Things That Make You Go "Hmmm"

Remember when this year's O-5 selection board got disbanded because "written material not specifically approved by the Secretary of the Navy for distribution to board members was made available to selection board members"? Word on the street was that one community had made copies of their community status brief available to the board; the Navy was pretty flustered, I'm sure, at having to publicly announce the disbanding of the board for a seemingly innocuous administrative error.

Which probably explains this new policy announced today by Navy Personnel Command:

"Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter has authorized the use of community briefs beginning with the FY-08 Active Duty Officer Selection Board cycle, which begins in October 2007.
"The briefs will consist of three slides for each of the 25 officer communities. The slides will outline the career path of the community, general statistics unique to each community, and that community's values...
"...The briefs will be included as an enclosure to each board precept when the precept is submitted to the Secretary of the Navy for approval. The information contained in them will be provided as general guidance to inform the selection board members with community-specific information, and are not to be used as a substitute for the normal guidance or "best and fully
qualified" standards that are already provided."

I guess in this case they should have asked permission rather than seeking forgiveness...