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on schedule. The modeling and simulation that we do at Newportnow can be done anywhere. We designed the new buildingspecifically to support future fleet requirements for modelingand simulation. We have designed our facility to provide an expandingcapability that can meet the future needs of the fleet.Modeling and simulation will be one of the final groups tomove down even though we already have some technologicalsupport in Norfolk and a number of contractors who work atDam Neck, Virginia, at the Distributed Training Center, Atlantic.We do the modeling, simulation and experimentation fromNewport in our M&S lab, but we also have pieces of that trainingnetwork in various locations around the country, so we havedistributed staff in those areas as well.Rear Adm. Wendi Carpenter with Cap'n Moby, the mascot for the Navy LessonsLearned Program. Moby serves as a vivid reminder that not learning from themistakes of the past can have deadly consequences. The NWDC Web site (www.nwdc.navy.mil) hosts the Navy Lessons Learned Program.to be down here sooner rather than later for our engagementpurposes, such as our interaction with Joint Forces Command.I have space in this building and in an adjacent buildingwhere we have about 60 seats. We have almost all of those fillednow. We have some work going on in another building abouta mile away, E-26, which will be somewhat refurbished in orderto make room for an additional 60 seats. They are going to startrefurbishing in the fall, and we should be able to move thosepeople down here in January or February.As we are transitioning people down, many people who areclose to retirement have elected to retire, or there are other opportunitiesfor them because there are new facilities movinginto Newport. As jobs open up in Newport due to retirements ormoves, we move that position down here and hire in Norfolk.We have already done that with some contractors and governmentservices. In many cases, contractors have more flexibility.With respect to the military, anyone who is in Newportwill remain in Newport until the end of their projected rotationdate. When that rotation date comes up, the personnel system islooking to fill the billet here, so the military will gradually transitiondown over the next two years.We do quite a lot of video teleconferencing, and I make a coupleof trips to Newport a month. We have worked closely withthe human resources folks in the Newport area to make it assmooth a transition as possible for anyone who elects to movedown here or for anyone [civilian personnel] who does not wantto move and wants another [job] opportunity up in that area.CHIPS: You were the deputy at 2nd Fleet when the plans for the movewere made. Has it been difficult to take command in the middle ofthe move?Rear Adm. Carpenter: I reviewed the plan that they establishedbefore I arrived and made a couple of tweaks here and there,largely with respect to contractor support. We have some additionalmissions assigned; it is called ADDU, or additional duties,that are now assigned to the CNO’s staff. Because of that, thereare a couple of billets that will potentially move down soonerrather than later.Part of the transition plan is contingent on the building beingCHIPS: Can you talk about NWDC’s role in NATO Standardization?Rear Adm. Carpenter: We have a pubs section that produces alot of the NATO pubs that have to do with the maritime environment,and I have people on my staff from other nations as well.I have an ongoing relationship with Allied Command Transformationand with the Combined Joint Operations from theSea Center of Excellence (CJOS COE), which resides at 2nd Fleet.My previous association with 2nd Fleet makes it easy to continuedialogue.I have, attached to my staff, an 0-6 who resides in Brussels.Technically, he serves the military committee, and he has directinterface on a daily basis with respect to the Navy’s interchangeon any NATO publications or doctrine that needs to bedeveloped.I have a Brit on the staff, and he will comment on publicationsthat have to do with NATO. We work with them closely with representationat the right areas, and we do a lot of coalition developmentwith the other nations as we move forward on maritimestrategy and our Navy Continuous Training Environment.We are doing our modeling and simulation work to producethe kinds of training we need for our own fleets, and now wehave the integration of many of the NATO nations involved usuallyon a bilateral agreement basis.CHIPS: I was amused by Cap’n Moby on the NWDC Web site (www.nwdc.navy.mil), the Navy Lessons Learned Program mascot.Rear Adm. Carpenter: It seems to have gotten a lot of attention.Do you know how Cap’n Moby got his name? Of course, fromMoby Dick, but the real genesis behind Cap’n Moby is that if youdon’t learn lessons, it can cost you.CHIPS: I read that subscribers to the program increased. Do youhave information about lessons learned that saved lives, money, orlessons that were incorporated into doctrine changes?Rear Adm. Carpenter: Not off the top of my head, but there probablyare things if I reach way back in my memory.I can think back in my own career, and this isn’t related to theNavy Warfare Development Command, but there happenedto be an incident when I was flying VIP aircraft where anothersquadron had an issue with how they were deicing their airplanes,or more importantly, how they weren’t, in bad weather.They made certain assumptions that the military’s fluidCHIPS October – December 2008 9