hacking For Defense</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/navy/" rel="category tag">Navy</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/science-and-industrial-policy/" rel="category tag">Science and Industrial Policy</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/technology/" rel="category tag">Technology</a> | <a href="https://steveblank.com/2016/07/28/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption/#comments">6 Comments »</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="browse"></div> </div> </div></div> <div class="sidebar"> <ul> <li><h2>Calendar</h2> <ul> <li><table id="wp-calendar" class="wp-calendar-table"> <caption>November 2024</caption> <thead> <tr> <th scope="col" title="Monday">M</th> <th scope="col" title="Tuesday">T</th> <th scope="col" title="Wednesday">W</th> <th scope="col" title="Thursday">T</th> <th scope="col" title="Friday">F</th> <th scope="col" title="Saturday">S</th> <th scope="col" title="Sunday">S</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="4" class="pad"> </td><td>1</td><td>2</td><td>3</td> </tr> <tr> <td>4</td><td>5</td><td>6</td><td>7</td><td>8</td><td>9</td><td>10</td> </tr> <tr> <td>11</td><td>12</td><td>13</td><td>14</td><td>15</td><td>16</td><td>17</td> </tr> <tr> <td>18</td><td>19</td><td>20</td><td>21</td><td>22</td><td id="today">23</td><td>24</td> </tr> <tr> <td>25</td><td>26</td><td>27</td><td>28</td><td>29</td><td>30</td> <td class="pad" colspan="1"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table><nav aria-label="Previous and next months" class="wp-calendar-nav"> <span class="wp-calendar-nav-prev"><a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/10/">« Oct</a></span> <span class="pad"> </span> <span class="wp-calendar-nav-next"> </span> </nav></li> </ul> </li> <li id="linkcat-697967627" class="linkcat"><h2>Customer Development</h2> <ul class='xoxo blogroll'> <li><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/sblank" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Customer Development Methodology – slides</a></li> <li><a href="http://startuplessonslearned.blogspot.com/search?q=%22customer+development%22" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Eric Ries on Customer Development</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steven-Blank/dp/0976470705" rel="noopener" title="My book about Customer Development and more" target="_blank">Four Steps to the Epiphany – the book</a></li> <li><a href="http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2048" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Stanford Entrepreneurial Leadership Talks by Steve Blank</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/startuplessonslearned/lean-startup-presentation-to-maples-investments-by-steve-blank-and-eric-ries-presentation" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Lean Startup by Eric Ries & Steve Blank – slides</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="linkcat-697967628" class="linkcat"><h2>Secret History of Silicon Valley</h2> <ul class='xoxo blogroll'> <li><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/sblank/secret-history-of-silicon-valley-rev-4-dec-09" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Secret History of Silicon Valley – Dec 2009 slides</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo" rel="noopener" title="Recorded at the Computer History Museum Nov. 20, 2008" target="_blank">The Secret History of Silicon Valley – video</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="footer"> <p><a href="https://wordpress.com/?ref=footer_custom_powered">Powered by WordPress.com</a>. WP Designer.</p> </div> </div> </div>  <script defer id="bilmur" data-customproperties="{"woo_active":"0"}" data-provider="wordpress.com" data-service="atomic" src="https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/js/bilmur.min.js?m=202447"></script> <div id="jp-carousel-loading-overlay"> <div id="jp-carousel-loading-wrapper"> <span id="jp-carousel-library-loading"> </span> </div> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-overlay" style="display: none;"> <div class="jp-carousel-container">  <div class="jp-carousel-wrap swiper-container jp-carousel-swiper-container jp-carousel-transitions" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageGallery"> <div class="jp-carousel swiper-wrapper"></div> <div class="jp-swiper-button-prev swiper-button-prev"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="maskPrev" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="8" y="6" width="9" height="12"> <path d="M16.2072 16.59L11.6496 12L16.2072 7.41L14.8041 6L8.8335 12L14.8041 18L16.2072 16.59Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#maskPrev)"> <rect x="0.579102" width="23.8823" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> </div> <div class="jp-swiper-button-next swiper-button-next"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="maskNext" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="8" y="6" width="8" height="12"> <path