Surface Navy training for new division officers is in flux. The Surface Warfare Officers School (SWOS) Basic Division Officer Course (BDOC) was once a six-month class in Newport that in 2003 transitioned into a box of compact disks loaded with PowerPoint briefings. More recently, in 2013, BDOC became a nine-week course located in San Diego and Norfolk. The 2017 USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62), USS McCain (DDG-56), and USS Lake Champlain (CG-57) collisions and the USS Antietam (CG-54) grounding exposed large gaps in junior officer training, particularly in navigation. BDOC was revised again following these tragic incidents, but even in its newest iteration BDOC does not adequately prepare newly commissioned officers for their initial fleet tours.
Efforts to Fix Widespread Problems
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