As the procurement of men and material, the maintaining of communications, and the retention of cohesive control present a more rapidly changing aspect in land warfare than in the prosecution of a campaign afloat, staff functions seem to have received more serious attention in the land forces than in our own service. Naval command is centralized as far as peace-time operations are concerned, and for most phases of operations in war the same methods will be applicable. Actual battle will present a somewhat different problem, but even in battle the personnel of the fleet have at hand the means to subsist themselves, repair damage, care for the injured, and continue shooting and steaming—a situation entirely different from that of the battle ground of land warfare.
The great number of units operating as entities in land warfare is an additional factor leading to the continuous employment of a larger group of officers trained in staff functions than is necessary in a naval campaign. In fact, our entire system of logistics and command varies from that employed in the Army. Very little of practical value has been published on this subject for the guidance of our officers, and virtually nothing exists which might be taken as a guide for an officer about to report to his first staff assignment and anxious to familiarize himself with his new duties. That there is a need for some such reference paper is unquestionably true; this discussion has therefore been prepared with the hope of possibly assisting certain officers and perhaps evoking sufficient argument to result eventually in the preparation of a standard outline for the official guidance of the service.
Functions Common to All Staffs
Regardless of the size of the staff concerned, and the specific requirements of the unit, a staff afloat has two distinct functions to perform: (a) tactical control; (b) administrative control. That is true of a fleet staff, of the staff of a subdivision of a major unit, or the staff of even the smallest detachment. The fulfillment of those functions may require many officers and a large complement of enlisted personnel, or they may be centered in the person of one officer; but they are present as the essence of control in any group or unit afloat, however large or small.
Both functions include two important but somewhat intangible types of activity, namely, purely technical work, and actual operations of the unit. This point is mentioned better to understand staff work, but the practical basis of classifying staff functions is by the five types of service every staff must render to a greater or less degree: (1) intelligence; (2) operations; (3) communications; (4) logistics (maintenance and supply); (5) personnel.
Plate I shows the division of work under the above headings. For convenience, maintenance and supply have been considered separately on the chart. The legend showing the office-of-origin numbers will enable the reader to see at a glance what officer is responsible for each item. The relation between tactical and administrative control is also shown on Plate I.
At this point it is of interest to note that it would be impossible for an officer to be assigned to one section only. Overlapping of duties is inherent in naval staff work and must be accepted; the chief of staff can prevent friction, and under harmonious conditions overlap becomes an asset by virtue of the fact that each officer understands something of the other fellow’s job.
Having classified all work and indicated responsibility for each item, it is usually convenient to rearrange the plan of Plate I in some way to show separately the duties of each officer.
Cognizance
For a small staff with relatively few duties to perform, a single-sheet chart is by far the most convenient method of summarizing cognizance, but in the case of large staffs it is necessary to resort to some pamphlet form. In any case it will become apparent that the lines of demarcation between the staff sections, as such, virtually disappear; this is conclusive proof that sharply defined staff sections are utterly impossible, and that overlap is essential. The chief of staff, assisted by the flag secretary, arranges to have all officers concerned collaborate as necessary on any particular assignment. In practice this is done by taking a letter prepared by the officer responsible, securing the comment of all other officers directly or indirectly concerned, and when agreed on by all, presenting it for signature by the officer in command or the chief of staff.
Appendix A is a sample of the finished product; it clearly shows every officer’s responsibility and also assigns to some one officer definite responsibility for every question that is likely to arise. The form in which to put such a cognizance summary is optional. In the case of the staff of a small unit, many of the items listed could be omitted.
Routing
Correspondence and dispatches coming in are always handled by a certain desk, and are from there routed to the action officers. Unless the person doing that routing is perfectly familiar with the cognizance assignment, he cannot intelligently and expeditiously perform his duties; here the summary becomes of vital importance. Proper use and dissemination of the staff cognizance list is not only essential to staff work but it has been found advantageous to distribute it to all units of the command, and to the staffs of other units with which contact is continuously made.