d="M8.59814 16.59L13.1557 12L8.59814 7.41L10.0012 6L15.9718 12L10.0012 18L8.59814 16.59Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#maskNext)"> <rect x="0.34375" width="23.8822" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> </div> </div>  <div class="jp-carousel-close-hint"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="maskClose" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="5" y="5" width="15" height="14"> <path d="M19.3166 6.41L17.9135 5L12.3509 10.59L6.78834 5L5.38525 6.41L10.9478 12L5.38525 17.59L6.78834 19L12.3509 13.41L17.9135 19L19.3166 17.59L13.754 12L19.3166 6.41Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#maskClose)"> <rect x="0.409668" width="23.8823" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> </div>  <div class="jp-carousel-info"> <div class="jp-carousel-info-footer"> <div class="jp-carousel-pagination-container"> <div class="jp-swiper-pagination swiper-pagination"></div> <div class="jp-carousel-pagination"></div> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-photo-title-container"> <h2 class="jp-carousel-photo-caption"></h2> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-photo-icons-container"> <a href="#" class="jp-carousel-icon-btn jp-carousel-icon-info" aria-label="Toggle photo metadata visibility"> <span class="jp-carousel-icon"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="maskInfo" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="2" y="2" width="21" height="20"> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M12.7537 2C7.26076 2 2.80273 6.48 2.80273 12C2.80273 17.52 7.26076 22 12.7537 22C18.2466 22 22.7046 17.52 22.7046 12C22.7046 6.48 18.2466 2 12.7537 2ZM11.7586 7V9H13.7488V7H11.7586ZM11.7586 11V17H13.7488V11H11.7586ZM4.79292 12C4.79292 16.41 8.36531 20 12.7537 20C17.142 20 20.7144 16.41 20.7144 12C20.7144 7.59 17.142 4 12.7537 4C8.36531 4 4.79292 7.59 4.79292 12Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#maskInfo)"> <rect x="0.8125" width="23.8823" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> </span> </a> <a href="#" class="jp-carousel-icon-btn jp-carousel-icon-comments" aria-label="Toggle photo comments visibility"> <span class="jp-carousel-icon"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="maskComments" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="2" y="2" width="21" height="20"> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M4.3271 2H20.2486C21.3432 2 22.2388 2.9 22.2388 4V16C22.2388 17.1 21.3432 18 20.2486 18H6.31729L2.33691 22V4C2.33691 2.9 3.2325 2 4.3271 2ZM6.31729 16H20.2486V4H4.3271V18L6.31729 16Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#maskComments)"> <rect x="0.34668" width="23.8823" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> <span class="jp-carousel-has-comments-indicator" aria-label="This image has comments."></span> </span> </a> </div> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-info-extra"> <div class="jp-carousel-info-content-wrapper"> <div class="jp-carousel-photo-title-container"> <h2 class="jp-carousel-photo-title"></h2> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-comments-wrapper"> <div id="jp-carousel-comments-loading"> <span>Loading Comments...</span> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-comments"></div> <div id="jp-carousel-comment-form-container"> <span id="jp-carousel-comment-form-spinner"> </span> <div id="jp-carousel-comment-post-results"></div> <form id="jp-carousel-comment-form"> <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-comment-field" class="screen-reader-text">Write a Comment...</label> <textarea name="comment" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-textarea" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-comment-field" placeholder="Write a Comment..." ></textarea> <div id="jp-carousel-comment-form-submit-and-info-wrapper"> <div id="jp-carousel-comment-form-commenting-as"> <fieldset> <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-email-field">Email</label> <input type="text" name="email" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-email-field" /> </fieldset> <fieldset> <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-author-field">Name</label> <input type="text" name="author" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-author-field" /> </fieldset> <fieldset> <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-url-field">Website</label> <input type="text" name="url" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-url-field" /> </fieldset> </div> <input type="submit" name="submit" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-button" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-button-submit" value="Post Comment" /> </div> </form> </div> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-image-meta"> <div class="jp-carousel-title-and-caption"> <div class="jp-carousel-photo-info"> <h3 class="jp-carousel-caption" itemprop="caption