Finish Organization Profile on Military

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Running head. Organizational Assessment

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Organizational Assessment

Organizational Assessment

U.S. Navy

Organizational Assessment

Tywon Petty

University of Charleston, WV

GSL-690: Capstone

Introduction

Organizational Profile

Popularly abbreviated as USN, the United States Navy is a unit within the U.S.' department of defense (DoD) and a branch of the country’s armed forces. The nation has about eight uniformed services, including the navy, established to defend her and protect her giant economy from aggressors or threats emanating from sources unconstrained by her territorial borders. The USN’s mission has often been “to maintain, train and equip combat-ready naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression and maintaining freedom of the seas." For effective accomplishment of its mission, the navy – as assigned by the DoD, conducts operations (defensive and offensive) to attain and maintain control of the sea. Additionally, it performs other key functions such as providing close air support for ground troops, sea-based power projection, conducting naval expeditionary logistics and riverine operations, and engaging in nuclear operations to ensure the country's nuclear capabilities.

Situational and Strategic Assessment

Competent leadership and a robust staff are features of the USN, whose persistent desire to maintain its global status quo has earned them global superiority. The unit has more than 400,000 well-trained staff and a lethal arsenal (Russell et al., 2015). Although the navy is regarded as the world's best, the naval field is highly dynamic with other forces from the developed (United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Russia) to the emerging economic powers such as India, South Korea, and China appearing as tough competitors. Further, the recent advancements in technology have not only strengthened USN but also increased foreign navies’ competence in the profession. Such sophistication implies that enemies possess massive versatility in their range of strategies to inflict harm. Therefore, it is imperative to constantly assess the department’s strategies right from the leadership, staff, resources, operations, and performance to initiate constant improvements.

Like any organization or state parastatal, the navy operates under a leadership structure with leaders serving different capacities. A civilian secretary of the navy leads the Navy's Department, which administratively manages the USN (Department of the Navy, n.d.). The most senior leader among the naval officers within the navy department is the chief of naval operations (CNO). Since the navy exists under the defense department, its secretary reports to the U.S. secretary of defense. Naval operations are subject to a dual chain of command that involves the chief of naval operations for administrative control and the appropriate Type Commander (TYCOM) to leadership different units within the force (The United States Naval War College, 2011). The responsibilities performed by the leadership system have been critical in making the USN a highly respected unit in this discipline. TYCOM’s has the mandate to prepare personnel through training, equipping, and appointing for operations as may be needed.

The navy department comprises different sections entrusted with duties to defend the country and provide other societal responsibilities. The three main operational components include the navy department, Marine Corps, and the coast guard, whose specialty areas vary considerably (The United States Naval War College, 2011). For instance, the navy department is based majorly in Washington, D.C., and comprises entirely executive officers of the force. The other two components – Marine Corps and the coast guard are the operating forces, while the latter helps provide homeland security in moments of peace. USN and other U.S. armed forces are often engaged in providing humanitarian assistance both within and beyond the country's international boundaries (Lea & Polski, 2015). Although control of the sea is the primary goal, offering such societal responsibilities as disaster response and humanitarian assistance to affected or vulnerable communities is perceived as an essential “soft power” mechanism of attaining global control. Thus, the force offers organic medical backing, strategic and tactical evacuation, and reliable communication.

The navy’s operational strategies have evolved from a raft of old fashioned war at sea tactics to cooperation-oriented strategies focused on attaining the 21st-century sea power. The transformation is driven by corresponding variations in global security dynamics and the ever-changing American political and economic interests, necessitating a long-term foreign policy shift to maintain the status quo (Lea & Polski, 2015). The navy’s capacity to successfully execute development strategies is effectively aided by its robust leadership and adequate state funding. With success-oriented experts well-trained within the force, the USN has reliable access to the necessary human and financial capital to add to the already existing wide range of infrastructural assets at its disposal. Consequently, the persistent variations in strategies to address contingent needs and cater for future requirements relating to the department’s purpose indicate a precocious approach to success.

Being a military organization, USN does not serve markets but the interests of the nation. Engagement with the state occurs through different forms of communication between the federal government and the navy. For instance, downward communication is initiated to disseminate goals information from the commander-in-chief to navy personnel, whereas upward communication occurs to provide feedback (Russell et al., 2015). The number of battles often determines performance measurement won on the battlefield and the successful projects undertaken to serve national interests. The department relies on information technology for knowledge storage and collection and dissemination of military information. The workforce environment is characterized by a happy staff whose remuneration and safety welfare are well addressed. Engagement at the individual unit level is through routine training or military operation practices, while inter-fleet engagement is through formal communication for consensus to harmonize routine practices.

Summary of Recommendation

The navy is recommended to initiate a research and development (R&D) unit that would augment its development and operational activities across the global naval field. Although the force already has an intelligence unit that collects military information regarding many nations, research and development will substantially improve its arsenal. Through initiating and successfully executing projects to develop new weapons, R&D will avail ideological conceptions and enhance their incubation to produce new assets. Such assets enhance operations, make work easier, increase personnel’s safety, or promote strategic effectiveness.

References

Department of the Navy. (n.d.). Office of the secretary of the navy. Washington, DC: The Pentagon.

Lea, C., & Polski, M. (2015). Assessment of the navy strategic enterprise: Integrating, coordinating, and aligning navy stakeholders to develop, communicate and assess navy strategy. Washington, DC: CNA Analysis & Solutions.

Russell, J. A. et al. (2015). Navy strategic development: Strategy in the 21st century. Naval Postgraduate School. [Research Program].

The United States Naval War College. (2011). Joint Military Operations: Reference guide. Force/Capabilities Handbook, NCW 3153L.