The actual mechanics of handling mail and dispatches must be made the subject of detailed instruction for the benefit of the enlisted personnel, and the information of all staff officers, in order that they may know how business is handled. These instructions are usually issued under the head of “Office Instructions”; further comment on this subject will be found in Appendix B.
The staff functions and method of apportioning tasks having been outlined, it is time to proceed to a consideration of the two principal functions of the staff: tactical control, and administrative control.
Tactical Control
In considering tactical control, two important points must be borne in mind: (a) even while cruising, questions of administration arise and must be settled; (b) it is axiomatic that although mistakes in administration may be later corrected, tactical decisions must be made quickly and must be right the first time. It is therefore obvious that in addition to organizing to meet tactical situations, the staff must be prepared to make administrative decisions while under way. Three conditions must be considered: (1) battle; (2) cruising in vicinity of the enemy; (3) peace-time cruising.
The requirements of each of the foregoing conditions may be stated and met as follows:
Battle. (1) Maintain strategic plot; (2) maintain tactical plot; (3) carry on maneuvering plot; (4) supervise and control communications; (5) correlate the use of offensive armament with tactics; (6) record events.
The presence of the entire staff is usually required. The degree to which the above functions are expanded depends upon the unit concerned; for example, the tactical information required by the commander of a division is less than that needed by the officer in tactical command.
The strategic plot is constructed from radio reports as a rule, and may be combined with the plot of the tactical situation. A graphic presentation of the strategic situation is essential to the officer in tactical command and to the second in command.
The tactical plot is constructed from information secured by dispatch or obtained by actual sight observation of a staff officer detailed for that purpose.
The maneuvering plot is conducted on the mooring board and is absolutely necessary to swift, accurate maneuvering. Excellent discussions of the mooring board have appeared in the Proceedings.
The message center may be, and generally is, located on the bridge while under way. All rapid communications other than signals, are handled through the message center. Some one officer of the staff is in direct charge of battle communications.
The staff gunnery officer acts as adviser in the matter of correlating gunnery and tactics, and it is also sound practice to station an additional officer in such a position as to have the best possible all-around vision, for the purpose of keeping the admiral advised of all tactical developments. This latter observer may be stationed in the foretop to advantage, and he should be in direct communication with the officer running the tactical plot.
Cruising in vicinity of the enemy. This corresponds to the familiar “Condition II” and is a compromise designed to keep the staff service functioning on the bridge at best possible efficiency compatible with obtaining the rest and relaxation necessary for a prolonged campaign. Sufficient staff personnel are on the bridge at all times in this condition to properly act on any tactical emergency that may arise, and to insure maneuvering, plotting, and communication supervision all being carried on simultaneously. The composition of the watches will depend entirely upon the situation and the personnel available.
Normal peace-time cruising. Under conditions of normal cruising when no maneuvers are to be expected and there is no reason to expect that complicated conditions will arise necessitating quick and complex action by the staff, a staff watch officer may be detailed to observe generally the trend of events and carry on the routine work of the staff. The staff duty officer will carry out the admiral’s orders, inform him of such events as may be necessary, keep track of the general situation, and route all incoming matter to the proper action officers. He acts on any emergency matter in accordance with his orders.
Let us now consider the question of carrying on the administrative control while under way; three conditions must be considered as in the case of tactical control: battle, cruising in the vicinity of the enemy, and normal peace-time cruising without maneuvers.
The best solution to the question1 of assuring that all communications reach the proper action officer lies in the detailing of a staff officer whose specific duty is to perform or supervise that function. The mission of the staff, the operation engaged in, and many other considerations enter into the selection of that officer. It may be done by rotation or it may be necessary to solve it some other way.
Before proceeding, one point must be made clear: in practically all organizations, both staff and ship, there are certain junior officers specially trained in radio and visual procedure, who actually put the transmission headings on all outgoing dispatches and personally receive and indicate the interior routing for all incoming dispatches. These officers are called the communication watch officers, and their station while on watch is known as the communication desk. The writer has operated the communication desk with highly trained enlisted men, but whether officers or enlisted men are used, the work of the communication desk must be supervised by one of the regular staff. In the following subparagraphs it will be understood that the communication watch officer actually indicates the routing of dispatches before they come to the attention of the staff communication officer or the staff duty officer.
