Bored and thought I would post this here. I’m an 1110 SWO on my second tour. Willing to answer questions about the ship life, etc. But nothing stupid/classified or operations related.
>>65108046thank goodness you made this thread cause I was about toI want to write a Clancy-type novel about future USN destroyer combat.I know a lot about the (unclassified, public) combat stuff anyone can read on Wikipedia or whatever. But for ship life itself, I've only managed to watch some Youtube mini-docu clips and read some deployment scrapbooks.Could you please describe the (unclassified) typical stops on a destroyer deployment?e.g. week 1, sensor calibration, week 2, weapons training, week 3, boat and fire drills, week 4, live fire, week 5, visit to allied port, etc?
>>65108046I am currently a middle manager for a fortune 100 company. I am bored with my job and want to better develop my leadership skills in an environment that is different from the fluorescent dungeon that I currently work in. I lead 12 people, 10 of which are Indian, and I feel like I will never have the chance to become a real leader when I am instead valued more for my proficiency in Hinglish. Is going SWO a valid way to accomplish my goal of avoiding my seemingly inevitable role as a lifelong middle manager of Indians? Is SWO leadership experience valued enough to help me chart a long term course towards upper leadership?
>>65108046You like cock?
>>65108046What's your honest assessment of where the PLA navy is at right now? Specifically their destroyer/cruiser fleet
>>65108046Are you going to make life career out of it?
>>65108165Not OPI think in objective measurements, your life will be worse in the military than in the civilian sector, for less money, and I don't think it will give you much of an advantage in regards to climbing the corporate ladder. But if you can derive more psychological satisfaction from it, then it might be worthwhileAs for leadership, isn't all leadership just tardwrangling at its core?
Which jobs could be automated to lower the amount of disciplinary issues?
>>65108214Hopefully. I’ve really enjoyed it so far and couldn’t see doing anything else. >>65108312Not disciplinary issues, but if you look at the history of ship design the actual amount of watchstanders is at an all time minimum. Civilian ships are even more automated, to the point where most of the giant tankers you see are only staffed by 20-ish mariners. The problem arises when things start to break, or if there’s an emergency onboard. A civilian ship can just pull back into port and get their stuff fixed, the Navy doesn’t have that option, especially during combat operations. So that inherently puts a limit on how much automation can actually “replace jobs” on the ship. Long story short, you’re still going to need the same amount of sailors to 1) Serve as troubleshooting technicians for the equipment and 2) Man the DC lockers. The Navy is investing heavily in USVs and UUVs but those are kind of their own thing, and they won’t serve a purpose analogous to our surface combatants until I’m probably long gone from the Navy.
SWO(N) second tour here>>65108087By the time you get to actual deployment there should not be very much to do as far as assessments go. Work ups take months leading into deployment and cover all those bases you mentioned over and over. Look up OFRP for an idea of what it takes to get a ship to sea. As far as things that are done on the actual deployment, I would expect to be doing a GQ (spoken General Quarters) drill every Saturday, which lets you knock out some firefighting drills and weapons drills (purely electronic training in CIC) at the same time. As far as actual missions, they usually boil down to going to an op-box somewhere and talking to some foreigners on the radio. My ship was an independent deployer so we didn't have to get pushed around by a strike group, but that is the reality for lots of the destroyers out there. Exciting events are pretty much live fires of small guns and mk 45 which happen once every two weeks, UNREP which happen about as often, and occasional actual problems like equipment casualties, Fires, or Poop explosions. Port visits are scheduled about once per month, but are often cancelled because of high level ass covering and anti-terror concerns. For the average person on board, the scheduling of exercises will seem pretty random, but it is actually governed by an arcane system of half broken websites that monitor training objectives. Idk I'm kind of rambling. Can you ask more specific questions? I'll be around all day >>65108165In short, no. Do not leave behind your good job to become a SWO. I will say I find most of the sailors very likeable and relatable which is better than your situation, but SWO is more of being groomed for ship command than being in charge of your division. In a healthy division, the chief is the person who handles the day to day and has the actual respect of the sailors. Chief requires years of enlisted service (bad).
