I have found no better example of “what leadership looks like” for a young naval officer than Patrick O’Brian’s brave, cheerful, and indefatigable Captain “Lucky” Jack Aubrey. Although the fictional Captain Aubrey demonstrates many outstanding qualities, I have been most gratified by the surfeit of practical leadership lessons for me as a surface warfare officer at the division officer level. Captain Aubrey impressed on his young officers the timeless naval leadership principles that warfighting is first, effective discipline is essential, and a “happy” ship is the only good fighting ship.
‘Warfighting First’ Must Be More Than Slogan
The Chief of Naval Operations’ (CNO’s) “Sailing Directions” challenges us to put warfighting first. Above all, our responsibility as leaders is to prepare our sailors to succeed in battle. Captain Aubrey, for example, stresses the importance of battle preparations to a newly reporting first lieutenant when he exclaims, “Some people like their deck to look like a ball-room: so do I, but it must be a fighting ball-room.”1
Serving as the ship’s executive officer, the first lieutenant ensured the decks were spotless, proper discipline was maintained, and the normal order of events proceeded according to schedule. Yet, much like today, even during the height of the Napoleonic wars, the likelihood of any single ship seeing meaningful action was slight, and many first lieutenants prioritized the appearance of tautness—some encouraged by less enterprising captains who sought the approbation of an inspecting flag officer—over actual warfighting readiness. Such appearances, however, often had little correlation to fighting ability, the prime measure of a ship’s worth.
Whether or not your ship goes into action, you owe it to your sailors to prepare them for battle. Rather than endlessly scrubbing decks or polishing brass, the modern distraction to readiness is the bevy of administrative requirements levied on your sailors. While effective and proper administration can support battle efficiency, the “ball-room” appearance of a division’s zone inspection deficiency lists, training reports, and program/warfare area binders can never substitute for the arduous and consistent combat training evolutions needed to ensure your ship is ready to fight.
As a division officer, you will have little control over the ship’s operating routine. Although you might prefer, in the spirit of Captain Aubrey, to end each day with a great gun exercise, the reality is your ship will conduct general quarters drills and combat system scenarios less frequently. Young leaders must take advantage of the available opportunities to prepare and get as much value as possible from limited training evolutions.
First, work with your chief to establish qualification programs to ensure your division has sufficient qualified personnel to man its watch, quarter, and station bills. Track qualification progress carefully, and use a watch team replacement plan to preempt problems arising from pending transfers.
You also must be present with your sailors when they are conducting training, drills, or exercises. This can be challenging, as you also will be standing watch, working toward your own qualifications, and trying to get sufficient rest. Your sailors understand the significant demands placed on division officers and will appreciate your efforts to be present. If you have competing demands, attending even a portion of the evolution and expressing genuine interest for its proper conduct will show your sailors that their preparedness is your priority.
In addition, learn and understand the roles your sailors perform so you can quickly add value. Early on, unless you feel something is unsafe, I would caution against outright correcting more experienced sailors. Learn to separate the substantive from the superficial. Study procedures before an evolution, observe your sailors, and huddle with your chief afterward, expressing any concerns. If you are correct in noting a deficiency, he will be both impressed by your attentiveness and challenged to make sure you do not again catch something he does not. As you continually show your interest, you naturally will become more competent and confident, enabling you to be more active in training evolutions that enhance your division’s warfighting readiness.
Discipline Is A Learned Skill
Warfighting readiness cannot exist without discipline. One of the most challenging aspects of a junior officer’s leadership development is learning how to uphold standards and implement an effective culture of discipline. In an ideal situation, your senior enlisted will maintain proper discipline among your sailors. It is likely, however, that your junior sailors will test your boundaries early. Resist the temptation to brush aside seemingly trivial matters of insubordination or indiscipline. If a sailor walks past you without saluting, fails to address you appropriately, or is lax in performing assigned duties, tactfully confront and correct him.
When a sailor deliberately fails to render the appropriate acknowledgment to a superior officer passing on deck, O’Brian vividly describes Aubrey’s reaction: “[Captain Aubrey] would do a great deal for a happy ship, but not for a moment would he put up with deliberate indiscipline: not for a moment, even if it meant running the frigate like a prison-hulk for the whole commission.”2 Vibrantly portrayed in the cinematic version of Master and Commander, the event results in the sailor in question being flogged. Captain Aubrey, in contrast to many of his contemporaries, loathed flogging and only in the most extreme circumstances did he order corporal punishment. He recognized, however, the importance of order and obedience to the fighting effectiveness of a man-of-war.
Some of the natural reluctance to engage in confrontation comes from the relative difference in experience and age between junior officers and most midgrade/senior enlisted sailors. Throughout the series, Captain Aubrey is brilliant at balancing the competing priorities of the Royal Navy and encourages his officers to take into account a sailor’s great fighting ability and experience when considering matters of discipline.
