These RAD ideas are not gonna happen

Bringing up the rear of the RAD site:

■ Idea: A sailor based in Yokosuka, Japan, wants to cease all VIP visits, saying, “These visits also take away from precious man-hours, man-hours that could be spent doing important [maintenance] or other ship’s work, instead of putting on the dog-and-pony show.”

Why it won’t work: Admirals see command visits as important spot checks on ships and crews, which they are highly unlikely to reduce — even in times of cutbacks.

■ Idea: An anonymous sailor wants soldiers to serve on ships, saying “Sailors have been going on IAs and filling Army billets for a decade. Now why don’t we use soldiers to fill gapped billets for deployments?”

Why it won’t work: Individual-augmentee tours by sailors supported the war effort; it’s very unlikely the Army would agree to this for peacetime sea operations.

■ Idea: A sailor wants to dump mandatory warfare qualifications, saying the pins used to be a “mark of distinction,” but are now “far easier to get.”

Why it won’t work: “Mandatory warfare qualification makes more knowledgeable sailors,” another person replied.

■ Idea: A commenter wants to ditch the fleetwide breath tests, saying these tests are not worth the administrative burden they impose and “commands are already capable of dealing with personnel they suspect of being not fit for duty.”

Why it won’t work: The push is a priority for the Navy’s leadership and one many sailors have conceded to. One submarine sailor replied, “Submarines have been doing this program for a while, and it works just fine.”

■ Idea: A Seabee wants to scrap trip safety assessments, saying that the Travel Risk Planning System encourages sailors to give “the right answers versus the honest ones.”

Why it won’t work: Officials say TRiPS and intrusive leadership have saved countless lives, and some sailors believe it’s needed. One noted that the value of TRiPS is that it forces travelers to “sit down and read about what is ‘safe’ behavior.”

■ Idea: An active-duty aviator wants ship security teams to stop carrying firearms underway, saying these weapons are not needed and put sailors at risk from an accidental discharge. “The laws of physics tell me that shooting a gun inside a steel box is a BAD idea,” he observed.

Why it won’t work: The idea inspired a lot of derision on the RAD site and scored a negative 15 votes, among the lowest.

■ Idea: An active-duty officer called for revamping all base websites, currently run by Navy Installations Command. “Allow bases to publish things like maps so that people don’t get lost when they show up,” the officer wrote, adding that base websites are “the welcome aboard our sailors first see,” and should “actually have useful information.”

Why it won’t work: There are a host of privacy- and security-based rules the Navy must follow regarding website content, which can impede timely updates and candor — one person said base websites read like “press releases.” Still, having CNIC run them is an efficient solution that takes the burden off commands.