WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Navy is struggling to train enough warfare tactics instructors each year to keep up with current demand, let alone a potentially expanded future demand, according to key service official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center has since its 2015 creation trained hundreds of sailors to serve as WTIs. These indivuals go through a training program and then into what\u2019s called a production tour, where they work at SMWDC or related commands and spend two years focused solely on either hosting high-end training for ships or experimenting with new high-end tactics. By the end of this production tour, the sailors are experts in surface warfare and bring that knowledge with them to their next at-sea assignments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As these specialists\u2019 contributions have been felt around the fleet, there\u2019s greater demand for them, SMWDC Commanding Officer Rear Adm. Chris Alexander told Defense News. The service is considering what it would take to ensure every ship has a WTI on staff, and the Navy is kicking off a new effort this fall to pair them with requirements and acquisition offices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, Alexander said, he\u2019s struggling to attract enough sailors to go through training, despite all the benefits of becoming a WTI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWithout WTIs, I can\u2019t produce more WTIs. Without the WTIs, I can\u2019t do advanced training. I can\u2019t do [tactics, techniques and procedures] development. I can\u2019t do experimentation. I can\u2019t influence the requirements process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Alexander, the production tours \u2014 working at SMWDC, working as a surface warfare liaison at the other warfighting development centers, working as a SMWDC representative at Navy training organizations \u2014 are only staffed at about 65-70% today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And whereas he\u2019d need to train 115 WTIs a year to fully staff these production tour billets, he\u2019s only training about 90 a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe WTI program is voluntary. And, in my perspective, we need to keep it voluntary. So we\u2019re never going to tell anybody that you have to go into the program,\u201d Alexander said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But SMWDC is trying to attract officers just after their division officer tour at sea, and the Navy also offers many other attractive career options at that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGo be a ROTC instructor and get a master\u2019s degree. Go do [an officer exchange program] and go to Australia. Go to the Naval Academy and work on a master\u2019s degree. Go to the Naval Postgraduate School and work on a master\u2019s degree. Go do [Secretary of the Navy] tours with industry. That\u2019s what we\u2019re competing against,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the short-term, Alexander is focused on getting back up to producing 115 WTIs a year to fully man the production tour billets. He\u2019s working with the Navy\u2019s personnel system so sailors can do a master\u2019s program and WTI training together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SMWDC is also boosting its outreach to ship captains, hoping leadership can recommend promising young officers who would make great WTIs and send their applications directly to Alexander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alexander is also changing up his messaging a bit: For someone just wrapping up a division officer tour, \u201cthis is a tough job; there are easier things to go do. … That said, if you\u2019re the slightest bit interested in coming back to sea and you want to be the best department head you can be, you want to be the best [executive officer or commanding officer] that you can be, this is the job for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would also like to stress, our WTIs are pretty damn successful. The ones that do choose to stick around, they are screening typically at a higher rate for [commanding officer] afloat than the overall [surface warfare officer] community. So pretty impressed with that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the number of WTIs naturally grows over time, and if SMWDC can boost its WTI production, there are already ideas for where else to place them: on all the surface ships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s more important, ultimately, to be able to assign a WTI as a department head on every ship. I think in a perfect world, every single ship gets a WTI. We\u2019re not there yet. And we\u2019ve got a number of barriers to overcome before we can get there: it\u2019s producing more of them. There\u2019s a distribution system that we have to work through. It\u2019s tough, tough challenges to move there. But I think that we need to have that conversation of how do I get one WTI per ship,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, Alexander said one of SMWDC\u2019s missions is to influence the future fight, and a great way to do that would be to put WTIs \u2014 the fleet\u2019s tactical experts in surface warfare \u2014 into program offices and requirements offices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Navy will kick off a pilot program this fall to fill billets at the Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems and at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren with WTIs who have completed their production tours and a department head tour on a ship. The first WTI is set to show up at PEO IWS in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alexander said the pilot program may expand to NSWC Panama City to address the mine warfare piece of SMWDC\u2019s work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n