description"></h3> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-photo-description"></div> </div> <ul class="jp-carousel-image-exif" style="display: none;"></ul> <a class="jp-carousel-image-download" href="#" target="_blank" style="display: none;"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="mask0" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="3" y="3" width="19" height="18"> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M5.84615 5V19H19.7775V12H21.7677V19C21.7677 20.1 20.8721 21 19.7775 21H5.84615C4.74159 21 3.85596 20.1 3.85596 19V5C3.85596 3.9 4.74159 3 5.84615 3H12.8118V5H5.84615ZM14.802 5V3H21.7677V10H19.7775V6.41L9.99569 16.24L8.59261 14.83L18.3744 5H14.802Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#mask0)"> <rect x="0.870605" width="23.8823" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> <span class="jp-carousel-download-text"></span> </a> <div class="jp-carousel-image-map" style="display: none;"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <script type="text/javascript"> window.WPCOM_sharing_counts = {"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/2024\/09\/17\/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos\/":31481,"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/2023\/12\/11\/the-secret-history-of-minnesota-part-1-engineering-research-associates\/":30190,"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/2022\/01\/18\/the-small-the-agile-and-the-many-the-navys-hedge\/":28148,"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/2020\/11\/24\/technology-innovation-and-modern-war-class-13-onr-rear-admiral-lorin-selby\/":26814,"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/2016\/07\/29\/why-the-navy-needs-disruption-now-part-2-of-2\/":21971,"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/2016\/07\/28\/the-navy-carriers-and-disruption\/":21899}; </script> <div id="fb-root"></div> <script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&appId=249643311490&version=v2.3'; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script> <script> document.body.addEventListener( 'is.post-load', function() { if ( 'undefined' !== typeof FB ) { FB.XFBML.parse(); } } ); </script> <script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');</script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function () { var currentScript = document.currentScript; // Helper function to load an external script. function loadScript( url, cb ) { var script = document.createElement( 'script' ); var prev = currentScript || document.getElementsByTagName( 'script' )[ 0 ]; script.setAttribute( 'async', true ); script.setAttribute( 'src', url ); prev.parentNode.insertBefore( script, prev ); script.addEventListener( 'load', cb ); } function init() { loadScript( 'https://platform.linkedin.com/in.js?async=true', function () { if ( typeof IN !== 'undefined' ) { IN.init(); } } ); } if ( document.readyState === 'loading' ) { document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', init ); } else { init(); } document.body.addEventListener( 'is.post-load', function() { if ( typeof IN !== 'undefined' ) { IN.parse(); } } ); } )(); </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function () { // Pinterest shared resources var s = document.createElement( 'script' ); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.async = true; s.setAttribute( 'data-pin-hover', true ); s.src = window.location.protocol + '//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js'; var x = document.getElementsByTagName( 'script' )[ 0 ]; x.parentNode.insertBefore(s, x); // if 'Pin it' button has 'counts' make container wider function init() { var shares = document.querySelectorAll( 'li.share-pinterest' ); for ( var i = 0; i < shares.length; i++ ) { var share = shares[ i ]; var countElement = share.querySelector( 'a span' ); if (countElement) { var countComputedStyle = window.getComputedStyle(countElement); if ( countComputedStyle.display === 'block' ) { var countWidth = parseInt( countComputedStyle.width, 10 ); share.style.marginRight = countWidth + 11 + 'px'; } } } } if ( document.readyState !== 'complete' ) { document.addEventListener( 'load', init ); } else { init(); } } )(); </script> <script id="tumblr-js" type="text/javascript" src="https://assets.tumblr.com/share-button.js"></script> <script> ( function () { var currentScript = document.currentScript; // Don't use Pocket's default JS as it we need to force init new Pocket share buttons loaded via JS. function jetpack_sharing_pocket_init() { var script = document.createElement( 'script' ); var prev = currentScript || document.getElementsByTagName( 'script' )[ 0 ]; script.setAttribute( 'async', true ); script.setAttribute( 'src', 'https://widgets.getpocket.com/v1/j/btn.js?v=1' ); prev.parentNode.insertBefore( script, prev ); } if ( document.readyState === 'loading' ) { document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', jetpack_sharing_pocket_init ); } else { jetpack_sharing_pocket_init(); } document.body.addEventListener( 