The Contrast of Choices Reveals the Exceptions and Rules

Since the beginning of the release of the "raunchy" USS Enterprise (CVN 65) videos, the discussion has focused primarily on one person and one ship. The name that filled in the blank under person has changed frequently, whether it was Owen Honors or Lawrence Rice or Dee Mewbourne or John Harvey.

This post is not about one person.

Most of the media coverage surrounding the fallout of the videos produced by Captain Honors on the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) will focus on the announcement today that Rear Admiral Lawrence Rice's retirement has been put on hold pending the completion of the investigation by Fleet Forces Command. On the day the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) battle group sets sail, it would be a distraction for us familiar with the Navy to fall into the trap of such blood lust.

For us it is more important to note the other side of the story, highlight the contrast, and recognize that its value exceeds any damage that has been done by the viral videos that characterizes an unprofessional Navy that is the exception rather than the rule. As the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) deploys today, we remain focused on the issue of leadership - this time Captain Dee Mewbourne.

Mewbourne, who commanded the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower from November 2007 to August 2010 and made two wartime deployments during that time span, had but 10 days to prepare for the Enterprise cruise after Harvey tapped him to replace Honors. He said his experiences on Eisenhower adequately prepared him for the Enterprise command, and indicated that there hasn’t been a residual effect on his sailors.

“The crew is ready,” Mewbourne said, adding by way of a compliment to his predecessor, “Tremendously well-trained. They were prepared.” He called himself “absolutely blown away” by the level of preparedness he encountered.

Mewbourne said that when he first met with the crew — sailors say he also held a crew-wide captain’s call aboard ship on Sunday — he dealt with the Honors firing head on.

“I told them that the circumstances that brought me here, although they were very unfortunate, [that] we have got to look to the future,” Mewbourne said. “And the crew acknowledges that. With only about 10 days to go before deployment, we had to focus on what we had to do. And that’s this day, and the days, the months, that will come afterwards.

“The crew accepted that,” Mewbourne said, adding that he was “warmly welcomed” all around. “They acknowledge that they didn’t like the circumstances, either. No one does. But we are now focused on the future. And the crew is ready.”

It would be easy to use words like duty and honor to describe what Captain Dee Mewbourne is doing by taking over Command of the Enterprise. Having already completed his major command tour as a Captain, I believe Captain Mewbourne would be up for promotion to Rear Admiral.

A review of his tour at USS Eisenhower (CVN 69) would suggest he absolutely is already in line for Flag officer. Not only did he make 2 deployments, from February 21, 2024 - July 2009 and January 2, 2025 - July 28, 2010, but he was also involved in a successful 6 month planned incremental availability (PIA) period for USS Eisenhower (CVN 69) from January 2008 - June 2008. On November 18, 2024 while preparing for his second deployment, the Captain managed to also get his 1,000th carrier arrested landing. Captain Mewbourne has done everything; he has checked every box; his career path was bright and nothing was in the way of taking the next step. There were no risks, only rewards.

Then the Captain Honors situation happened, and 10 days before the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) deployed for 6 months, Captain Mewbourne took command of the ship. It is possible these were just orders, but I don't think anyone believes it was that simple. Most likely, Captain Mewbourne was asked if he would do it, and it was likely emphatically impressed upon him that he had the choice to turn it down without consequences. I can't imagine that in this situation, ADM Harvey would casually assign just anyone to the CO of Enterprise. It is a safe bet that ADM Harvey, and everyone else in Navy leadership for that matter, only wanted to assign someone who wanted to be CO of this ship at this moment.

I think this is important, and we need to recognize that Captain Mewbourne had options... really, really good options. This isn't about duty and honor, people are not simply the byproducts of systems, organizations, or responsibilities - the character of a leader is revealed in their choices.

Like I said at the beginning, this post really isn't about one person though. As long as the US Navy is producing leaders of character who willingly take on the enormous leadership challenge in situations like this USS Enterprise (CVN 65) situation, the US Navy is doing something very right. Nothing but good things awaited the future of Captain Mewbourne if he turned down the offer to take Command of the Enterprise, and yet he took the challenge and responsibility upon himself. It is a safe bet there were many officers willing to take that CO job, but I'm sure most if not all of those officers have far less to lose by doing so should something go wrong.

There is a stark contrast in the character revealed by the choices of the new CO of USS Enterprise (CVN 65) when compared to the character revealed by the choices of the old CO of USS Enterprise (CVN 65). In my experience with the Navy, I find the character revealed by Captain Mewbourne (PDF) to be the rule, while Captain Honors is the exception. The media always focuses on the exceptions, but it would be negligent of me to not explicitly highlight what the rule looks like.

Every ship faces unique challenges, but i think we can all agree the challenge for the leadership of the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) ranks in the highest levels of difficulty. The challenges ahead apply to Captain Ryan Scholl, the current XO of Enterprise, and Command Master Chief Keith G. Oxley (PDF) as well, and the choices that will be made in managing the challenge will reveal their character as well. The same situation applies to every leader of every section on that ship. In my experience these are the moments where I have seen the men and women in the Navy thrive in remarkable fashion, and I have every expectation that the people on that ship will move forward by representing the rule of professional standards that gets very little public acknowledgment rather than the exception of unprofessional behavior that gets all the publicity.

Fair winds and following seas Enterprise as you head off to war.