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Vi°n, U.S. Navy, student at Armed Forces Staff College and former academic director of Surface Warfare Officer Basic Course, Newport
In the past, the major portion of a surface line officer’s initial training was accomplished on board ship. Soon after commissioning, an officer reported to his first sea assignment to Begin a “learning while doing” indoctrination and training process from which he eventually emerged a functional division and watch officer. Although there are very positive advances to actual shipboard training, the time lost and attention required to achieve total shipboard officer effectiveness, in addition to the officer’s Sequent inability to perform confidently in a relatively unfamiliar environment, pointed up the need for additional training prior to an initial sea assignment. Advanced department head and prospective executive and commanding officer training had existed for some time, but there was n° such equivalent training for the division officer. The impetus for the es- rablishment of a basic surface line officer school was founded on the needs f°r training specialized in the basics of surface ship officer management and svatch assignment duties.
As early as 1965, a task force on Personnel retention recommended to rhe Secretary of the Navy that a surface combatant school be established t0 better prepare newly commissioned officers for their first shipboard duty. As a result of significant budgetary c°nstraints, however, the establishment of a surface line officer pilot course didn’t come about until September 1970. The Surface Warfare Officer School (SWOS) began at Newport 'Gth a first class of 24 students. The course had a maximum capacity of 48 students and stressed a practical train- lng approach to enhance the officer’s confidence and abilities in adapting quickly to shipboard life and responsibilities. Initially, only new surface iine ensigns with orders to destroyer-
type ships or smaller were selected to attend this school. The two primary areas of instruction within the six- week curriculum dealt with the duties of the surface line division and watch officer. A ship simulator training device consisting of a bridge, combat information center, and main control mock-up was employed for many of the practical watchstanding training problems. Prospective surface line students reported from all officer procurement programs with the largest portion of the student population initially reporting from Officer Candidate School.
By the end of 1972, nearly 500 graduates has been sent to the fleet from SWOS. More important, significantly better prepared first-term line officers, more confident in the performance of their duties, were being provided to surface ships. A revised curriculum, based on fleet feedback, was submitted and approved by the Chief of Naval Technical Training in March 1973- It was becoming apparent that SWOS-educated officers were having a positive effect on the fleet, but they still represented only a small percentage of the total officers going to surface ships.
In the fall of 1973, CinCPacFlt/ CinCLantFlt Instruction 1412.1 was promulgated delineating the requirements for surface warfare officer (SWO) (1110) qualification. Based on CNO approval of a recommendation by an OpNav Surface Warfare Officer Study Group, SWOS training was to be expanded and a totally new curriculum developed. The expanded course, when implemented, would provide training in knowledge and performance areas based on the job task requirements of the surface warfare officer. The fundamental premise for the expanded curriculum was to continue to provide skill reinforcement and added confidence for the officer in his first shipboard assignment. However, with the firm establishment of a surface warfare community and the SWO/ 1110 designator, there had developed an extended outlook toward well- defined and functional supportive training. This training combined with billet specialty training (main propulsion assistant, communications officer, etc.) would greatly enhance the ability of a career-motivated officer to complete his first tour at sea, qualify as an 1110, and be prepared to attend the surface warfare department head course.
Training sites were selected at Newport, Rhode Island, and Coronado, California.
The first 100-student, expanded, 15-week course convened at Newport in June 1974 and at SWOS Coronado three months later. In addition, a training appraisal program was instituted to solicit evaluations of training results from surface ship commanding officers and from past graduates of the school.
One of the prime concerns of the Surface Warfare Officer Study Group, based on realistic fleet requirements, was to improve the overall professional qualification of surface warfare officers. Accordingly, it was planned that all prospective 1110s would ultimately attend the expanded SWOS course. Because of increasing fleet equipment sophistication, emphasis on fleet material readiness, and reduced underway training time, an accelerated expansion plan was implemented to provide the training capability to meet an annual SWOS training rate of 1,275 students by the end of fiscal year 1975.
During this same time frame, studies also were begun investigating use of the existing personnel qualification standards (PQS) system as a method of standardizing qualification
for the new SWO designation.
In the fall of 1974, a PQS development group was convened to formulate the preliminary SWO PQS using the SWOS expanded basic course task analysis as a foundation from which to construct the fleet SWO officer requirements for qualification.
Another major event from the recommendations of the SWO Study Group and a study of centralized management of training for surface warfare resulted in the CNO’s decision to redesignate the Naval Destroyer School as Surface Warfare Officers School Command (SWOSC) with a mission “. . . to provide the naval surface warfare forces, through a system of functional training, with officers professionally qualified to serve as effective naval leaders of surface ships with the ultimate goal of command at sea. . . .” In addition, the SWOS courses at Newport and Coronado were transferred to SWOSC when the new command was established on 1 January 1975. The result was a centralizing of the SWO training under one command, approval and publication in April 1975 of the SWO PQS, and a rapid expansion of the capacity for the SWOS basic course. When completion of the new SWO PQS became one of the specific requirements for qualification and designation as a surface warfare officer, the SWOS basic course revised and aligned all its curriculum documents. The SWO PQS then became, in essence, the content base of the course. This revised course was taught to the first 125-student class at Newport in July 1975.