Battle. Communication officer vises all dispatches, and uses his judgment as to whether they should be held until after the action, or sent to the action officer at once.
Cruising in vicinity of enemy. Communication watch officer routes dispatches in the normal way and furnishes the senior staff officer on watch with a copy in order that he may check up if necessary on the priority of action.
Normal peace-time cruising with no maneuvers. Handled in the same manner as above, except that the staff duty officer gets the copy and is responsible for seeing that action is taken by the proper officer if of an urgent nature. In the last two above, the staff watch may act if it is apparent that action must be taken immediately and that no time can be allowed for routine action.
On small staffs where there is no communication watch officer to assign routine routing, the staff officer on watch may be called upon to perform that function, but the principle involved is the same, and may be expressed by saying that business never ceases. In a subsequent part of this paper will be taken up the mechanics of handling, routing, filing, and check-up of dispatches.
Plate II shows the functions performed by the staff in battle.
Messages received or transmitted in code are encoded and decoded by the decoding board which is connected with the communication desk and the radio receiving and transmitting rooms by telephone, voice tubes, and pneumatic tube. The decoding board is usually composed of staff corps officers who have no other function in battle. The whole board may be called upon to act, or may be divided up into watches to meet the situation.
Administrative Control
A study of Plate I will reveal the fact that a detail of staff officers to purely technical or administrative work or to any of the staff sections without overlap or duplication is absolutely impossible; any attempt to do so would be narrow, limiting, and altogether undesirable. Overlap and dovetailing are possible of accomplishment without friction or duplication of effort. Elimination of friction is the function of the chief of staff or senior aide, and the flag secretary by careful inspection of all outgoing correspondence can, with the aid of the communication officer, prevent the issue of duplicate or conflicting orders or instructions. The flag secretary of necessity sees all correspondence, and the rapid communications are supervised by the communication officer; furthermore, copies of dispatches are delivered to the flag secretary in order that he may scan them with a view toward filing them with pertinent correspondence. With such a central clearing-house method of handling all communications, duplication and confusion is reduced to a minimum. In order to further reduce chance of error it is good practice to restrict the authority to sign orders or instructions; letters not signed by the officers in command or the chief of staff should be signed “by direction” by one special officer and no other; this eliminates the possibility of any staff officer going off independently on a tack not in accordance with policy.
It is believed that Plate I is self-explanatory in regard to the work handled by various members of the staff. The mechanics of the assignment of work and its subsequent handling is briefly as follows:
- All incoming mail is read by the flag secretary and assigned to the proper officers for action, following the organization chart or pamphlet as a guide. A suitable follow-up system should be employed to prevent possible pigeonholing of mail.
- Dispatches are routed at the communication desk in much the same manner as mail, copies being retained for the follow-up file, and for the flag secretary, who must check them against any mail communications that may be on file dealing with the same subject.
- Action officers consult with the chief of staff or the admiral as necessary in preparing the required orders, letters, indorsements, etc.
- All staff officers send outgoing mail through the flag secretary, on whom rests the burden of checking it against existing orders and policies to prevent discrepancies.
- Flag secretary obtains necessary signatures and is responsible for proper mailing, distribution, acknowledgment, tracers, and other matters incident to efficient checking and follow-up.
- The absence of any staff officer does not cause cessation of business; each staff officer has a duly appointed relief. Ordinarily it would be advisable to await the return of the action officer, but when prompt action is essential, the understudy will act. The staff officer with the day’s duty may be called upon to make decisions and for that reason all staff officers must keep in touch with all the activities of the staff in a general way.
Several points in connection with the organization chart should be considered; an understanding of the questions involved will be of assistance in organizing any staff or getting a new staff into its swing, but it must be borne in mind that although basic principles must be met, they may, however, be obscure and their solutions may differ widely where the composition of the staffs vary.
