Waterfront training planned for new SWOs

[Woodmonkey]

4-week ‘back to basics’ courses begin in August

Six years after deciding to send newly minted surface warfare ensigns straight to ships for their first tours after commissioning, surface leaders now want to re-inject some classroom training at the waterfront.

New ensigns will begin taking a fleet-based, four-week course in August to give them basic training for their debut sea tours, part of a bid by the surface force’s top admiral to get “back to basics” after a series of stinging assessments earlier this year.

In a recent message to flag officers, Naval Surface Force commander Vice Adm. D.C. Curtis wrote that he’d “learned that a large percentage of our newly reporting ensigns are not adequately prepared to function as an effective division officer [or] watch-stander when they report onboard their initial assignment. I feel it is necessary to put a program in place that will set our young surface officers and their commands up for success.”

The four-week course will be a departure from the current training pipeline in which newly commissioned ensigns report to their ships for six- to 10-month tours before attending Surface Warfare Officer School in Newport, R.I. That system, instituted in 2002, was set up to give young officers more time at sea before reporting to SWOS, as opposed to the one- or two-month cruises that were common as officers waited for slots to open in Newport.

But, as evidenced by recent troubles in the surface force, commanders have decided the system isn’t working. In March, Navy inspectors found that two warships, the cruiser Chosin and the destroyer Stout, were so badly maintained they were incapable of “sustained combat operations.” And in April, when Curtis and his force master chief took an unscheduled tour of the San Diego waterfront, they found sloppy-looking ships and un-squared-away sailors.

Surface Force Master Chief (SW/AW) Michael Schanche wrote that the trip made him “professionally embarrassed” for the first time in his career, and the experience led to Curtis’ call for “a strategic pause” so the force could re-evaluate itself. One of the specific points Curtis promised to evaluate was the training that all personnel get before they report to their first ship.

The new SWO course will be modeled after one given to students coming in from Officer Candidate School, Curtis wrote, and will include basic instruction in leadership, preventive maintenance, division officer fundamentals, damage control and other core SWO disciplines.

There were few other specifics as of June 13. Naval Surface Forces officers planned to meet June 12 to work out the details for the new SWO introduction course, SurFor spokesman David Hostetler said. After the meeting, officials expected to have a clearer sense of how the course would change the amount of time needed to get qualified; how it would affect sailors from the afloat training groups; and what roles waterfront instructors and ships would play.

Curtis’ message did say classes will start Aug. 4 in Norfolk, Va., and San Diego, and commanders will begin determining in February which other fleet concentration areas will get the SWO primer. New ensigns will report to their ships as before and then get orders for temporary assigned duty to the training.

Curtis wrote that the new course will pull instructors from the local waterfronts and the current SWOS, as well as use in-port classrooms and ships. In another message to the surface force, Curtis wrote that he would ask afloat training groups to provide more training on the waterfront, including the new introductory SWO course, and focus less on assessing crews and ships.

“To increase war-fighting readiness and better support the commanding officer, we are putting the ‘T’ back in ATG,” Curtis wrote.

The Source