An officer’s entire service in the Navy is one of continued training and should be one of progressive development, looking to the day when he is placed in command of the largest type of fighting ship, and if an officer served in each of the various departments of a ship’s organization, particularly in the engineering department, he is thereby much more capable of exercising the high office of command and is thereby better fitted to train and prepare his ship as a whole to meet the acid test of the day of battle.

 

—The Honorable Josephus Daniels, former Secretary of the Navy

Over the course of a career, a surface warfare officer (SWO) must build mariner skills, hone warfighting acumen, master the complex operation of a ship’s combat and engineering systems, and is given the responsibility of leading sailors in challenging environments at sea and in port. A successful SWO career culminates in command of a U.S. Navy warship.

Command is a rare and special opportunity. Since warships first put to sea, the rigors of command have tested the strength and will of experienced seafaring leaders under the most challenging circumstances. Command is an opportunity and responsibility few are afforded.

The surface navy’s concept of command is clear. As goes the captain, so goes the ship. Command is the foundation of our force because it demands ultimate responsibility, accountability, and carries with it the authorities to take action to fight and win at sea. Commanding officers (COs) must be highly skilled in a wide variety of areas, including engineering, combat systems, navigation, and operations to effectively manage our complex modern warships equipped with complex engines and highly sophisticated and integrated combat systems, both in the peace and wartime environments.

In short, the commanding officer is expected to be the most experienced mariner, warfighter, and leader on the ship. COs are required to be bold and take the initiative in the heat of battle. That’s why the Navy’s unique method of training is so critical to their success.

The Importance of Mariner Skills Training

On any given day, there are thousands of ships at sea commanded by individuals with a wide variety of experience. Some of the most seasoned mariners include the ship masters of the U.S. Merchant Marine, who often guide hundreds of thousands of tons of shipping safely across the high seas. Their training comprises the most advanced navigation and seamanship instruction in the world, and it recently helped inform the Navy’s surface warfare officer (SWO) revised mariner skills training and assessment continuum. By employing navigation, seamanship, and shiphandling (NSS) assessments across all SWO career milestones, the surface force ensured its officers have the requisite skill to navigate and handle their ships safely and effectively and properly manage watch teams.

Yet NSS training only addresses one of the many skill sets required for commanding officers to succeed. Surface warfare requires a combat mindset so COs and their officers and crews know how to fight and win at sea—not just safely sail on it.

The Concept of Command

The surface force has identified five key areas that commanding officers must master to employ their ships effectively in combat: (1) proficiency in navigation, seamanship, and ship handling (NSS), (2) a thorough knowledge of maritime warfare, (3) an in depth understanding of engineering and material management, (4) adept management of critical shipboard programs, and (5) the ability to motivate Sailors and lead in challenging situations.

In modern warships, the engineering plant directly affects the performance of the combat systems. The increasing complexity of current and future systems (e.g. directed energy) mandates that commanding officers to understand and appreciate the capabilities and limitations of their ship’s combat power. Driving and fighting the ship go hand in hand – a CO needs to immediately understand an engineering casualty’s impact on a combat system in order to best employ the ship’s weapons and sensors.

Captain Christopher Alexander, the commanding officer of the Surface Warfare Officers School (SWOS) Command, likes to say, “Surface Warfare Officers don’t just sail ships from Point A to Point B. SWOs fight their ships in combat situations, lead damage control and firefighting teams, steam the [engineering] plant, manage the material readiness of their ships, lead divisions and departments, and command ships.

The Surface force’s concept of command training produces one of the most important weapons in our Navy’s arsenal: bench depth – a significant pool of capable officers from division officer to commanding officer with the necessary experience in operations, navigation, engineering, and combat systems who can “step up” in wartime to assume a leadership role in any of these vital areas and assume command of their ship if required. The history of the surface fleet during the World War II is replete with inspiring examples of junior officers stepping up and assuming leadership roles in the midst of combat when senior officers were killed or severely wounded. SWO training not only provides that critical knowledge across those five competencies but develops mastery in maritime warfighting and creates a deep bench of capable warfighters.

The Value of Combined Training

Commander Robert Tryon, former commanding officer of the USS Rushmore (LSD-47) and a 1999 graduate of Massachusetts Maritime Academy, spent four years training to be a merchant mariner before accepting a commission in the Navy.

Given his unique background, Tryon was able to identify the value of blending the heavy navigation-focused training from the merchant marines into the surface warfare officer curriculum. However, he also credits the Navy with training him how to maneuver his ship like a warfighter and how to be self-sufficient as a commanding officer.

“As a commanding officer . . . you are responsible for everything. You are the lead war fighter on board, the best ship driver, and the best tactician,” said Tryon. “While merchant mariners are highly trained experts at driving ships, their training is suited to commercial ship priorities. They are not expected to know how to operate in a wartime environment, whereas that is exactly what we are trained to do and what makes our training so incredibly valuable in the surface warfare community.”

Command is the pinnacle of a surface warfare career. A commanding officer must be able to fight their ship against air, surface, and subsurface threats as well as safely sail the ship through some of the most crowded and challenging waterways on this globe. Understanding the consequences of an engineering casualty on the ship’s combat systems is essential to quickly coming up with a plan to minimize that effect and stay in the fight. It is critical that COs think beyond the lifelines of their ship with an operational mindset to make calculated assessments on second and third order effects of their decisions. They must identify and assess risks and make the tough decisions to fight through battle.

Merchant mariners are incredibly specialized and do an excellent job steaming their ships safely from port to port. The Navy has taken a lot from the merchant marine to improve its mariner training. However, a career’s worth of Surface Warfare classroom training, simulation, at sea shipboard experience, and arduous assessments produces commanding officers who possess a full array of warfighting skills, including ship handling, maritime operations, the tactical employment of weapons, combat systems, engineering, and damage control.

Command is the bedrock of the surface force. For 245 years, surface warriors have answered the call of the nation in times of crisis, always prepared to fight and win at sea. Since John Barry became the first commanding officer of the first Continental Navy warship—the Lexington—in 1775, U.S. Navy COs have consistently led their teams to victory in combat.