{"id":17551,"date":"2019-03-11T18:09:48","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T18:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/03\/11\/vcno-on-the-go-moran-stops-in-norfolk-to-eye-surface-warfare-reforms\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:33:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:33:16","slug":"vcno-on-the-go-moran-stops-in-norfolk-to-eye-surface-warfare-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/03\/11\/vcno-on-the-go-moran-stops-in-norfolk-to-eye-surface-warfare-reforms\/","title":{"rendered":"VCNO on the go: Moran stops in Norfolk to eye surface warfare reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ON BOARD THE GUIDED-MISSILE DESTROYER TRUXTUN \u2014 Sometimes a VCNO just has to see it for himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Bill Moran<\/a> popped into Naval Base Norfolk to peek at ongoing reforms in the wake of two fatal 2017 collisions in the Western Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been 13 months since the Navy debuted its Readiness Reform and Oversight Council <\/a>to distill lessons from multiple probes into the disasters involving the Truxtun\u2019s sister guided-missile destroyers Fitzgerald and John S. McCain and a pair of commercial vessels that combined to leave 17 sailors dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-chaired by Moran, it continues to oversee implementation of the late 2017 Comprehensive Review and Strategic Readiness Review reports. Navy leaders say that they adopted 103 recommendations for fixing the surface fleet and 91 actions have been completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But VCNO wanted to hear from sailors, and he\u2019s planning a trip to visit with San Diego personnel, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI heard things that gave me a lot of confidence that we\u2019re heading in the right direction,\u201d Moran told reporters gathered on the Truxtun<\/a>\u2019s fantail. \u201cBut all of them cautioned me, rightfully, that we\u2019re still early into this and we\u2019ve got to give this time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the Navy doesn\u2019t want to declare mission completed until the sea service has completed \u201ca lot of data that show these changes are having a good impact,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/atype-video-jwplayer>
Navy Adm. Bill Moran capped a one-day visit to Naval Station Norfolk by saying he was encouraged by what he heard from local sailors and commanders.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

Moran pointed to Norfolk\u2019s high tech training simulators as critical tools to hiking readiness and drilling watchstanders in case they encounter similar conditions at sea. While he\u2019s heard glowing reviews about \u201cbridge resource management training\u201d on simulators that incorporates a Combat Information Center, he groused that commands here must stand in line to get the instruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was not happy, not pleased, to see the lack of capacity in the simulation that exists here on the waterfront,\u201d Moran said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VCNO said that he was told there\u2019s only one trainer that allows bridge and CIC teams to train together and that was \u201cnowhere near enough\u201d what the Navy in Norfolk needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigators probing the Fitzgerald collision<\/a> determined that a dysfunctional relationship between bridge watchstanders and the CIC <\/a>was a key cause of the tragedy that claimed the lives of seven American sailors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moran said that a permanent solution to the training glut at the Norfolk simulator can be fixed by building a larger facility, a Navy initiative he said is \u201cfully funded\u201d but that\u2019s also \u201ctwo to three years away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar lack of simulator capacity dogs San Diego but that facility is being renovated now and should be ready in about a year, according to VCNO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the interim, we\u2019ve got to make up some capacity,\u201d Moran said. \u201cThat\u2019s one I\u2019m taking back with me, I don\u2019t think we have that right, yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar trainers are planned to be erected in other stations where \u201cwe have ships,\u201d Moran said, including Florida\u2019s Mayport, Washington\u2019s Everett, Spain\u2019s Rota and Japan and Bahrain so that officers and their sailors can \u201cdo a lot more reps and sets,\u201d Moran said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of hunger for it here, right now and we\u2019re not able to service the need and that\u2019s something we\u2019ve got to fix,” VCNO said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t