{"id":17628,"date":"2017-08-27T16:45:56","date_gmt":"2017-08-27T16:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:00:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:00:37","slug":"navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Maybe today\u2019s Navy is just not very good at driving ships"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the wake of two fatal collisions of Navy warships with commercial vessels, current and former senior surface warfare officers are speaking out, saying today\u2019s Navy suffers from a disturbing problem: The SWO community is just not very good at driving ships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two collisions \u2014 and a total of 17 sailors lost at sea this summer \u2014 have raised concerns about whether this generation of surface fleet officers lack the basic core competency of their trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The problem is years in the making. Now, the current generation of officers rising into command-level billets lacks the skills, training, education and experience needed to operate effectively and safely at sea, according to current and former officers interviewed by Navy Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere is a systemic cultural wasteland in the SWO community right now, especially at the department head level,\u201d said retired Navy Capt. Rick Hoffman, who commanded the cruiser Hue City and the frigate DeWert and who, after retirement, taught SWOs ship handling in Mayport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe do not put a premium on being good mariners,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cWe put a premium on being good inspection takers and admin weenies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2017\/08\/17\/water-on-deck-get-out-the-navys-official-report-of-the-fitzgeralds-catastrophe-at-sea\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"209\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screen-Shot-2017-08-17-at-5.48.43-PM.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">\u2018Water on deck!\u2018 \u2018Get out!\u2018 \u2014 The Navy&#8217;s official report of the Fitzgerald&#8217;s catastrophe at sea<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Sailors had less than a minute to escape as seawater blasted through a massive hole in the destroyer Fitzgerald after a container ship struck its starboard side on June 19.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The series of accidents this year \u2014 and specifically the Aug. 20 collision of the destroyer John S. McCain \u2014 has shaken the Navy to its core.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pacific Fleet boss Adm. Scott Swift sent an internal message to his commanders saying the accidents occurred while conducting \u201cthe most basic of operations,\u201d according to a copy of the message obtained by Navy Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chief of Naval Operations John Richardson ordered a worldwide halt to Navy operations, a one-day \u201cpause\u201d that aims to get the fleet back on track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet many current and former officers say the problem dates back to 2003, when the Navy made severe cuts to SWO\u2019s initial training under the belief the young officers would just learn their trade at sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, the Navy\u2019s growing reliance on technology has eroded basic seamanship skills, former officers say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another factor is the timing of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, when the surface warfare community was hit hard by the demand for individual augmentees to support those ground operations, further robbing these officers of shipboard training and experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere is a growing suspicion among a small circle of current and former COs that chickens may be coming home to roost,\u201d retired Capt. Kevin Eyer, who commanded three Aegis cruisers, wrote in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usni.org\/magazines\/proceedings\/2017-08\/collisions-part-i\u2014what-are-root-causes\">Proceedings Magazine<\/a> online after the McCain collision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The growing problem has festered in a SWO culture that many believe is notoriously toxic. Competition and careerism make officers afraid to voice concerns and create an \u201ceveryone for themselves\u201d mentality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMost department heads I had were afraid to go to the captain with anything that might look bad for them \u2014 they did everything they did to protect their own reputations and wanted nothing to hamper them from eventually getting in the CO seat themselves,\u201d said former Lt. Jonathan Parin, who served onboard the destroyer James E. Williams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re fostering an environment that is counter to becoming a competent professional mariner and instead it\u2019s about looking out for yourself,\u201d Parin told Navy Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hoffman says he and his fellow SWO alumni are speaking out now in an attempt to get the Navy to make a full rudder correction and get back to the basics when it comes to driving ships and training junior surface warfare officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>TRAINING IN A BOX<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For nearly 30 years, all new surface warfare officers spent their first six months in uniform at the Surface Warfare Officer\u2019s School in Newport, Rhode Island, learning the theory behind driving ships and leading sailors as division officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But that changed in 2003. The Navy decided to eliminate the \u201cSWOS Basic\u201d school and simply send surface fleet officers out to sea to learn on the job. The Navy did that mainly to save money, and the fleet has suffered severely for it, said retired Cmdr. Kurt Lippold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Navy has cut training as a budgetary device and they have done it at the expense of our ability to operate safely at sea,\u201d said Lippold, who commanded the destroyer Cole in 2000 when it was attacked by terrorists in Yemen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After 2003, each young officer was issued a set of 21 CD-ROMs for computer-based training \u2014 jokingly called \u201cSWOS in a Box\u201d \u2014 to take with them to sea and learn. Young officers were required to complete this instructor-less course in between earning their shipboard qualifications, management of their divisions and collateral duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe elimination of SWOS Basic was the death knell of professional SWO culture in the United States Navy,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cI\u2019m not suggesting that \u2026 the entire surface warfare community is completely barren of professionalism. I\u2019m telling you that there are systemic problems, particularly at the department head level, where they are timid, where they lack resolve and they don\u2019t have the sea time we expect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"4928\" height=\"3264\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/170821-N-WJ640-030.JPG.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-40826\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/170821-N-WJ640-030.JPG.jpg 4928w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/170821-N-WJ640-030.JPG.jpg?resize=300,199 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/170821-N-WJ640-030.JPG.jpg?resize=768,509 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/170821-N-WJ640-030.JPG.jpg?resize=1024,678 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/170821-N-WJ640-030.JPG.jpg?resize=1536,1017 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/170821-N-WJ640-030.JPG.jpg?resize=2048,1356 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 4928px) 100vw, 4928px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tugboats from Singapore assist the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) as it steers towards Changi Naval Base, Republic of Singapore following a collision with the merchant vessel Alnic MC while underway east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore on Aug. 21.