This html article is produced from an uncorrected text file through optical character recognition. Prior to 1940 articles all text has been corrected, but from 1940 to the present most still remain uncorrected. Artifacts of the scans are misspellings, out-of-context footnotes and sidebars, and other inconsistencies. Adjacent to each text file is a PDF of the article, which accurately and fully conveys the content as it appeared in the issue. The uncorrected text files have been included to enhance the searchability of our content, on our site and in search engines, for our membership, the research community and media organizations. We are working now to provide clean text files for the entire collection.
“XO!, XO! . .
At a wardroom party I attended a few years ago, one of my shipmates made a pass at another officer's wife. The lady did not slap the offender; neither did she holler for help from her husband or the police; nor did she stomp angrily from the room. Instead, being a true destroy- erman’s wife, she screamed “XO!, XO!”—appealing for help from the ever-present, all-knowing force on board any small ship.
The wife was echoing the cri de coeur heard on board ship when any problem arises—be it an upcoming inspection, a visit by the nearest admiral, preparation for going into combat, or the laundry starching the captain’s shorts.
The ship's executive officer is occupied primarily by the multitudinous administrative and personnel management details involved in running a ship with a crew of several hundred men (and, in some cases, women). He is also training officer, PMS manager, PQS manager, security officer, safety officer, and responsible for navigation; he is the final authority for legal matters, honors and ceremonies, fund raising, parking signs, “convincing” junior officers to attend the latest social function (“You will go, and you will have a good time”), counseling, and so on, ad infinitum.
One simple definition of the XO's job was offered at the Surface Warfare Officer School’s Prospective Executive Officer course a few years ago. "The XO’s job,” the course’s senior instructor stated, “is to make the captain look good.”
This is not a bad guideline for the XO, as long as his captain is not At- tila the Hun in khaki or a complete reprobate. The crux of an XO's tour is his relationship with the commanding officer. For if the XO has professional or personality differences with the CO so serious that a successful relationship does not exist, then the XO has only two courses of action—and neither resignation nor mutiny has much future.
But assuming that the XO-CO relationship is relatively harmonious, an XO can have a successful tour in a destroyer or frigate. A “successful XO’s tour” might be defined in several ways:
► The ship functions well— commitments are met and inspections passed—hence, the CO “looks good” to his boss, the commodore.
► Crew morale is kept at an acceptable level; retention meets at least the fleet average, and the crime rate is average (perhaps two to five captain’s masts per week).
► Administrative and personnel matters are handled efficiently, with no more than one “gig” from higher authority every two months.
► The XO earns and receives at the end of his tour a 4.0 fitness report and a strong recommendation for command.
► The XO works, in port, no more than a 12-hour day and, preferably, no more than 10 hours a day.
► The XO has no more than one threatening message slipped under his stateroom door every six months—and the threats are not carried out.
► The XO is neither carried off the ship in a straightjacket, nor does he develop an ulcer.
► The XO’s wife and children recognize him at the end of his tour.
► The XO is perceived by the department heads and division officers as an omniscient, omnipotent volcano who demands perfection and who pours lava-like scorn and abuse on those who displease him.
► The XO is perceived by the captain as an all-knowing savior who can and will handle any problem that arises. In fact, the really good XO will give his captain the distinct feeling that the CO is somehow extraneous (at least in port) to the running of the ship. A brief appearance to sign necessary paperwork and to hold captain’s mast is all, the XO will project, that is required of the “old man.”
Now that we have a ten-part definition of how to evaluate an XO’s tour, let us look at a few case histories to see some of the situations that today’s destroyer XO might have to face.
^ The XO discovers that one of the division officers is “gundecking” (i.e., falsifying) weekly maintenance reports. Solutions;
(a) The XO has a fatherly chat with him about his responsibilities as an officer and his role as a model to his division.
(b) The XO “chews him out” thoroughly.
(c) The XO puts him in “hack” for the weekend (i.e., restricts him to the ship).
(d) The XO holds the division officer’s department head responsible and puts the department head in hack for the weekend.
► The XO is working at his stateroom desk when the chief machinist’s mate (MMC) knocks at the door. The conversation goes something like this:
MMC: “XO, I have a new man here; I think you should see him.’ XO: "Why?”
MMC: (Grinning like a well-fed Cheshire cat) “You need to see him, XO.”
XO: (Sighing) “Send him in.”