Since this first class, the training appraisal feedback provided from more than 2,600 graduates to the fleet has produced two major curriculum revisions establishing the basic course in a functional training support role for the surface warfare community. The present basic course receives all newly commissioned prospective surface warfare officers prior to their first fleet assignments. In fact, the basic course is the required first step toward ultimate shipboard qualification as a designated SWO. Supporting this qualification, this 16-week course addresses the majority of the SWO PQS in those areas where the actual shipboard environment or specific shipboard system is not required. The SWO PQS formulated the requisite knowledge (theory), the associated component equipment interrelationships (systems), and the per
formance requirements (watch stations) for the SWO qualification. There are five separate sections covering division officer, engineering, officer of the deck in port, officer of the deck under way/combat information center watch officer, and warfare. Using a building block approach, the basic course addresses 26 unit areas of instructional presentations from the basic theory in the classroom to the more advanced system and performance learning transfer within the ship-simulating trainers. Subject area coverage encompasses the fundamentals of the broad spectrum comprising the surface warfare officer requirements within combat systems, division officer management, and engineering/damage control. As a functional course, emphasis is placed on the correct procedures directly associated with the responsible job of a surface warfare division and watch officer. The nature of this subject material is not necessarily difficult, but the tempo of subject matter presentations and requirements to assimilate information from the classroom into a performance testing environment present a challenging learning situation for all students. The testing and evaluation program concentrates on the individual student’s capability to achieve specific tasks to an acceptable standard of performance as expressed within the 265 major learning objectives of the course. Significant training and evaluation of the SWO watchstanding requirements are stressed by using several different trainers, such as the AN/SPS-T3 SWOS ship simulators, tactical trainers, underway training craft, shiphandling tank, and other “hands-on" training laboratories. Additional trainers are employed for engineering equipment laboratories, damage control “buttercup” drills, inspection trainers for material and Planned Maintenance System inspections, and the actual surface ships when available. An extensive automated data processing- supported testing program provides another measure of a student’s comprehension and retention. This is accomplished by the administration of a unit area examination directly upon completion of each instructional unit and a series of three separate final
laminations which cover different umts as the course progresses. Course standards are established to assure a high rate of achievement for each sepa- tate unit area. This testing program Permits identification of specific SWO PQS items accomplished by each student. Upon successful completion of the course, a graduate certification report is sent to the prospective surface Warfare officer and the commanding officer of his first ship. This report numerically lists those SWO PQS items achieved or certified by the graduate through the SWOS testing program including both objective and “hands-on” Performance tests. Certification at the SWosc basic course requires considerable student effort and is indicative of a degree of preparedness based on the sWo pqs requirements when the graduate reports on board his ship. However, final qualification remains w,th the ship’s commanding officer based on observed performance on board the actual ship.
An equally significant result of SWO basic training involves the degree to which the graduate will become read- dy employable and effective on board che ship within his first SWO assignments. To assess this and other aspects °f course effectiveness a refined train- |ng appraisal program is used. Part of lt: ls done by an internal evaluation Process within the school itself. The external portion of the program provides for continuing course content improvement to meet the needs of the fleet and depends on a very close interaction between the fleet and the school. The 70% return rate of commanding officer and graduate appraisal forms over the past three years indicates the continuing interest the fleet maintains in surface warfare officer training. The appraisal trend appears to be of general satisfaction with the overall SWO basic course training plan. However, as an increasing number of graduates move to the fleet under the qualification standards of the SWO PQS, a confident and knowledgeable ensign—once an exceptional individual—will become the general rule, and a more critical eye will be turned toward the training appraisal. The aggregate results of the training appraisal program are coordinated by the school staff, translated to specific curriculum revision recommendations, and forwarded to higher authority for approval. In the past, training appraisal results have provided significant input for two major approved curriculum revisions and with the processed results of the last fiscal year appraisal information, a third recommended revision is being constructed.
More precise refinements are planned in the not too distant future with the installation of a revised SWO
PQS which has been in development for the past two years. This revision builds upon the April 1975 publication to more clearly define the task qualifications throughout all areas. The Chief of Naval Operations has promulgated transition guidelines to preclude disruption of ongoing SWO qualification procedures. The SWOSC basic course will align to the revised SWO PQS requirements commencing with classes convening 5 June 1978. Officers who will commence their SWO qualification after this date will use the revised PQS.
The implementation of the Surface Warfare Officers School Command basic course has established a new dimension in the practical learning achievements for newly commissioned officers based upon realistic and standardized performance requirements. Tomorrow’s surface warfare leaders are acquiring their fundamental skills today through a progression of systematic and functional training. As basic course graduates return to SWOSC to attend the intermediate department head course and prospective executive and commanding officer courses, they will be building on a firmer foundation than have their predecessors. The building begins for the Navy’s future surface leaders with the first step after commissioning— the surface warfare officer basic course.
Seakeeping—and the SWATH Design
by Lieutenant Commander Stephen R. Olson, U.S. Navy, formerly the Principal Systems Analyst for the Center for Naval Analyses’ Assessment of SWATH; now, special Project Officer for the Naval Personnel Program Support Activity.
• ■ . seakeeping ability has affected our sbips. On a fleet exercise conducted several m,jnths ago, our ships were simply no match against the sea and winds for which the North Atlantic is notorious. Our commanders and commanding officers were f°rced to forgo many of the objectives of the eXercise in order to accommodate to the leather. In some cases:
^ Our ships were forced to slow to prevent or lessen the impact of damage,
► Exercises were cancelled,
► We could not refuel our ships,
► Equipment was damaged, and
► Personnel were injured.
... the ships we introduce for the future must have every technological edge possible in order to ensure the success of that ship's mission.” (Vice Admiral R.E. Adamson, Jr., U.S. Navy, Commander Naval Surface Force, Atlantic Fleet, June 1975.)
Admiral Adamson’s comments provide an excellent qualitative description of the importance of a naval ship's seakeeping ability. The comments do not, however, provide any specific insight on the quantitative worth or utility of seakeeping attributes.
The seakeeping capabilities of naval ships became a major concern for the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) when it was directed by the CNO in May