- Differentiation between technical staff and administrative staff is vague; they are functions rather than actual assignments to duty or responsibility.
- Two or more officers may have functions under the same staff section, and one officer may have responsibilities in more than one staff section.
- Intelligence, operations, and communications are directly joined up in any staff; they are the backbone of battle tactical organization—the duty to which all other considerations and activities must be subordinated.
- Operations being the ultimate aim, all other staff sections are inseparably bound to operations in one way or another; this will be seen from an inspection of the chart and from a consideration of the chief aim of all our work—preparation for battle.
The representation of aviation on staffs presents a problem somewhat different from any other activity. On fleet staffs the aviation aide acts in an advisory capacity only, and is a definite part of the staff organization with the designation of aide. In certain other units he is not an aide in the strictest sense of the work, but is an attaché of the staff charged with the duty of advising the unit commander in aviation matters, and at the same time holding a command status in connection with the planes attached to the unit. His command status is usually tactical only—that is, he commands in the air—but the administrative command of individual planes and their personnel rests with the commanding officers of the ships to which they are attached. The situation appears ambiguous but is the only solution so far devised. Plane operations are so peculiarly technical that orders for plane activities must be prepared by the flight aide or adviser, but in order that any proposed air operations will be in accord with scheduled surface operations, all operation orders for planes should have the release and approval of the operations section of the staff before being issued. This principle applies to instructions regarding aviation material as well as operations. The reasons for this will be apparent when it is considered that plane launching, flight, recovery, and servicing will undoubtedly affect surface units and must therefore not conflict with any other scheduled operations.
Composition of the Staff
The matter of selecting a staff may not hold much interest for some, but I believe it sheds light on the relation of staffs to other service activities and therefore properly belongs here. Right here let me say that the assignment of duties will always to some extent have to be arranged to fit the characteristics of the personnel available; background and experience cannot be created by executive order. In selecting a staff it has been the policy in the past to pick officers who have specialized in technical subjects, with a result that staffs carry experts in gunnery, engineering, naval construction, medicine, law, radio, communications, etc. The underlying principle is, of course, that of furnishing the admiral with a corps of advisers who, among them, are au courant with the details of all technical military subjects.
In the composition of a fleet staff, or for that matter any staff, there would, however, seem to be another factor well worth considering and practicing beyond the limits to which now carried. I refer to familiarity with the several types of ships and the various shore activities. Certain of the bureaus have recognized this need, with a result that the Bureaus of Engineering, Medicine and Surgery, Construction and Repair, Supplies and Accounts, and Marine Corps Headquarters usually suggest to a prospective fleet commander the names of officers of their corps who should be acceptable and who would be of value in that they are familiar with the policies of their respective bureaus. The Bureau of Navigation is the most recent to subscribe to this idea and now keeps on each fleet staff an officer recently attached to the bureau and familiar with personnel matters. That this principle is correct is demonstrated every day in practice, but it is believed that it should be extended, and it can be extended without in the least hampering the admiral in the selection of his staff. On the staff of any officer commanding several types of ships, and dealing with navy yards and districts, there should be officers familiar in general with those types of ships and the several shore activities. It will require no little care in the selection of the staff to combine all these classes of training and experience, but it is possible of accomplishment. To take the most expanded example, let us consider the staff of a fleet commander; on it should be officers capable by training of performing the following duties: operations (orders, reports, movements, etc.), gunnery, engineer, flag secretary, flag lieutenant, radio, communications, aviation, construction, personnel administration, supply, medical, chaplain, marine (marine corps matters and law).
In addition to the above functions, some officer of the staff should by virtue of past duty be thoroughly familiar in a general way with the following: battleships, cruisers, destroyers, submarines, carriers, mine layers, tenders and repair ships, navy yard organization, district organization, Naval War College, Navy Department organization, Army coast-defense plans.
Naturally, as many officers as possible should be familiar with the latter list, and all of the technical aides should understand the workings and policies of the bureaus having cognizance over the subjects in which they are specialists; but it is essential that each item of the above lists be covered by at least one officer if the admiral is to have available the best advice on any subject that may arise. It is understood that the chief of staff will coordinate all staff activities, both internal and in relation to other units, and by his understanding of the admiral’s policies, and his long years of experience, provide the necessary balance to all recommendations emanating from staff officers.