'is.post-load', jetpack_sharing_pocket_init ); } )(); </script> <script type="text/javascript" id="jetpack-carousel-js-extra"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var jetpackSwiperLibraryPath = {"url":"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/jetpack\/_inc\/build\/carousel\/swiper-bundle.min.js"}; var jetpackCarouselStrings = {"widths":[370,700,1000,1200,1400,2000],"is_logged_in":"","lang":"en","ajaxurl":"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","nonce":"2abc278a20","display_exif":"1","display_comments":"1","single_image_gallery":"1","single_image_gallery_media_file":"","background_color":"black","comment":"Comment","post_comment":"Post Comment","write_comment":"Write a Comment...","loading_comments":"Loading Comments...","image_label":"Open image in full-screen.","download_original":"View full size <span class=\"photo-size\">{0}<span class=\"photo-size-times\">\u00d7<\/span>{1}<\/span>","no_comment_text":"Please be sure to submit some text with your comment.","no_comment_email":"Please provide an email address to comment.","no_comment_author":"Please provide your name to comment.","comment_post_error":"Sorry, but there was an error posting your comment. Please try again later.","comment_approved":"Your comment was approved.","comment_unapproved":"Your comment is in moderation.","camera":"Camera","aperture":"Aperture","shutter_speed":"Shutter Speed","focal_length":"Focal Length","copyright":"Copyright","comment_registration":"0","require_name_email":"0","login_url":"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2024%2F09%2F17%2Fthe-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos%2F","blog_id":"1","meta_data":["camera","aperture","shutter_speed","focal_length","copyright"]}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script type='text/javascript' src='https://steveblank.com/_static/??-eJyVzM0OgjAQBOAXsmwVf07GRzGl3eC2y1JpN4S3h4NcjR5nJvPN2fhRKkqFzNqTFIhYs/MJniQeOiUO4N00akHeN7MXzUDSxHKYf2IqMQbTO2aclm/pP5YpYYG3ouLLSdiAz/8x3I+31p7s9XK2KyLnV3k='></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://stats.wp.com/e-202447.js" id="jetpack-stats-js" data-wp-strategy="defer"></script> <script type="text/javascript" id="jetpack-stats-js-after"> /* <![CDATA[ */ _stq = window._stq || []; _stq.push([ "view", JSON.parse("{\"v\":\"ext\",\"blog\":\"6599589\",\"post\":\"0\",\"tz\":\"-8\",\"srv\":\"steveblank.com\",\"hp\":\"atomic\",\"ac\":\"2\",\"amp\":\"0\",\"j\":\"1:14.1-a.3\"}") ]); _stq.push([ "clickTrackerInit", "6599589", "0" ]); /* ]]> */ </script> <script type="text/javascript" id="sharing-js-js-extra"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var sharing_js_options = {"lang":"en","counts":"1","is_stats_active":"1"}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://steveblank.com/wp-content/plugins/jetpack/_inc/build/sharedaddy/sharing.min.js?ver=14.1-a.3" id="sharing-js-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" id="sharing-js-js-after"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var windowOpen; ( function () { function matches( el, sel ) { return !! ( el.matches && el.matches( sel ) || el.msMatchesSelector && el.msMatchesSelector( sel ) ); } document.body.addEventListener( 'click', function ( event ) { if ( ! event.target ) { return; } var el; if ( matches( event.target, 'a.share-facebook' ) ) { el = event.target; } else if ( event.target.parentNode && matches( event.target.parentNode, 'a.share-facebook' ) ) { el = event.target.parentNode; } if ( el ) { event.preventDefault(); // If there's another sharing window open, close it. if ( typeof windowOpen !== 'undefined' ) { windowOpen.close(); } windowOpen = window.open( el.getAttribute( 'href' ), 'wpcomfacebook', 'menubar=1,resizable=1,width=600,height=400' ); return false; } } ); } )(); var windowOpen; ( function () { function matches( el, sel ) { return !! ( el.matches && el.matches( sel ) || el.msMatchesSelector && el.msMatchesSelector( sel ) ); } document.body.addEventListener( 'click', function ( event ) { if ( ! event.target ) { return; } var el; if ( matches( event.target, 'a.share-telegram' ) ) { el = event.target; } else if ( event.target.parentNode && matches( event.target.parentNode, 'a.share-telegram' ) ) { el = event.target.parentNode; } if ( el ) { event.preventDefault(); // If there's another sharing window open, close it. if ( typeof windowOpen !== 'undefined' ) { windowOpen.close(); } windowOpen = window.open( el.getAttribute( 'href' ), 'wpcomtelegram', 'menubar=1,resizable=1,width=450,height=450' ); return false; } } ); } )(); /* ]]> */ </script> <iframe src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/master.html?ver=20241124#ver=20241124&n=1' scrolling='no' id='likes-master' name='likes-master' style='display:none;'></iframe> <div id='likes-other-gravatars' class='wpl-new-layout' role="dialog" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"><div class="likes-text"><span>%d</span></div><ul class="wpl-avatars sd-like-gravatars"></ul></div> </body> </html>