(U.S. Navy\/ Madailein Abbott)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In recent years, there\u2019s been a push to re-energize SWO training. And on paper, they\u2019ve got a course for every level of SWO \u2014 all the way up to the commanding officer level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Young SWOs now get about nine weeks in fleet concentration area classrooms. Generally, these new officers report to their ship first and then get a seat in school within the first couple of months on board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, Parin said, \u201conly a couple of days are dedicated to navigation and mariner skills. The rest is damage control and other material division officer-specific training.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another eight weeks of school comes between an officer\u2019s first and second division officer tours. They are taught more advanced skills, but still, the professional mariner instruction isn\u2019t what it should be, Hoffman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s still just a fraction of the original training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response to questions from Navy Times, Richardson said the fleet-wide review of Navy operations that he initiated after the McCain collision \u201cwill take a hard look at individual training and professional development, to include Surface Warfare Officer School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is the Navy\u2019s responsibility to ensure that our SWOs receive the training they need before they go to sea, and we take that responsibility very seriously,\u201d said Richardson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These criticisms began to surface years ago. In 2010, then Lt. Cmdr. Marc A. Drage, then a student at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, wrote an article titled \u201cTransforming the Surface Warfare Officer Training Curriculum,\u201d hoping at the time to spark some discussion and correction of the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe elimination of [SWOS Basic] has been detrimental to the education of SWO [division officers],\u201d Drage wrote. \u201cThe necessity for practice in a ship handling simulator has and will remain to be a priority throughout the development of SWOs as professional mariners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Decisions made for saving money have now \u201cposed more leadership, logistical and administrative problems,\u201d Drage wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now for the first time, almost 15 years after that major change in surface warfare training, that first generation of officers who received \u201cSWOS in a Box\u201d are now senior department heads and will soon assume command-level assignments aboard warships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hoffman says that some officers have been fortunate to serve under good COs who took the time to teach them, but more often, mentoring never occurred. The result is that ships at sea today are skippered by officers who lack of a fundamental understanding of what being a competent mariner truly is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe bottom line is that we don\u2018t train our junior officers well and we now have department heads without the training and experience they really need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>TOO MUCH TECHNOLOGY<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the search-and-rescue effort to find 10 missing sailors was underway in the South China Sea in late August, the Navy\u2019s top officer said one option for addressing concerns about Navy seamanship and readiness was to look to the defense industry for help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re always operating systems, right? And those systems are provided by our industrial partners,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/naval\/2017\/08\/21\/after-mccain-crash-cno-looks-to-industry-for-ideas\/\">Richardson said<\/a>. \u201cSo, we want to make sure we\u2019re looking as compressively as possible in terms of optimizing or improving the way we use those systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Hoffman said that\u2019s a symptom of a larger ill: The Navy has grown too dependent on technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe CNO is suggesting that there is a technical solution and we are looking to industry to provide a solution,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cI say this is about basic mariner skills and we need to put a premium on being good mariners, training and maintaining proficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Navy official told Navy Times that the CNO\u2019s comments were made in the context of a greater partnership in industry, and that the Navy isn\u2019t looking to industry to help them solve basic seamanship issues.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, too much reliance on technology is an easy crutch, and not a substitute for good-old ship driving skills, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey didn\u2019t run aground, they hit another moving object,\u201d he said, referring to the two major collisions this summer. \u201cIf I am staring at my radar, nav chart, phone or other watch standers, then I am not looking out the window,\u201d Hoffman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s no substitute for using your own eyes, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA radar can tell you something is out there, but it can\u2019t tell you if it\u2019s turning,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cOnly your eyes can tell you that. You have to put your eyes on the iron.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=6760829e-6897-49b8-8e79-6a50f2988a57\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Amid the fallout from the destroyer John S. McCain\u2019s collision, the four-star admiral who leads the Pacific Fleet lamented Tuesday that a series of at-sea disasters in 7th Fleet\u2019s waters are taking place during \u201dthe most basic of operations.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>GROUND WARS<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The training of today\u2019s SWOs was further eroded by the Pentagon\u2019s focus on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Before 2010, many Navy officers who were expected to learn on the job were not on ships at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During critical times in their professional development, they were taken away from their ships and sent to serve as individual augmentees with soldiers and Marines fighting in land-based operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 2011 study by the Center for Naval Analyses identified SWOs as one of the six hardest hit officer designators by IA requirements. The cost, the study said, was the loss of hundreds of \u201cman-years\u201d in the fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Navy did nothing to help them make up for that lost time, professionally. They never gave them the chance to get back what they lost,\u201d Lippold said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat year went away and when they came back, they were expected to pick up and move on as if they\u2019d been driving ships the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>CULTURE<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Parin said today\u2019s Navy culture rewards checking the box on qualifications, passing inspections and stacking resumes with career-minded assignments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officers spend very little time learning basic navigation skills or other essential seamanship. That results in a feeling, he said, of never really knowing what you are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe moved around jobs so much that you would just start to get the hang of what you were doing and you\u2018d be moved on,\u201d he said. \u201cYou never really got to know anything well, and the pressure to qualify was and is intense so it\u2019s about qualifying and not learning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Too much busy work drains the energy of the officers who are responsible for the ship and its safety. Often, those officers are simply exhausted from lack of sleep. It\u2019s probably not a coincidence, Hoffman says, that both of the collisions happened in the wee hours of the morning, when already fatigued sailors and officers are standing watches with little or no sleep under their belts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen we do go to sea, we have a huge requirement to do engineering drills, combat systems training, etc., which will take precedence over the need for rested and alert watch standers,\u201d Hoffman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf the CO is focused on the next inspection or assessment, he is not focused on his real mission \u2014 to safely go from place to place and be prepared to deliver ordnance when required.