I don't pretend to know how significant brown shoes are in the USN but I can recognize when a command is pissed the F off and looking for more people to crush; now might not be the time to stick your head out of the whackamole game that is the pool. This is especially true if you havent done anything yet and don't have anyone to go to bat for you based on your performance.
This is truth. When walking on eggshells...don't hop.
The problem with the "they can't fry us all" axiom is that They can, in fact, fry you all.

). The thing that you need to concern yourself with is two fold. First is this a fight worth fighting? You have to choose your battles within and as JOPA wisely. You can't use JOPA to fight the big man on everything. If you are selective and choose the right fight, you have a better chance and more power then you think. 