Practical Pointers on Staff Work
Records. In administrating any unit, however large or small, there are certain records, ticklers, and summaries that are indispensable in properly keeping track of all the activities of that unit. For the commander in chief or the senior officer present of a heterogeneous force, such helps are doubly important. The following list will serve to illustrate: “ships present” list for port or area; approved general employment schedule for the fleet; unit employment schedules; prospective movement list; brief summary of concurrent shore activities, functions, etc.; “pending” file of dispatches on which action is not complete; tickler for bringing attention to matters on which action is required on a certain date or at a certain time; communication chart or list; calendar of daily events of all ships concerned; employment chart.
The employment chart referred to above is one of the most important adjuncts to proper staff work; its exact type depends upon the size and composition of the unit concerned. One such as shown in Plate III would be applicable to a battleship division; for other units or forces, obvious changes would be necessary, but Plate III clearly sets forth the idea. Entries on the employment chart should be made whenever any event is ordered or scheduled, every communication being carefully scanned in the light of possible future employment. Suitable entries should be made on the chart, and the file or reference numbers should be noted for future ready reference. Such a system precludes the possibility of forgetting scheduled operations.
Communications. Authority exists for detailing a staff communication officer, and the Department requires the establishment of a staff communication section, either as a separate section or as a part of the operations section. Occasional misunderstanding has arisen due to a misinterpretation of the word “communications”; properly speaking “communications” applies to all means of imparting information, instructions, or orders, and embraces mail, radio, visual, and verbal transmission, whether for the transmitting of such orders externally or within the ship. Under this comprehensive definition of “communications” it would seem that the communication officer would be in charge of both mail and rapid communications; however, such an assignment is more than one man can handle in detail where a large volume of business is transacted. It therefore becomes necessary to make separate assignments to take care of mail and rapid communications; there are two ways in which this situation may be met: (a) have the flag secretary supervise all communications, personally taking charge of mail, and assisted by an officer specially entrusted with rapid communications; or (b) have the communication officer in charge of all communications, with assistants as may be necessary for mail and rapid communications.
Either system will work, and the adoption of one or the other will depend largely upon the officers available for duty on the staff in question. In either system the actual mechanics of radio and visual transmission is the responsibility of the radio officer and flag lieutenant respectively. In both systems the mail and rapid communications must be closely coordinated in order that all types of communications pertaining to any particular subject will be filed and recorded together. The writer favors the system outlined under (a) above because it is the one with which he is most familiar, and also because it does not necessitate the reading of mail by more than one person to insure all matters reaching the proper action officers.
Personnel. On staffs where no special personnel officer is allowed, the problem of properly administrating both commissioned and enlisted personnel requires the greatest attention on the part of the officer acting in that capacity. Personnel administration is a subject of the utmost importance; some of the duties of the personnel officer are listed for information: assignments of drafts; maintaining detailed records of personnel by ships (rates only) ; trade-school details; allocation of special ratings; assignment of special details outside the unit; familiarity with laws and regulations regarding compensation on patrol and other temporary duty; determining qualifications for transfers; training of petty officers; obtaining material for special schools; following up procurement of personnel; transportation of personnel; keeping track of movements of ships available for transportation; issuing personnel memoranda; checking vacancy reports.
From the most casual inspection of the foregoing list it will be apparent that the greatest attention to detail is necessary; there is no royal road to accomplishment in the personnel officer’s job, and all records, ticklers, etc., must be kept up to the minute.
Staff specialists. It is not necessary here to go into the responsibilities of the specialists on the staff; their duties are enumerated in Appendix A.
Finance and supply. One apparently ambiguous condition exists in the fleet in connection with supply; the fleet supply officer is not attached to the fleet staff but is a member of the staff of the base force. This peculiarity will be understood when it is considered that the base force is charged with attending to matters of fleet logistics. Do not confuse the fleet paymaster with the fleet supply officer; the former is charged with finance matters only and is a member of the staff of the fleet commander. Lack of space precludes a more detailed discussion on this point, but it should not entirely escape attention.
