Quote:
Originally Posted by hooligan
Navy personnel aren't soldiers, that's the Army. Navy personnel are sailors.
So, women drying their hair is the death knell for military readiness? Interesting take. Please elaborate.
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Yup.
It's been well over 100 years since big naval guns were loaded by hand. A delicate little lady can punch a hydraulic control button as hard as any man, and a girl can steer the boat with electronic controls as easily as any man can. There are still many places where male muscle is necessary, but it ain't like the old days.
Any trained woman can steer a modern ship at sea just as good as any man.
But the steering isn't the most important thing about driving a ship most of the time. Ship handling is the skill that points the bow in the right direction, the knowledge of how fast to allow the ship to go, where the ship is on a map at the moment, and how best to command all that stuff to those who actually do the steering, control the speed, etc.
Now that can be learned by a woman too, but it is an absolute necessity for every fleet officer who hopes to have a ship of his own. It's just like aviation; screw up once and the airplane is taken away forever. Run aground, and an officer may as well retire on the spot, as he's finished.
Damage the ship, and he's courtmartialed. And then finished in disgrace.
The problem the Navy has now is ship handling. That's something that all junior line officers must know and must practice to become proficient.
No ship's captain can live on the bridge of his vessel. Other officers must be able to drive the ship when he's not there.
Now if the ship is a small one, it's not that hard to drive in normally calm waters. But if it's an aircraft carrier, it's a totally different story. An Ensign could drive the first, but never the second. The difference in skill is too great to trust to the most junior officer.
What happens on a ship when even the more senior officers are lousy drivers too, except for the captain, the XO, and a couple of old salts?
Collisions. With other ships, on reefs and sandbars, with docks, You name it.
Since our ships are growing ever more expensive, and the ability to drive a ship is still difficult, maybe it's time for the Navy to create a new class of officer specialists whose primary job is ship handling.
When every Officer of the Line is supposed to know how to command the con, they are all trained in it, and if they fail, the don't get commissioned. What they don't get is the experience. That's expected to come through time alone, and the thought goes all the way back to sails and wood.
Officer specialties exist now; Engine officers don't ever con the ship, nor do Navigators, Doctors, and many other specialties. Maybe it's time to create a new one. Our ships have changed much faster than our officer corps.
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