The War with China for Taiwan is Coming: Is Your Audit and Surveillance Program Ready?
Your quarterly assessment was due yesterday
The Pentagon - The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a DC-based think tank, recently suggested that, “even a victorious USN submarine fleet could suffer staggering losses in battle with the Chinese navy around Taiwan.” With some defense experts speculating that a war over Taiwan could begin as early as 2024, US Naval leadership has emphasized that now is the time to ensure that every division has a robust and aggressive Audit and Surveillance Program.
A recent fleet-wide inspection found that among the 53 nuclear-powered attack and cruise-missile submarines, less than 22% of their Audit and Surveillance Programs are combat-ready. These results concerned the Commander of Submarines Forces, Pacific, Admiral Mackelroy, who said, “when the torpedoes are in the water, what matters most is how many TDLs A-gang closed out last quarter.” He directed the submarine force to conduct a deep dive on how to improve their Audit and Surveillance readiness.
In most of the war game simulations recently performed in a collaboration between CSIS and the Pentagon, US submarines were unable to stick to their CO’s approved Audit and Surveillance schedules while still repelling an invasion of Taiwan. Boats which scrapped their Audit and Surveillance Programs at the onset of the war had a 23% greater chance of survival. However, those same boats suffered a 97% decrease in their ability to successfully employ a junior monitor, prompting force leadership to abruptly end the simulation.
“Unacceptable,” said Admiral Mackelroy of the results. “Admiral O’Kane would have never accepted that, and neither will we.”
Rear Admiral Richard O’Kane famously sank 24 ships and survived over 10 months in Japanese captivity during the second world war, feats he was able to accomplish by auditing his oil transfer logs weekly instead of quarterly.
I seem to recall the creation of the Department of Low Hanging Fruit. Its main goal was to ensure that everyday was dedicated at getting at least one thing done. I believe the inaugural Secretary Scott Cribspeak stated “No matter how small, all goals are goals that need to be celebrated.” Secretary Cribspeak’s laurels tout the creation of participation trophies.