Correspondence. Space requirements also make it impossible to discuss all the types of letters and orders that are handled by staffs but it may prove of assistance to list some of the more common items passing through staff offices: orders for patrol, provisioning, fueling, athletic events, gunnery practices, engineering performances, communication drills, R/C exercises, tactical exercises, anchorage assignments, transfers of enlisted personnel, officers’ orders, transfers to temporary duty, employment schedules, aircraft exercises, operation orders, landing force, ship movements, fleet mail distribution, small-arms practices, Naval Reserve matters; letters on granting allotment, action on work requests, indorsements in general, multiple-addressed letters; also Navy Regulations on honors, correspondence, duties of flag and commanding officers, precepts of all kinds, inspection reports, and dispatches on every possible subject. Staff officers must be familiar with dispatch writing, communication instructions, anchorage assignments, confidential and secret publication list, fleet organization, customs and pratique matters, uniform regulations, and tactical publications.
The foregoing will serve as a starter; further discussion might prove discouraging rather than helpful.
The appendices and charts are intended to give concrete information illustrative of the abstract discussion of staff functions.
APPENDIX
A Summary of Cognizance
Note: This may be greatly condensed for units smaller than a fleet.
The officer in command outlines policies in harmony with those issued by the Navy Department and his immediate superior in command, for the maintenance, operation, and progressive development of the unit. He prescribes in general terms how these policies shall be executed. He will be kept informed of all important matters and of all operations of the unit.
The executive (chief of staff) is responsible for carrying out all details of command and administration in accordance with the general policies of the officer in command. He is responsible for keeping the officer in command informed of all important events and problems that arise, and for consulting with him concerning matters of policy. All questions which reach the officer in command for decision or action should first pass through the chief of staff.
The duties of the staff are indicated in this summary.
Reliefs are provided for all officers in the event of their absence as indicated below (numbers are reference numbers used on dispatches and letters to indicate officer preparing order, indorsement, etc.):
Duty |
Relief |
11. Ass’t Chief of Staff |
90. Gunnery Officer |
05. Flag Secretary |
20. Communication Officer |
|
60. Personnel Officer |
19. Radio Officer |
-- Ship’s Radio Officer |
20. Communication Officer |
05. Flag Secretary |
40. Paymaster |
-- Duty Officer |
50. Constructor |
70. Engineer Officer |
60. Personnel Officer |
05. Flag Secretary |
69. Chaplain |
|
70. Engineer Officer |
50. Constructor |
75. Surgeon |
-- Duty Officer |
86. Marine |
-- As desired |
90. Gunnery Officer |
05. Flag Secretary |
95. Aviation Aide |
05. Flag Secretary |
Chief of Staff (01)
- Advises the officer in command on all matters concerning battle efficiency.
- Prepares campaign plans and outlines orders for their execution.
- Prepares comprehensive plans for the development of tactics.
- Outlines strategical and tactical problems.
- Submits criticisms to officer in command on orders and solutions submitted by juniors, and also comments on the execution of orders by subordinates.
- Prepares programs for progressive development in all branches.
- Submits recommendations concerning fleet, war plans, War Instructions, and additions to and transfers from the fleet.
- Prepares outlines of employment schedules.
- Signs correspondence as follows: routine matters not involving questions of new policy, and not involving approval or disapproval of a previous recommendation by a flag officer, or action on legal papers all of which will be signed by the officer in command; matters concerning which the policy of the officer in command is known; requests for repairs and alterations; letters from the Department quoted for compliance or guidance; action on leave requests (except flag officers) ; orders to officers; circular or multiple-addressed letters not requiring the signature of the officer in command.
- Exercises general supervision over all staff work and coordinates all staff activities.
Assistant Chief of Staff (11). Operations Officer.
- Acts as assistant to the chief of staff in the discharge of his duties as required.
- Recommends vessels for special duty.
