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Summer Cruise Blues
The midshipmen's summer cruise needs some changes. This is obvious from the critiques submitted after last summer's cruise by the midshipmen in my Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) unit.
The midshipmen had three main areas of concern: limited at-sea time, a too-short cruise period, and few, if any. port visits. These interrelated concerns have a significant impact on the perception of the U. S. Navy that these midshipmen will retain.
Last summer, most of the fun and adventure our first-class midshipmen saw was only in the recruiting ads. Except for six lucky men assigned to ships deploying or working up, our first class averaged only 7.6 days under way. We had men assigned to a ship in overhaul, a ship going into overhaul, and a ship recently returned from an extended deployment. (The midshipman reported the very day the ship returned to home port.) If we are going to provide cruises that motivate our officer candidates, we must have longer cruises with more underway time and many port visits.
While these problems can frequently be attributed to a lack of assets and unexpected changes in ships’ schedules, there is no justification for the annual occurrence of the same administrative problems. The ships' officers are either not reading the midshipman summer training manual, or they are disregarding it.
The manual requires the ships’ officers to ensure that all first-class midshipmen who need precommissioning physicals receive them while on their summer cruises. Last summer, 23 men needed physicals; only nine were completed correctly or with only minor discrepancies.
Eleven of the midshipmen had to have an entirely new physical, while three received none. These physicals were instituted to help NROTC units, like ours, that are a long distance from the nearest military medical facility. Now we will have to spend a considerable amount of travel money and time correcting them.
The ships' officers are also required to submit evaluations on the midshipmen's performance during the cruise within 15 days after the midshipmen depart. The contents of the evaluation should at least be discussed with them before they leave. We have received these evaluations up to three months after they were due, and then only because we asked for them. We are still waiting for evaluations on three of our men and frankly don't expect to get them. These evaluations are necessary, as they are referred to for a variety of administrative actions; last summer, a cruise evaluation was the justification for not placing one man on leave of absence. An adverse evaluation can indicate traits that we do not want in a naval officer. Yet, adverse material cannot be entered into a man’s record without discussing it with him first. If the ships' officers don’t follow the procedures, they may very well be laying themselves open for future problems.
If one is to believe the outpouring of support for the article "Get Off My Back, Sir" (August 1977 Proceedings, pp. 18-23), the solution to the administrative problems is easy. Make sure that the ships' officers know the requirements and tell them when the requirements are not met.
Some of these problems have been solved in past years but not followed up as demands on time and ship assets surfaced. I believe cruises of five to six weeks with a dedicated midshipman cruise task group should be reinstated. This task group should consist of three to five large ships, preferably amphibious warfare ships, that can hold large numbers of midshipmen. These ships’ staffs should be augmented with NROTC staff officers, a medical officer, and a helicopter detachment. The NROTC staff officers would plan, schedule, and conduct most of the midshipman training, and the medical officer would be tasked with correctly completing the precommissioning physicals. The helicopter detachment would be used to shuttle the midshipmen between ships for the physicals, crossship training, and for a practical aviation indoctrination.
This type of manning would mean more attention for the midshipmen while reducing their interference in the ships’ routine. If cruises were scheduled to Northern Europe or the Caribbean with a few port visits, the reality of being out of home port would be sweetened a great deal. This concept can also be used for reserve ships making cruises up and down the East Coast or to the Great Lakes.
One of the biggest obstacles to this cruise concept will be the availability of ships. However, we currently spend a significant amount of time and money (approximately $3.2 million for third-class midshipmen alone) in motivating and training midshipmen during summer cruises. Each year, we receive policy statements that stress the high priority attached to this training. This policy statement is filtered down and reemphasized at all levels until it reaches the ships. However, when it comes to assigning specific ships with adequate underway time and port visit schedules, the midshipmen find they really are not much of a priority after all.
If high priority is going to be assigned to midshipmen cruises, then we may have to cancel an amphibious exercise or delay a naval technical proficiency inspection to ensure that the midshipmen have a meaningful experience. If we can motivate our future officers now, we may have an easier time convincing them to stay in the Navy later.
90
Proceedings / June 1982