I was intrigued by a recent article on the revamped training pipeline for new surface warfare officers. These officers now will be sent directly to their ships for six to ten months before they attend a two-to-six-week streamlined Surface Warfare Officer School (SWOS). The length of their training course will be determined by how much they learn on their ships. This is a significant change from the current program, which sends aspiring officers to school for up to seven months before they are assigned to a ship and can begin to earn their surface warfare qualifications.
I did not attend SWOS, but it is clear to me that it would not have prepared me for waking up one morning in a war zone, serving as the main propulsion assistant on a destroyer, and surviving on two to three hours of sleep at a time. I reported on board the destroyer John Young (DD-973) in July 2001, a little more than three months before she was scheduled to depart on what turned out to be her final Western Pacific deployment. I was slated for a temporary three-month assignment, followed by six months at SWOS and then permanent assignment to the John Young.
Fortunately for me, my command anticipated early that if I delayed school, or did not attend at all, I could get on-the-job training and an opportunity to earn my surface warfare qualifications during the upcoming deployment. While debating whether to attend school or remain on board, I spoke with several SWOS graduates, most of whom felt they did not learn as much as they would have liked. They said they had had a great time in Newport and enjoyed the opportunity to meet other surface warfare candidates, but their consensus was they had learned just enough to pass the tests and then quickly brain-dumped the information. Based on these opinions, I believed the best decision for me was to stay for deployment. My chain of command requested a waiver, which was granted.
Deployment, which traditionally has been the best way to excel at being a surface warfare officer, took on a new meaning after 11 September. Our participation in Operation Enduring Freedom, in conjunction with the knowledge that the John Young would be decommissioned after we returned, made the deployment even more intense, exciting, and wide-ranging. We believed we were an integral part of the global war on terrorism. This environment made my training at sea more potent than I could have imagined or hoped.
What did I miss by going to the fleet first? It is hard to tell, but I heard I missed weeks on end of PowerPoint lectures and quizzes. All the information in those lectures, however, was available on CDs, so I studied them as final preparation for my surface warfare qualification boards. I did miss the opportunity to network and bond with other surface warfare officers. But nothing could replace the bonds I formed with my fellow shipmates in the John Young.
I also gained invaluable experience and self-assurance, as well as a step up in my career timeline. Working with both noncommissioned officers and senior officers, learning real-life applications of principles, and discovering how to manage time were all parts of my syllabus at sea. I did not have someone in a classroom telling me why someday this information would be useful to me—I was on the job, realized I needed the information, and learned it. Months did not go by between the learning and the doing. I did not sit in a trainer and learn to drive a ship; I stood on the bridge and took the conn.
I was able to finish the deployment with a combat information center watch officer letter, an officer of the deck letter, and my surface warfare officer pin. I had the added benefit of being on deployment for six of my first ten months in the Navy. But it would not have been possible without all the professional, dedicated shipmates who taught, trained, and encouraged me while showing great patience. It did require a good deal of initiative and self-- motivation, but when you can see how critical safety, precision, training, common sense, and more training are, it is not hard to be motivated.
The new training program for surface warfare officers should be extremely successful. The learning curve when you first arrive at the ship is very steep, and the climb is full of challenges. But eliminating months of schooling at SWOS will allow aspiring surface warfare officers to spend their time benefiting from valuable on-the-job-training, and it will push them to earn their surface warfare officer pins.
After the decommissioning of the John Young, Ensign Rich will transfer to the Aegis destroyer Higgins (DDG-76) as her fire control officer.