- Submits recommendations for operations and movements of vessels and prepares movement orders.
- Head of the board which prepares employment, overhaul, and docking schedules upon outlines prescribed by the chief of staff.
- Prepares strategical and tactical problems, campaign orders, and operation orders upon outlines prescribed by the chief of staff.
- Makes recommendations concerning logistics.
- Makes recommendations concerning proposed changes in regulations (unit).
- Prepares reports of unit activities of tactical or general character.
- Has cognizance of bases.
- Verifies movement reports.
- Prepares monthly readiness report.
- Is custodian of war plans and letters pertaining thereto.
- Signs correspondence in absence of chief of staff.
Flag Secretary (05)
- In charge of office personnel.
- In charge of personnel and administration of print shop.
- Authenticates multiple-addressed letters.
- Assigns incoming matters for action.
- Ascertains that outgoing communications are in agreement with regulations, policies, employment schedules, and correspondence instructions, and are properly distributed.
- Brings to attention of officers all conflicting, inconsistent, or overdue communications.
- Supervises the issue of all communications of a circular or generally applicable nature.
- Is responsible for general dissemination of information within the staff.
- Is responsible for U.S. and guard- mail matters.
- Is responsible for administering flag allotment.
- Officers’ orders and leave requests other than flag and commanding officers.
- Signs “by direction” as ordered by the officer in command.
- Tactical and strategical observer.
- News letters.
- Publicity and censorship.
Flag Lieutenant (15)
- Personal aide to officer in command.
- Signal officer.
- In charge of ceremonies, orchestra, entertainments, boats, club privileges, boarding calls, uniform, etc.
- Patrol.*
- Inspection reports.*
- Flag plotter.*
- Flag navigator.
- Anchorages.
- Has charge of visual signaling and visual signal equipment.
*These duties may be assigned to some other officer.
Radio Officer (19)
- Radio and sound installations.
- Methods of radio communication.
- Training radio personnel.
- Relations with shore radio stations.
- Supervises radio on flagship.
- Radio discrepancy reports.
- Radio competitions; collaborates with 20.
- Recommends assignments of frequencies.
- Assignment of radio personnel.
Communication Watch Officers (18)
- Stand communication watches.
- Must be familiar with communication instructions, codes, and staff procedure and organization.
- Communication watch officers are usually assigned as assistants to members of the staff for certain special duties, in addition to their regular watch duty.
Communication Officer (20)
- Rapid communication service.
- Communication procedure.
- Supervises communication watch officers.
- Assistant tactical officer.
- Movement reports.
- Confidential publications.
- Communication competitions.
- Athletics (this may be assigned elsewhere).
Gunnery Officer (90)
- Supervises gunnery training, exercises, and the care and upkeep of armament of the unit.
- Prepares outlines of schedules for gunnery exercises.
- Member of schedule board of staff.
- Prepares questions used in military inspections to determine offensive and defensive qualities of ships.
- Supervises small-arms training and exercises.
- Collaborates with aviation officer in connection with aviation gunnery.
- In charge of the following matters, consulting with assistant chief of staff regarding tactical aspects: mining and sweeping exercises and material; torpedoes and torpedo practices; smoke screens, offensive and defensive; all ordnance and gunnery matters.
- Gunnery schools—cooperates with personnel officer.
- Liaison officer with Army in gunnery and ordnance matters.
- Rifle matches.
- Tactical officer (under way).
- Collaborates with 70 and 95 on questions concerning catapults.
Engineer Officer (70)
- Supervises training and performances in engineering matters and keeps posted on state of efficiency in unit.
- Prepares outlines of schedules of engineering exercises.
- Member of staff schedule board.
- In charge of all matters relative to: alterations, preservation and repair (engineering); engineering tests and experiments; design and construction of machinery; quality and use of fuel—specifications; material inspections; machinery of ships’ boats; engineering subjects not specially mentioned; repair facilities.
- Material readiness reports in collaboration with 50 and 90.
- Navigational equipment.
- Material readiness of ships—collaborates with 50.