You, too, must balance the need to maintain proper discipline while accounting for mitigating circumstances. If you set and maintain appropriate standards of conduct, it should be rare for misconduct to require formal punishment such as a captain’s mast. Your sailors understand the standards of the service they volunteered to join and want to be properly led. Do not abrogate your duty to report egregious misconduct, no matter the sailor’s experience or “seamanlike qualities,” but work to handle discipline matters at the lowest appropriate level.
The ability to set and maintain proper standards of conduct is a learned skill. That visceral uneasiness you are likely to feel when presented with disciplinary challenges early in your career will wane as you become accustomed to promptly, reasonably, and directly confronting substandard conduct.
Throughout the series, Captain Aubrey emphasizes his philosophy of discipline and underscores to his officers that they must “have a sense of responsibility for your men.”3 By virtue of your commission, you have authority over sailors with more experience and knowledge of the sea. Failure to hold yourself responsible and accountable for your sailors’ actions is detrimental to your own and your division’s effectiveness. Inherent in the responsibilities of leadership is accepting the consequences of your subordinates’ performance. Your division cannot be combat ready if your sailors do not marshal the discipline that supports a culture committed to the tireless pursuit of warfighting readiness.
Humor Makes A Happy Ship
Captain Aubrey knew that effective combat drills and a disciplined crew were necessary, but not sufficient, for success in battle. “Without there is a good understanding between the officers a ship cannot be happy,” he exclaims, “And a happy ship is your only good fighting ship.”4 He had served in ships with varied cultures and understood the benefits of a positive command climate. Men enthusiastically working together to enhance the fighting capabilities of a ship naturally achieved superior results.
The Napoleonic-era Royal Navy was no bed of roses. Poor leaders drove their men with threats, curses, and blows—it is understandable that sailors would be sullen, forlorn, and resentful. That is hardly the type of command climate desirable for an efficient fighting crew. Berating and beating men may accomplish an immediate task, but such myopic practices preclude a ship from achieving its full fighting potential.
When legitimate issues arise between leaders, they should be handled with tact so as not to damage either the leaders’ or the overall team’s cohesion. Captain Aubrey was known to prioritize cordial relations between leaders above checking an ineffectual subordinate in front of his men. Such an action would instantly destroy the checked officer’s credibility and motivation. Throughout O’Brian’s tales of the Royal Navy, Captain Aubrey deals with his officers by counseling them in private to ensure the subordinate understands and at least outwardly conducts himself in accordance with his standards.
If troubles arise within your division, work together behind closed doors to establish a unity of priorities, goals, and messaging. If you thought confronting a 19-year-old junior sailor over a failed salute was challenging, imagine confronting a 40-year-old salty chief over significant differences in running your division. Work through any uneasiness and take action in concert with your chief to make your division better.
For a ship to meet its highest war-fighting readiness, it must have a united and effective leadership team. Without unity of priorities, goals, and messaging, a ship will be inefficient. While your scope of influence will be limited as a division officer, you can ensure, or work toward establishing, effective relationships within your division. Without such harmony, your division’s warfighting readiness will suffer and your sailors will work in a stressful environment.
You also be must in harmony with your own senior leaders. Ensure your department head’s priorities are your priorities.
Finally, the story of Captain Aubrey teaches that in the midst of the inevitably stressful situations that occur afloat, it is essential to have a sense of humor to support a happy ship. Captain Aubrey delights in small pieces of wit and makes a deliberate effort to appropriately contribute to the overall gaiety of the ship. When working through challenging relational issues or correcting substandard behavior, light humor can turn a potentially volatile or damaging situation into an opportunity for professional growth. As a small example, at the start of a battle Aubrey counsels a midshipman who had bent over as a cannon ball shot across the quarterdeck, “Do not do that, youngster. You might put your head in the way of a ball.”5
Stolid courage is a prime characteristic of an effective officer. In Captain Aubrey’s Royal Navy, failure to display proper courage under fire was a capital offense. Instead of harshly rebuking the young midshipman in an incredibly stressful situation, however, Captain Aubrey displayed a sense of humor that, as the series goes on to relate, steeled the midshipman’s courage and helped him develop into a pleasant, effective, and dashing young officer. If able, an appropriate sense of humor and a positive attitude will have a prodigious effect on the morale of your team.
The tales of the Royal Navy seen through the exploits of Captain “Lucky” Jack Aubrey—as he masterfully guides his wardroom and his crew—remind us that it is only with strong morale that a disciplined team, dedicated to warfighting, can achieve extraordinary effectiveness in battle. Besides enjoying an incredible series of books, naval officers—beginning with division officers—will greatly benefit by reading and heeding the lessons of this leader of “happy ships.”
1. Patrick O’Brian, HMS Surprise (New York: W. W. Norton, 1994), 240.
2. Patrick O’Brian, The Far Side of the World (New York: W. W. Norton, 1992), 110.
3. Patrick O’Brian, Treason’s Harbour (New York: W. W. Norton, 1992), 124.
4. Patrick O’Brian, Master and Commander (New York: W. W. Norton, 1990), 108.
5. Patrick O’Brian, The Ionian Mission (New York: W. W. Norton, 1992), 67.