Keith&Co.
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- Joined
- Mar 31, 2006
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- Far Western Mass
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- Here.
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- I'm here...
Two weeks ago, I gave a presentation on The Fire Control Problem.
This phrase refers to the launch of a submarine's ballistic missile, and all the calculations needed to get from the launch platform to the point in space where warheads are released to fall to their target.
It's presented as an introduction to the FBM Fire Control System, discussin the missile's operation, the purpose of the FCS, the Navigation system, the Guidance System... We discuss variations in gravity and Earth's rotation that affect the calculations....
A manager saw this on the schedule. He did not know what it meant. He started asking.
If he had asked, "What's the fire control problem?" most of the people in his and my departments would have said 'Go ask Keith." And half of them would have said, "Be prepared to be there a while." I really enjoy discussing The Fire Control Problem.
But no. He thinks there's some big issue with the part of the weapon system that we sell to the Navy, and the problem is so critical I needed to present this to the customer.
He asks, "What's the problem with Fire Control?"
NO one knows which problem he's referring to. There are problems, here and there, with the current version that's in the fleet. There are some issues with the one they're designing to replace it. There are broken things at the trainer, a few things on each submarine, and something fell apart at the testing facility.
All of these problems are under control, resolution is in progress, no big OMG issues, so as people helpfully try to update him on every fault, every suboptimal state, every calibration failure, every tool inventory inconsistency, every documentation typo, EVERY SINGLE PROBLEM they know of, he's getting farther and farther from the BIG PROBLEM he thinks we face.
He did not come to me because he wanted to be up to speed on the issue before asking what I told the navy about the problem. I overheard him one cubicle away, asking a coworker "what's the problem with Fire Control?" That coworker is from a completely different pipeline, with different fleet experience and when he thinks 'fire control' he thinks about the guy sending torpedoes out to sink bad guys.
His answers don't make the LEAST amount of sense to the manager, who starts describing his quest to get a simple answer to the lecture that was scheduled two weeks ago and how no two people give him the same answer....
I finally figured out what he's asking, and what he SHOULD be asking, and I think I'm the only person in the building that knows.
I'm trying to decide whether to let him stew in his ignorance for another week or to let him stew for two more weeks.
This phrase refers to the launch of a submarine's ballistic missile, and all the calculations needed to get from the launch platform to the point in space where warheads are released to fall to their target.
It's presented as an introduction to the FBM Fire Control System, discussin the missile's operation, the purpose of the FCS, the Navigation system, the Guidance System... We discuss variations in gravity and Earth's rotation that affect the calculations....
A manager saw this on the schedule. He did not know what it meant. He started asking.
If he had asked, "What's the fire control problem?" most of the people in his and my departments would have said 'Go ask Keith." And half of them would have said, "Be prepared to be there a while." I really enjoy discussing The Fire Control Problem.
But no. He thinks there's some big issue with the part of the weapon system that we sell to the Navy, and the problem is so critical I needed to present this to the customer.
He asks, "What's the problem with Fire Control?"
NO one knows which problem he's referring to. There are problems, here and there, with the current version that's in the fleet. There are some issues with the one they're designing to replace it. There are broken things at the trainer, a few things on each submarine, and something fell apart at the testing facility.
All of these problems are under control, resolution is in progress, no big OMG issues, so as people helpfully try to update him on every fault, every suboptimal state, every calibration failure, every tool inventory inconsistency, every documentation typo, EVERY SINGLE PROBLEM they know of, he's getting farther and farther from the BIG PROBLEM he thinks we face.
He did not come to me because he wanted to be up to speed on the issue before asking what I told the navy about the problem. I overheard him one cubicle away, asking a coworker "what's the problem with Fire Control?" That coworker is from a completely different pipeline, with different fleet experience and when he thinks 'fire control' he thinks about the guy sending torpedoes out to sink bad guys.
His answers don't make the LEAST amount of sense to the manager, who starts describing his quest to get a simple answer to the lecture that was scheduled two weeks ago and how no two people give him the same answer....
I finally figured out what he's asking, and what he SHOULD be asking, and I think I'm the only person in the building that knows.
I'm trying to decide whether to let him stew in his ignorance for another week or to let him stew for two more weeks.