- Repair officer.
- Records of fuel expended.
Personnel Officer (60)
- In charge of matters relating to ships’ complements, enlistments, transfers, discharges, liberty, shore boats, leave (enlisted men).
- Prepares indorsements on leave requests from men.
- Exercises supervision of training and instruction of enlisted personnel.
- In charge of entertainments of enlisted personnel ashore and afloat.
- Educational officer.
- Moving pictures.
- Transportation—all personnel.
- Historian of all exercises.
- Naval Reserve matters.
The paymaster, supply officer, surgeon, and chaplain have duties varying somewhat on different staffs and it is not considered necessary or advisable to tabulate them here.
Constructor (50)
- Prepares data for docking.
- In charge of all matters relating to alterations, preservation and repairs (hull), seaworthiness, tests and experiments under cognizance of Bureau of C&R, design of ships, buildings, and facilities, material inspections (hull), chemical warfare service.
- Salvage operations.
Marine Officer (86)
- Intelligence officer.
- Marine Corps matters.
- Courts and boards, appointments, promotions.
- Civil and military law.
- Matters of discipline.
- Court-martial orders.
- Landing force training and exercises.
- Rifle ranges.
- International law.
Aviation Officer (95)
- Advises with reference to: aircraft operations; aviation matters regarding policy pertaining to material, personnel, gunnery, radio; coordination of aviation activities of the unit; aircraft employment; development of aircraft tactics and doctrine.
- Keeps informed of effectiveness and state of training of aircraft.
- Member of staff schedule board.
- Prepares analyses and reports of aircraft exercises.
- Meteorology.
- Consults with operations officer before releasing orders affecting operations of aircraft.
Staff Duty Officer (14)
- Receives routine reports.
- Acts on routine matters.
- Acts for absentee officers when assigned relief is also absent.
- Attends side in absence of flag lieutenant.
- Regulates movements of staff boats.
- Keeps posted on what officers are aboard or absent.
- Makes boarding calls on visiting foreign men-of-war.
The communication watch officer may relieve the duty officer in cases of emergency where the duty officer must temporarily leave the ship, as in (g) above.
APPENDIX B
Office Instructions
Every staff has in effect a set of office instructions set forth in greater or less degree of detail. Lack of space prevents a complete discussion of office management, but the salient points enumerated below should serve as an outline for further study.
- The flag office handles all written staff communications.
- The flag dispatch office (or desk) handles all rapid communications to and from both flag and ship.
- The following publications must be kept up to date and must be thoroughly understood by office personnel: Navy Regulations, Communication Instructions, Fleet Regulations, Unit Regulations (if any), Staff Instructions, various bureau manuals.
- General instructions must be issued covering day’s duty, duties of the office force, assignment of office personnel, watch, quarter, and station bill of flag complement.
- The flag secretary and yeomen concerned must be indoctrinated in (a) method of handling incoming mail; (b) method of handling outgoing mail; (c) preparing correspondence as per regulations; (d) order forms; (e) tracer systems, internal and external; (f) filing system, and classification of correspondence; (g) printing; (h) routing.
- With regard to dispatches, the communication watch officer, orderlies, and communication yeomen must have clear instructions covering communication watches, code and cipher work, message files, discrepancies, handling of messages incoming and outgoing, acknowledgments, release of messages, signals, degrees of priority, delivery of messages to staff officers, and filing of dispatches.
- One officer must be specially detailed in charge of registered publications; instructions issued by the Registered Publication Section (Operations) fully cover this officer’s duties.
- 8. The following additional items should be covered in the office instructions: (a) interior communications; (b) cleaning details; (c) liberty cards; (d) uniform; (e) U. S. and guard mail; (f) print shop; (g) distribution of letters; (h) calendar of reports periodically due; (i) employment records and sheets.
All staffs in actual operation will have instructions covering the various points cited above; before a new staff begins to function copies of the office instructions of one of the larger staffs should be obtained for the information of all concerned. It is regretted that this subject cannot be treated more fully here, but office management afloat is in itself a lengthy and complicated subject.