In walks a scruffy machinist’s mate fireman (MMFN) who looks older than most firemen. Twisting his cap in his hands, he promptly sits down and lights a cigarette without being invited to do either. Adopting his best counseling manner, the XO soon ascertains that the MMFN reenlisted (after a three-year break in active duty)
just six weeks earlier as a machinist’s mate third class.
While waiting for the ship to return to port, he was caught smoking marijuana, and the CO of the naval station busted him to MMFN. He wants to get out of the Navy.
XO: “But why do you want to get out when you just reenlisted?” MMFN: “I want out.”
XO: “Then why did you reenlist?”
MMFN: “I had to get away from home.”
Now, the XO thinks, we come to the heart of the matter.
Reluctantly, but with a certain degree of anticipation (is he about to hear a new sea story with which to regale his shipmates at the next “happy hour?”), the XO asks: “Why?”
MMFN: “Because my mother was trying to kill me.”
The XO indeed has his new sea story. Solutions:
(a) Send the MMFN to the nearest Psychologist or psychiatrist (who will, of course, state that while the man has an “adjustment problem,” he is fit for sea duty.
Of course, the psychologist or Psychiatrist never has been in any ship other than, perhaps, the Staten Island ferry, and has no understanding of what sea duty in a destroyer entails).
(b) Send the MMFN back to work and tell the MMC that he has a new striker.
(c) Offer the MMFN ten days leave to go home (and ensure that he gets on the plane home). This last course of action might lead to one of three results, at least two of which will remove the MMFN from the ship: (1) he will become a deserter; (2) he will be lovingly welcomed by his mother and return to the ship in a saner state of mind; (3) his mother will kill him.
^ The XO receives a request for XO’s mast (i.e., a counseling session) from a petty officer first class (POl). The XO recently refused to recommend this POl for Promotion to chief petty officer. Primarily because he has extremely limited leadership and managerial abilities. (Or, as the POl’s chief Phrased it, “He's as dumb as a box of rocks.”) The XO sighs (XOs have to learn how to do this inaudibly) and has the POl come to his stateroom. The POl remains standing at rigid attention until invited to sit: he smokes only when invited to do so; and his conversation is laced heavily with “sirs.” The effect is somewhat spoiled, however, because the POl is 30 pounds overweight, missing two of his front teeth, sporting a rather scraggly beard, and stuttering. The XO’s initial reaction is pity leavened by exasperation. Sure enough, the POl wants to know why he is not being recommended for promotion to chief. The XO explains. The POl still professes not to understand why he cannot go up for chief and, midway through his next sentence, begins crying. While this is not the first time a crew member has broken into tears before the XO, his sympathy is constrained by the sudden realization that the POl bears a remarkable resemblance to a “muppet." Solutions:
(a) The XO laughs out loud, and orders the POl to “get his act together” and to “get back to work.”
(b) The XO looks away and smothers the smile induced by the muppet revelation; then he brusquely orders the POl back to work, telling him that the recommendation to chief has to be earned.
(c) The XO, while maintaining a straight face, again counsels the POl about his weaknesses, suggests some corrective steps, and urges him to “keep plugging for that recommendation.
► A seaman (SN) has been caught with enough drugs in his locker to open a drugstore. The search which revealed this stash was, the XO feels, of doubtful legality, but a good trial counsel should be able to obtain a conviction. (The SN has been awarded a special court-martial).
The SN has stated his intention of going over the hill to avoid prosecution and hence is in pre-trial confinement in the local brig. On the day before the initial period of pretrial confinement is to end, the XO discovers that the seaman’s defense counsel is the sharpest lawyer at the local Navy Legal Services Office (NLSO) and that the trial counsel (who will be the prosecuting attorney) is a recent law school graduate who is still trying to decipher the JAG Manual table of contents. The NLSO refuses to assign a new trial counsel. The prospects for obtaining a court- martial conviction are rapidly diminishing. Solutions:
(a) The XO presses on. Another period of pre-trial confinement is requested, and the court-martial pursued with vigor—"I’ll get that guilty so-and-so.”
(b) The XO convinces the captain to withdraw the special court- martial and to hold captain’s mast, figuring that the CO will assign the maximum punishment possible under the Uniform Code of Military Justice to the SN.
(c) The XO convinces the captain to withdraw the special court- martial and to assign the SN a summary court-martial with the ship’s maintenance officer who is a warrant officer of extremely conservative persuasion. In fact, the warrant officer wishes that Rocks and Slioals would be reinstituted and will, the XO feels sure, give the SN the maximum possible punishment.
