It doesn't surprise me in the least that some of the 'higher-ups' don't know our history. We train very good engineers to be excellent bureaucrats in This Man's Navy. We leave foreign affairs, history and strategy to the cheese-eatin' types like GEN Petraeus.
I'm willing to bet that, once educated on the proud history of VAL, their response was something along the lines of, "Well, maybe, but that doesn't apply to our current situation."
I'm willing to bet that, once educated on the proud history of VAL, their response was something along the lines of, "Well, maybe, but that doesn't apply to our current situation."