Waterfront training planned for new SWOs

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Waterfront training planned for new SWOs
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Jun 15, 2008 10:14:45 EDT

Six years after deciding to send newly minted surface warfare ensigns straight to ships for their first tours after commissioning, surface leaders now want to re-inject some classroom training at the waterfront.

New ensigns will begin taking a fleet-based, four-week course in August to give them basic training for their debut sea tours, part of a bid by the surface force’s top admiral to get “back to basics” after a series of stinging assessments earlier this year.

In a recent message to flag officers, Naval Surface Force commander Vice Adm. D.C. Curtis wrote that he’d “learned that a large percentage of our newly reporting ensigns are not adequately prepared to function as an effective division officer watch-stander when they report onboard their initial assignment. I feel it is necessary to put a program in place that will set our young surface officers and their commands up for success.”

The four-week course will be a departure from the current training pipeline in which newly commissioned ensigns report to their ships for six- to 10-month tours before attending Surface Warfare Officer School in Newport, R.I. That system, instituted in 2002, was set up to give young officers more time at sea before reporting to SWOS, as opposed to the one- or two-month cruises that were common as officers waited for slots to open in Newport.

But, as evidenced by recent troubles in the surface force, commanders have decided the system isn’t working. In March, Navy inspectors found that two warships, the cruiser Chosin and the destroyer Stout, were so badly maintained they were incapable of “sustained combat operations.” And in April, when Curtis and his force master chief took an unscheduled tour of the San Diego waterfront, they found sloppy-looking ships and un-squared-away sailors.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/06/navy_swos_061508w/