The following is the calendar 2023 Navy Health of the Force Report, released on Feb. 15, 2024.
From the report
In an era of great power competition and growing global unrest, our Navy faces persistent challenges, increasing aggression and conflict around the world, and the possibility of war at sea. During these contentious times, it is imperative that we not only build, maintain, train, and equip combat-ready, lethal Naval forces, but we must maintain the strong foundation of our most critical strength, our highly trained and skilled Sailors. They continue to be our warfighting advantage. Our Navy builds great people, leaders, and teams – to innovate, solve hard problems, prevent harmful behaviors, and most importantly, to dominate in combat. By doing so, our Navy stands ready, on or under the sea, in the air, space and cyber domain, to deter or confront potential adversaries that endanger freedom around the world, disrupt open sea lanes and threaten the world’s economy and global commerce.
In addition to the global threats our Navy faces, this year there have been and will continue to be challenges across all military services in recruiting America’s top talent into our enlisted and officer ranks. These challenges exacerbate Fleet manning shortages, putting additional stress on our force, which could have negative effects on readiness and potentially impact future retention, in an environment where retention is ever important. As Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Lisa Franchetti, highlighted, Warfighting, Warfighters, and the Foundation that supports them are our top three priorities for focused effort. MyNavy HR plays a crucial role in combatting challenges to warfighting readiness, to build and shape a combat-ready force of the future. We continue to be diligent, adaptive, and innovative, challenging the status quo, to achieve our mission of attracting, developing, managing, and retaining the talent and expertise of our Sailors, to maintain a whole force, reduce gaps at sea, and preserve our competitive advantage in the global security environment. MyNavy HR has employed and continues to explore expanded policies and waivers, in parallel with new initiatives and pilots to tap into a broader talent pool, improve current processes, expand capabilities, and where necessary, remove barriers for success.
Turning the tide on recruiting challenges requires not only MyNavy HR efforts but also support of the collective Navy team and our country, from the Nation’s leaders to supporting industries, communities, families, and veterans, to invest in our Navy today, bolstering the force of the future and fortifying our Nation’s security. We are all charged with embodying the truth that Every Sailor is a Recruiter by getting out in the community to coach and mentor prospective Sailors, sharing positive experiences and the great benefits of naval service, to attract the best and the brightest for our Navy.
While the MyNavy HR enterprise has made great strides across the Navy this year, strengthening the lines of effort (LOEs) within our strategic design, we still have our work cut out for us in the coming years and areas where we need to improve. To maintain the most combat-effective Navy in the world and achieve optimum warfighting readiness, we must remain adaptable, innovative, and resilient, as we hold ourselves accountable to our Sailors, their families, and our Nation by:
- Forging a society of connected and vested Sailors for Life
- Fostering a Culture of Excellence that attracts our Nation’s talent, and enables them to become the best version of themselves, ready for combat and an inclusive and connected team
- Delivering Sailor-informed, transparent talent management that more effectively balances a Sailor’s assignment, location, and advancement opportunities with the Navy’s mission and operational needs
- Providing streamlined, convenient, and intuitive HR service delivery enabling mission-focused Sailors and quickly responding to changing HR needs
- Transforming our technology to deliver modern, reliable IT services, gaining data transparency to empower leaders and Sailors
- Providing exceptional Quality of Service
Download the document here.
