UNCLASSIFIED// ROUTINE R 281416Z FEB 20 MID510000996571U FM SECNAV WASHINGTON DC TO ALNAV INFO SECNAV WASHINGTON DC CNO WASHINGTON DC CMC WASHINGTON DC BT UNCLAS ALNAV 022/20 MSGID/GENADMIN/SECNAV WASHINGTON DC/-/FEB// SUBJ/SECNAV VECTOR 13// RMKS/1. Throughout our history, American leaders have championed the power of learning especially when grappling with unpredictable and momentous change. At the turn of the 20th century, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt led through a particularly dynamic era in terms of technology, instruments of national power, and geopolitical risk. Yet in dealing with that change, Roosevelt's first priority was not the machinery of war, but rather developing the intellects of those who would lead the Navy and Marine Corps. This is the "grey matter" that I have called a key strategic enabler for our force today, and into a more unpredictable future. Fast forward to the year 2020, and learning is once again considered "the ultimate strategic advantage." Companies in today's global economy are increasingly finding that "outlearning" their competitors offers tremendous financial and strategic benefits. To that end, the Chief Learning Officer of Intel Corporation recently wrote, "In the new world of work where humans team with robots, where the shelf-life of skills is measured in months, where automation is rapidly and permanently changing the way we get things done learning is the most essential tool in the organization's arsenal for sustained competitive advantage." We must similarly understand that in order to deter and, if necessary, outfight our adversaries, we must learn how to out-think them. That is why we in the Department of the Navy (DON) have committed to elevating education as a critical warfighting enabler. Next Monday will be the opening salvo in our broad implementation of this commitment across the naval service. Specifically, with the full concurrence and support of the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Chief of Naval Operations, I will release the Education for Seapower Strategy 2020, the DON's first ever comprehensive education strategy to guide our naval force into the future. Our goals for naval education, as set forth in the strategy are to: a. Develop leaders and warfighters who possess good judgment, creativity, a commitment to ethics, and excellent analytic and problem solving skills; b. Provide naval forces with an intellectual overmatch against our adversaries; and c. Make the naval force more proficient by improving strategic thinking, increasing geopolitical awareness, building key technical and professional capabilities, and deepening our understanding of the conditions in which military force can be used effectively. 2. To achieve these outcomes, the Education for Seapower Strategy 2020 is built upon the following three pillars: a. Pillar 1: Create a Continuum of Learning for the Entire Force. For our enlisted force, as a supplement to our tuition assistance program, we will create a Naval Community College to offer associate's degrees in technical fields necessary to fight the wars of the 21st Century. For our officers, we will increase the number of opportunities to pursue professional military education and build new courses of study directly linked to warfighting advantage and ethical excellence. And for our civilian team, we will invest in their skills and intellectual development, with emphasis on technological acumen and financial management. b. Pillar 2: Integrate Education into our Talent Management Frameworks. There is a close connection between an individual's curiosity and aptitude for learning and their capacity to lead. Our talent management systems will incentivize and reward intellectual development and set institutional expectations for continuous learning. This will require prioritization of education in our evaluation, promotion, and school selection processes. c. Pillar 3: Strengthen and Invest in our Naval University System. To become a true learning organization, the DON will develop and improve the education infrastructure of our entire organization. We will invest in our learning institutions, our faculty, and the high-performing staff who support them. We will also create new relationships for intellectual sharing and debate between the fleets and Marine Operating Forces, and our cyber, research, and intelligence enterprises to increase the intellectual preparedness or our Sailors, Marines, and Civilians. 3. The Education for Seapower Strategy 2020 will provide initial direction to our force, as we work to link how we learn to how we fight. As we move forward, this strategy will be adjusted, and updated periodically, to reflect progress as well as new realities. And, as we evolve, we will remain constant in our fundamental commitment to intellectual preparedness and warfighting advantage. Education is our best safeguard to ensure that all of our people are intellectually and ethically prepared for each crisis to come. Education is not just an institutional duty it is the responsibility of every naval leader, uniformed and civilian alike, to continue to learn throughout their careers, serving as an intellectual role model for those they lead, and taking an active role in guiding the intellectual development of those in their charge. It is time that we purposefully develop the minds of our leaders, as Secretary Teddy Roosevelt wrote, so they too can "contend for the mastery of the ocean...(with) demands made upon them heavier than have ever been made in any sea fight of the past it is our duty to see that...the officers upon who this great demand is made are so trained that they shall stand level to the crisis." Once we start, this effort must not be allowed to lose momentum. It has tremendous potential to transform the quality of our integrated naval force, but only if YOU care about it and invest your energy into making it real in your own career. Go Navy, and as always, Beat Army! 4. SECNAV Vectors are released each Friday to the entire DON. Previous Vectors can be viewed https://navylive.dodlive.mil/2020/01/02/secnav- vectors/. 5. Released by the Honorable Thomas B. Modly, Acting Secretary of the Navy.// BT #0001 NNNN UNCLASSIFIED//