Ten Seconds to Live or Die
Proceedings Magazine - December 2018 Vol.
By Captain William R. Daly, U.S.
“The difference between a good officer and a poor one is about ten seconds…â€
Commodore Arleigh Burke, the second commander of the storied Little Beavers of Destroyer Squadron 23, first uttered those words shortly after taking command of the squadron in October 1943. He came to this conclusion after studying the Battle of Tassafaronga and validated it through his own observations of combat at sea. The same thinking that led to future Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Burke’s conclusion, echoes today in the words of current CNO Admiral John Richardson, who states in the Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority, “The margins of victory are razor thin – but decisive!†[1]
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2018-12/ten-seconds-live-or-die
