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Answer by Marty Erdossy, captain, U.S. Navy (retired):
To maintain fleet readiness, a ship’s crew must be trained and proficient enough to effectively operate the ship in combat. Additionally, the ship and its equipment must be fully operational and reliable. Finally, the ship should have the supplies, ordnance, and fuel on board required for the ship to conduct sustained combat operations.
Let me talk a little about the challenges of training a team the size of a small city. During my 30 months as the commanding officer of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73), I expended much of my energy making sure my ship and crew were combat-ready. It is easy to understand that after an extensive maintenance period, much work must be done to return the crew to a combat-ready level of proficiency. For a number of reasons, the training challenge actually never ends. One reason is that new untrained personnel arrive almost every day. Another is that the ship and air wing team are capable of so many different types of missions; it is easy to lose proficiency for some of those missions in just a short period of time. In heavy combat operations, the missions are often exactly the same every day. During repetitive operations you can find that the team is really good at one task but have their skills atrophy in another.
U.S. Navy aircraft carriers that are not deployed “on station” overseas undergo what is generally referred to as a turnaround training cycle. This period is made up of maintenance and training and usually some time spent as an operationally ready aircraft carrier that can quickly deploy in response to our nation’s needs. When an aircraft carrier returns from a deployment, it may maintain a ready-carrier condition for a few months, or it may transition into a maintenance period, which could last from a few months to nearly a year.
In 1997, I reported to the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) as the executive officer (XO) while the ship was undergoing a heavy maintenance period in a dry dock at Newport News, Virginia. One of the XO’s primary responsibilities is to train the crew. This was one of the toughest yet most rewarding jobs of my naval career. Taking that ship from a heavy industrial maintenance period to flying aircraft in support of combat operations in Kosovo in just under a year’s time was an incredible transformation.
During the maintenance period, with the ship’s equipment in what seemed like a million pieces, we were already thinking about being ready to operate the ship during combat conditions. During this period, as the training team leader, I made up my training teams of experienced crew members who would do the training required to make sure the crew was ready when we went on deployment. My training team learned about how to train the crew and developed the scenarios we would use to train the crew. Meanwhile, other crew members did classroom-style training to review the basics, such as first aid, damage control, and normal and emergency operating procedures for their equipment.
During this phase, the commanding officer and I took bridge watch teams to a shore-based navigation simulator with visual displays and all of the equipment normally found on the bridge. In these simulators we practiced our communications and watch-standing procedures. We tested ourselves on the nautical rules of the road and our ship handling skill. Likewise, those who operated the ship’s defenses went to off-ship training at facilities specifically designed for them to maintain proficiency or learn and practice the latest war-fighting tactics. The air traffic controllers also went to shore-based controller simulators and conducted actual aircraft control from shore-based control stations. The ship’s air wing personnel used this time to hone their skills on bombing ranges and in Top Gun–like air-to-air tactics training.
Near the completion of the maintenance period, the ship conducted a training event called a “fast cruise,” during which all of the ship’s watch stations were manned and communications verified, while most normal operating checklists and procedures were executed as if the ship was actually getting underway. My training teams monitored the watch-stander’s performance, teaching the crew when necessary. Only when the commanding officer was satisfied that the crew was properly trained did he allow the ship to go to sea.
About the same time as the ship was preparing for fast cruise, the air wing pilots conducted field carrier landing practice (FCLP), where they flew their aircraft to a simulated carrier deck at an airfield. These landings were observed by a landing signal officer (LSO) who trained and certified that the pilots had demonstrated the proficiency required to land their aircraft on a ship at sea. When I was an E-2C Hawkeye squadron LSO, I spent many sleepless nights sitting in an old greenhouse-like shack at the end of a runway, critiquing my squadron pilots’ landing performance in preparation for going to sea. While watching airplanes landing at night may sound like fun, this was very serious business. Because of the inherit dangers associated with aircraft carrier operations, the standards for pilot performance are extremely high. After each practice session each pilot was debriefed on the trends he exhibited during that session. Grades were assigned to each attempted landing. Meticulous records were maintained and graphs were developed that pictorially displayed the good and bad corrections the pilot made while attempting to land the aircraft. As with any task requiring skillful execution, the practice under the critical eye and constructive feedback of a good coach quickly improved the performance of the pilots.
You might ask, “Why don’t you save a lot of money by doing all of the training ashore?” While the various simulators are good, they are designed primarily for teaching the basics. Similar to the blocking and tackling drills used in football, they are important but do not take the place of a practice game or scrimmage. Operating at sea brings a complexity to the training scenarios that just can’t be replicated ashore.
During the early at-sea periods, the ship operated for a short period without aircraft. This allowed the ship’s crew to check out the equipment and build on the previous training. This training period is where the crew really learned to work together as a team. Every piece of equipment was tested and exercised. The crew’s skill and the ship’s weapons systems were tested by shooting at drones and towed targets. The propulsion plant operators drilled and practiced every imaginable emergency scenario. Simulated fires, battle damage, and personal injuries were used to test the crew. Surprise “general quarters” (or battle stations drills) were conducted to exercise the crew and the ship’s equipment. As the proficiency level increased, so did the complexity of the operations and the drills that the training team used to train the crew.
When the air wing arrived, the pilots were required to demonstrate proficiency during day landings before moving on to the more difficult night landings. In keeping with the “crawl, walk, run” concept, early operations were conducted with less than a full complement of aircraft. Again, as proficiency improved, the flight deck became more crowded with aircraft, and the crew was given more challenging scenarios. The air wing personnel were integrated into the ship’s training program. They responded alongside the ship’s company to fight simulated flight deck fires, acted as stretcher bearers for mass-casualty drills and performed first aid to simulated injured shipmates.
Throughout this process, various experts assessed the progress of the crew and the condition of the ship’s equipment. In the early phases of the training, they assisted the crew with the training and the grooming of the equipment, but as time went on their role shifted to an inspection or certification responsibility. Each new day brought a more challenging flight schedule. More aircraft were launched and recovered during each event. The aircraft carried more complex load-outs of weapons, some of which were used on target drones or bombing ranges. Other Navy ships and aircraft simulated the enemy during later phases of training. When the crew and the ship achieved an adequate level of fleet readiness, we were certified ready to deploy for combat operations.
The training doesn’t end with the certification, because even during peacetime operations, aircraft carrier operations require great care and attention to prevent disaster. Without a continuous training program, proficiency will erode. During my tour as the commanding officer, the carrier air group (CAG) commander and I had regular discussions about our ship and air wing team’s proficiency. Even during two nearly back-to-back combat cruises, we scheduled training events to sharpen the skills of our team.
In other words, “operating at sea to maintain fleet readiness” means to train or practice as a team. This is an important investment that keeps our ships and sailors combat ready.
What does it mean for a US aircraft carrier to be maintaining fleet readiness? originally appeared on Quora. More questions on Quora:
