Flash said:
The SWO life and the general acknowledgment of self-inflicted pain has even garnered the attention of Proceedings, they devoted an entire issue to SWO-dom this spring and most of the articles were critical in one way or the other of SWO-dom and especially it's training. SOP to a degree for Proceedings, but some of the articles had a bit more bite than I usually see with other communities. One of the more illuminating articles for me was from a LT who did a PEP tour with the Royal Navy, thought he was an experienced ship driver but when he showed up to Her Majesty's Ship he was surprised to learn he didn't know jack or shit when it actually came to seamanship.
To me being the Captain of a warship should be one of the most professionally satisfying things to do in the military, but almost every JO SWO I meet has little desire to put up with the stupidity and ass-pain of just being a SWO to get there. And it has nothing to do with not enjoying driving and 'fighting' the ship, it has to do with all of the other BS that SWO's like to inflict themselves with. I have to shake my head in wonder how or why many in leadership tolerate it.
A few questions.
1. Regarding the LT who went to England, at what point do seamanship skills become less necessary, giving way to automation, somewhat analogous to the aviation community's UAV development? One of the big selling points of the Zumwalt destroyers is the significantly reduced crew size and efficiency. At what point do the seamanship skills just become redundant? I know this is kind of a silly question, but worth asking I think.
2. If SWO Ensigns and JGs really have a problem with their treatment and consider it a detriment to training (someone help me out on this one, whether this Ensign 'abuse' helps or hurts), then why don't they go to someone in charge as a group and make their case? Surely there is a way for these issues to be discussed, right? And yes, I'm fully aware that its usually not smart for FNGs to come in and immediately want to change things or whine about their treatment, but there's gotta be at least SOME recourse for these Ensigns.
On that note, I get the impression that there is a lot more 'fear-of-rank' in the SWO community than in aviation. Not to say that I would pop off at an winged LT or anything, but I feel like higher-ranking officers are much more accessible here than if I were a SWO.
3. Why does it seem like the SWO community as a whole has not seemed to recognize the stigmas attached to their community, and actively taken steps to rectify it instead of just accepting it as a reality of the job? Personally, I'd take a page out of the Marine Corps' training book and ensure that every training action taken has a purpose. Even rationalizing actions as 'stress management' would probably make a difference.
Keep in mind that I'm asking these questions knowing that I have exactly 24 days at sea, and a resulting saltiness factor of about zero. I'm not going to presume to know how the SWO world works, just posing the questions.