Certificates of the Sea
Nine colorful certificates, each commemorating a traditional ceremonial event of the sea, are available from the U.S. Naval Institute.
$3.00 each/$6.50 each with hand-lettering.
Send for an order form today!
Certificate Service.U.S. Naval Institute .Annapolis, Maryland *21402
(d) The XO pushes ahead with the special court-martial, but allows pre-trial confinement to lapse, hoping that the seaman will go over the hill. If he does run and is caught, another charge will be available for which he can be prosecuted and another trial counsel will likely have been
appointed. If he runs and is not caught, he can eventually be declared a deserter and a new, more productive man will be assigned to the ship. The XO will have thus rid the ship of a major drug dealer and can move on to the next event of the day, which is . . .
► A call comes in from the squadron chief staff officer (CSO), a commander whose XO’s tour was followed by the Bureau of Personnel sadistically assigning him to the CSO billet, where he can hone his acerbic cynicism to a fine degree. “Where,” the CSO asks the XO in a voice tinged with exasperation, “is your report on the number of married red-headed men on board? The group commander wants that information today.” Solutions:
(a) The XO tells the CSO he doesn't have time for such nonsense and hangs up the telephone.
(b) The XO tells the CSO that the report will be to him that day, hangs up the phone, and immediately (and purposely) forgets about the report.
(c) The XO apologizes for being late, says “I have the figures right here,” and gives the CSO a purely fictitious number that he has made up on the spot.
(d) The XO apologizes, interrupts the ship’s routine, and has a beautifully typed, accurate report sent to the CSO that day, at the cost of many man-hours of labor lost.
► Failing to receive the
report—suggesting solutions a, b, or c were exercised—the CSO then calls the captain and asks about the missing report. The captain decides that he should personally see all correspondence that comes to the ship and also sign all outgoing paperwork. The XO, of course, is insulted by this dictum, realizes that it is totally impractical, and reacts by:
(a) Arguing with the CO to the point where a shouting match ensues and the captain gives the XO a direct order to comply.
(b) Saying “Yes, Sir” to the captain and promptly forgetting (purposely) the CO’s dictum.
(c) Saying “Yes, Sir,” but after routing all correspondence to the CO for a week or so begins to
hold back a portion of each day’s load. The captain is pleased that the administrative burden seems to be easing; the XO modestly credits it to his new paperwork reduction program and soon has the CO seeing only the correspondence he should be seeing—that which the XO wants him to see.
(d) Saying “Yes, Sir,” but holds back 25% of the correspondence for a week and then, when the captain comes on board the next Saturday morning for a brief check of the message traffic, the XO has the accumulated, enormous load of mail—unsorted and unopened—placed in, on, over, and around the CO’s “in” basket. The XO comes on board at about 1130—at which point the captain’s wife will be calling for the third time, wondering if they are going to make it to the beach that day and how disappointed the children are and .... The XO enters the CO’s cabin, notes sympathetically that “it sure is a heavy mail day, skipper,” and helpfully suggests that he finish up the paperwork, since there “probably isn’t anything too important in that pile.” The CO gratefully—if, perhaps, somewhat reluctantly—agrees. The XO is back in control.
► The commodore's gig comes alongside and just as the commodore, dressed in whites, is about to mount the accommodation ladder, the overboard discharge for the after crew’s head cuts in. The commodore catches the full brunt of the discharge. The XO averts his eyes, and the captain, who is standing with the XO on the fantail to greet the commodore, groans; both XO and CO are engulfed in the unexpurgated vocal reaction of the commodore, who stomps off the fantail in a rage with the CO in hot, apologetic pursuit. Solutions:
(a) The XO follows the captain’s example and tries to help placate the commodore. A full investigation and harsh punishment for the guilty are promised.
(b) The XO begins screaming at the OOD, the gig coxswain, and goes headhunting for the chief engineer and his duty officer.
(c) The XO orders the overboard discharge secured, the gig cleaned up, and retires to his stateroom to do something important.
► The group commander (a rear admiral) is scheduled to visit the ship for an inspection. The admiral is renowned for verbally assaulting XOs for the poor condition of berthing compartments and heads. The XO carefully prepares for the inspection and, the morning of the visit, assures himself that all spaces are ready. Nonetheless, as the admiral is inspecting the after crew’s head, the XO finds himself on his hands and knees, next to the admiral, peering up at the bottom of a commode, as the admiral triumphantly points out a bit of scum buildup. The XO’s response is to:
(a) State ashamedly that “I really screwed up, admiral, but you can be assured that it won’t happen again.”