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The two collisions \u2014 and a total of 17 sailors lost at sea this summer \u2014 have raised concerns about whether this generation of surface fleet officers lack the basic core competency of their trade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":40824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":12,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3095],"class_list":["post-17628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"HCLHFYGTIZBWTJU6SUFWK5JTII","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Maybe today\u2019s Navy is just not very good at driving ships - Marine Corps Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The two collisions \u2014 and a total of 17 sailors lost at sea this summer \u2014 have raised concerns about whether this generation of surface fleet officers lack the basic core competency of their trade.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maybe today\u2019s Navy is just not very good at driving ships\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The two collisions \u2014 and a total of 17 sailors lost at sea this summer \u2014 have raised concerns about whether this generation of surface fleet officers lack the basic core competency of their trade.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Marine Corps Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-27T16:45:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T19:00:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark D. Faram\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark D. Faram\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/27\\\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/27\\\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Maybe today\u2019s Navy is just not very good at driving ships\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2017-08-27T16:45:56+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T19:00:37+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/27\\\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 2011,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/27\\\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/NAV-swo-904.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"News\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/27\\\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/27\\\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/27\\\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Maybe today\u2019s Navy is just not very good at driving ships - Marine Corps Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/27\\\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/27\\\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/NAV-swo-904.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2017-08-27T16:45:56+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T19:00:37+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"The two collisions \u2014 and a total of 17 sailors lost at sea this summer \u2014 have raised concerns about whether this generation of surface fleet officers lack the basic core competency of their trade.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/27\\\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/27\\\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/27\\\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/NAV-swo-904.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/NAV-swo-904.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/27\\\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"News\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/news\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"news\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Maybe today\u2019s Navy is just not very good at driving ships\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Marine Corps Times\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Marine Corps - Independent News For Marines | Marine Corps Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Marine Corps Times\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/marine-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/marine-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Marine Corps Times\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/marinecorpstimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Maybe today\u2019s Navy is just not very good at driving ships - Marine Corps Times","description":"The two collisions \u2014 and a total of 17 sailors lost at sea this summer \u2014 have raised concerns about whether this generation of surface fleet officers lack the basic core competency of their trade.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Maybe today\u2019s Navy is just not very good at driving ships","og_description":"The two collisions \u2014 and a total of 17 sailors lost at sea this summer \u2014 have raised concerns about whether this generation of surface fleet officers lack the basic core competency of their trade.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/","og_site_name":"Marine Corps Times","article_published_time":"2017-08-27T16:45:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T19:00:37+00:00","author":"Mark D. Faram","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark D. Faram","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Maybe today\u2019s Navy is just not very good at driving ships","datePublished":"2017-08-27T16:45:56+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T19:00:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/"},"wordCount":2011,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NAV-swo-904.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/","name":"Maybe today\u2019s Navy is just not very good at driving ships - Marine Corps Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NAV-swo-904.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2017-08-27T16:45:56+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T19:00:37+00:00","description":"The two collisions \u2014 and a total of 17 sailors lost at sea this summer \u2014 have raised concerns about whether this generation of surface fleet officers lack the basic core competency of their trade.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NAV-swo-904.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NAV-swo-904.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2017\/08\/27\/navy-swos-a-culture-in-crisis\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/","ad_zone":"news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Maybe today\u2019s Navy is just not very good at driving ships"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/","name":"Marine Corps Times","description":"Marine Corps - Independent News For Marines | Marine Corps Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#organization","name":"Marine Corps Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/marine-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/marine-logo-white.png","caption":"Marine Corps Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NAV-swo-904.jpg.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Marine Corps Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17628"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93575,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17628\/revisions\/93575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17628"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=17628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}