Several salvos (in written format) have been fired at the Surface Warfare Division Officer Course (SWOSDOC) within the past several months. They claim there is a lack of focus, lack of relevance, and a failure to prepare prospective surface warriors for fleet duty. To those conducting this written bombardment, I say, "Cease fire!" Having taught at SWOSDOC in Newport, Rhode Island, for more than two years, and having just received my graduate degree in education, I have experienced the heated debates and strategies that go into the education and training of our surface navy. No matter which camp you occupy, it is important to realize that a surface warfare officer's education and training do not end upon completion of SWOSDOC. Many in the surface community believe that a new ensign should report on board ship with honed leadership traits, expert combat and shiphandling skills, and a full understanding of fleet tactics. SWOSDOC is not the end—it is just the beginning.
It is a beginning geared toward fundamentals. The Division Officer Course covers weapon systems, administration, and maintenance systems. Ensigns are instructed in standard commands, communication procedures, and leadership skills. During their training at the course the students are exposed to every possible topic that they might be exposed to in the fleet. The course is fast paced, challenging, and focused on the basics of surface warfare. SWOSDOC provides a foundation upon which to build strong surface warfare skills. Without a true understanding of these fundamentals, the tactics which many seek to inculcate will be meaningless.
Some surface officers believe that yard patrol craft (YPs) should be reincorporated into the division officer curriculum. I found the YPs to be fun and a great break from the classroom structure when I was a student. However, months later I was conning a Wasp (LHD-1)-class amphibious assault ship that displaced 40,000 tons and drew 26 feet. There was no correlation or value added to my shiphandling skills because of my limited YP training on Narragansett Bay. Although YPs have their place in training midshipmen and officer candidates, they offer no realistic training advantage before going to sea on a warship. Fiscal realities make the point moot. The visual bridge simulators at Callaghan Hall offer division officer students an opportunity to practice fundamental skills such as communications, standard commands, and watch team management within a controlled and safe learning environment.
Some argue that post-division officer tour lieutenants lack the maturity, expertise, and perspective to teach division officer students. This is nonsense. Post-commanding officers train prospective-commanding officers, post-executive officers train prospective-executive officers, post-department heads train future department heads, and post-division officers train future division officers. It is the right way—and it is a continuum of education based upon the surface navy's corporate knowledge.
A common criticism of SWOSDOC is that its objective-based curriculum lacks student-teacher interaction. Adult students do not learn or master skills by being lectured to. The self-motivated students who focus on mastering the material have the most success in the course. Students who cannot do this usually struggle because of the course's fast and unforgiving pace. Increasing classroom interaction will require the implementation of sound fundamental adult educational practices, and a clear vision of what the additional interaction might entail.
Why has this debate resurfaced on tactics, division officer training, and warrior skills? The majority of the fleet feedback received by SWOS indicates that the Division Officer Course is on track. Within the surface community is there a lack of understanding with regard to the true role of the fleet division officer? That is what the written bombardment indicates. Division officers are a resilient group of men and women who are charged with training the troops within their division, maintaining weapons and machinery, and ensuring that their people are taken care of. These chores—sometimes tedious and neither glamorous nor tactically oriented—are nevertheless fundamental to the Navy's mission. If sailors go untrained, if machinery and weapons do not work on demand or as designed, and if personnel problems go unchecked, things inevitably go deadly wrong. Managing programs such as the personnel qualification standards and the performance measurement system, and taking care of people is the division officer's job. These are the programs the Division Officer Course prepares the new division officer to execute effectively. Division officers need to learn their jobs, learn ship systems, and learn about their people first. Tactical skills will come in time.
A plaque in Callaghan Hall reads: "What will always be required to destroy the enemy is a strong sense of offense, an iron will, and tactical excellence. To accept less is to court defeat. Our thinking, our education, and our training must concentrate on carrying the fight to the enemy. There rarely should be an occasion that prompts tactical discussion on other than the method of attack. Every Surface Naval Officer must embrace this philosophy, retaining its purity and its purpose, or we fail in our charge." Let us not fail in our charge as a community to recognize SWOSDOC for what it is: a school based upon the fundamentals of a proud and honorable profession. Let the fleet combatants educate and train division officers on tactics and let SWOSDOC continue to lay the foundation for future surface warriors, so that they can carry the fight to the enemy when called to do so.
Lieutenant Little has been an instructor at SWOS-DOC for two years, and is the prospective First Lieutenant for the Pearl Harbor (LSD-52).