(b) Blame the head cleaner as an incompetent and then chew him out in front of the admiral.
(c) Grunt noncommittally.
(d) State, “No kidding, admiral, what the hell do you expect to find under a commode?”
► The commodore is making a personnel inspection on board. The XO precedes the commodore to ensure that each division is ready for inspection. When the XO reaches a certain division, he comes face to face with the division officer who is grossly overweight and in his whites. The XO alarmingly realizes that the man looks like Moby Dick’s nephew. The XO knows that the mere sight of this division officer will cause the commodore, who is a physical fitness nut, to “go ballistic” and will sour him on the whole ship. Something must be done! Solutions:
(a) The XO accompanies the commodore up to the division, all the while declaiming about the progress being made by the division officer on his weight control program.
(b) The XO loudly agrees with the commodore that the division officer's appearance is totally unsatisfactory (the commodore used the term “a wet snowball”), promises that the division officer’s fitness report will suffer, and chews out the obese officer as soon as the commodore has finished doing the same.
(c) The XO immediately orders the division officer to inspect the bilges in number one fireroom and has the chief present the division to the commodore.
Regardless of which solutions you Preferred to these case studies, the important thing to remember about being a successful XO is that if you do not actually know everything, you must at least look as though you do! This will keep both your subordinates and the captain in their respective and proper places. I offer six other “how to be a good XO” rules:
^ Never work longer hours than your department heads.
^ Delegate, delegate, delegate'. The XO who tries to do everything himself ends up with ulcers and an estranged wife. Make the junior officers develop the ulcers.
^ Don't sweat the small stuff ....
Never forget how to say "Aye, aye. Sir” to some damn fool request, while maintaining your sights—and the crew’s energies—on the meaningful goals.
► Never laugh or get mad at inspecting parties, no matter how preposterously narrow-minded and unrealistic they might be. Treat all outside inspectors as original founts of wisdom, even if they can't tell the bilge from the bridge.
► Take care of the captain—i.e., give him your best advice, keep him informed, and provide him with options at decision times. Another way of looking at this point is to be on the bridge when the CO is in the combat information center, and vice versa: on liberty, don’t drink when the CO does. (One of you has to be able to find the ship.)
► Be organized. The XO who cannot keep a clean desk and empty “in” and “out” baskets is wasting time and energy. Rule of thumb: if a piece of paper remains in the XO's “in” or "pending” basket for more than 24 hours, it should be routed through the department heads—one of them may know what to do with it, or it may be lost in routing. (Either result is beneficial.) If a piece of correspondence remains in the XO's basket for more than a week, trash it; it obviously wasn't important enough to deal with.
The executive officer's position in a destroyer or frigate is awesome in its scope—in its responsibilities and powers. The satisfactions of the job are . . . uh . . . just a second . . . uh . . . well ... let me see . . . uh . . . Well, anyway, to be a successful XO, then, you must be well organized, calm, willing to delegate authority, professionally knowledgeable, and have a big foot.
Editor's Note: We reminded Commander Cole that there is always the possibility that a Proceedings feature might be made mto a movie. In that event, we asked him, did he have any casting sl,8gestions? His reply follows.
There are two basic ways the role c°n be played: the Telly Savalas swagger and the Paul Newman
nuance. Let s take them one at a time.
The XO who pursues the I elly Savalas” path of action gets a crew cut, considers any facial hair to be anti-American, smokes cigarettes, and drinks anything (alcoholic) in sight. He addresses office)s as “mister” with a sneer in his voice, and calls enlisted men strictly by their last name. He shouts a lot, gives frequent verbal scoldings, and treats the CO with reverence and administrative requirements it itlt positive awe. His tickler Jile is a thing of beauty, and he thrives on messing and berthing inspections. The “Telly Savalas” model-XO's favorite words are bull and “verdigris."
The XO who pursues the / cud Newman” path of action weens his hair at regulation length, may have a well-trimmed mustache, smokes a pipe, and drinks only good scotch or extra dry martinis. He add) esses both officers and enlisted men by both rank and surname, and rarely raises his voice. He treats the CO respectfully but with long-suffering forebearance, considers that most administrative requirements should be ignored unless the ship is
“gigged” for non-submission, and his tickler file is minimal to the point of disuse. He hates poking his head into urinals and dealing repeatedly with 20-year-old dropouts who never learned the simplest rules of personal hygiene. The “Paul Newman ’ ’ model-XO's favorite words are “bull" and “what is it now?"