>>65108213Don’t really want to go into this, but consider this: Other than the Royal Navy during the Falklands (on a small scale), the US is the only country with actual first-hand experience in the combat employment of Guided Missile Destroyers.
>>65108046Do you guys respect SuppOs
>>65108419Of course. Suppo is a brutal job because you’re the junior most department head (other than Nav technically) and everyone likes to blame all their issues on “S1 fucked us, etc”. You are dealing with 70+ sailors, in-depth financial inspections with potential criminal consequences, and you’ll only have three chiefs and an ensign to help you out. And unlike the other department heads who have had two sea tours and a shore tour to work their shit out, the average suppo will have just one or maybe even zero previous ship tours.
>>65108368thanks a lot>the scheduling of exercises will seem pretty random, but it is actually governed by an arcane system of half broken websites that monitor training objectiveswhat kind of exercises would these be?>Exciting events are pretty much live fires of small guns and mk 45 which happen once every two weekswhat about live fire missile exercises?why did you join the Navy, and what about your shipmates / subordinates, why did they join the Navy? how long do they stay, what are their career aspirations?what's your take, speaking generally, on the LCS, Constellation, and Trump class warships?what ships and weapons would you buy if you were made admiral?
>>65108046Is the sea really crowded with civilian and/or potential enemy navy ships?
>>65108461Its crowded with the very sudden appearance of cargo ships or sea mounts that teleport. US Navy is defeated by them all.
>>65108046any fun hazing stories?a friend of mine had to down a 76mil casing after the first time they had gunnery training with him aboard
>>65108046What changes would you like to see?
>>65108046When I was working in the officer's mess in 2016 on the Whidbey Island, you officers got this special Starbucks Coffee blend but everybody else got some bullshit Maxwell house. I use the Maxwell House in y'alls coffee every time. Eventually one of y'all got unreasonably mad over it and showed me how to do and I played dumb the entire time. Just want you to know I did that shit on purpose and fuck you officers for budgeting in such a way that you guys can have Starbucks but everybody else has to get the Walmart bullshit. Fuck you lol.But real talk you might be less gay than average seeing as you're here.>In a healthy division, the chief is the person who handles the day to day and has the actual respect of the sailors.Ok this nigga moght just be alright.
>>65108461If you’re 100+ miles out you’ll maybe see another ship every other day if you’re lucky. In a busy shipping channel? Ships as far as the eye can see. It’s hard to explain, but when you’re doing the Singapore straights transit you’re literally in rush hour traffic on the freeway, but with ships.
>>65108484Somebody told a poor DCFN that you had to “suck on the sounding tubes in order to make them work.” Unfortunately, that statement was taken seriously. >>65108495More ships, more sailors, more investment in shipyards. Ideally, limiting duty section requirements somewhat to allow us to expand into 7-ish section duty.
>>65108456Exercises are divided into warfare areas. For a destroyer, there are a lot of possible missions and each generally has one officer or chief who is in charge of advocating for their mission area and getting their exercises done. Areas include things like seamanship (shiphandling), damage control, search and rescue, engineering drills (practicing what to do in the event of failures of engines, reduction gears, steering, etc) and more warfare oriented things like air defense, ballistic missile defense, surface warfare, antisubmarine warfare. Each of these areas is divided into individual events that must be satisfied on a rotating basis. Example: Antisubmarine warfare has events where TMA is practiced, decoys/towed array are tested, ASROC firing is simulated, and many more. Air defense may have you taking AEGIS into training mode and playing a variety of video game scenarios (only done in a safe area). During each exercise, more experienced members of the crew serve as training team and wear funny colored hats to show they are non players. Requirements change often and if you just make some stuff up that seems like it could have tactical relevance you'll be fine.I have never live fired any missiles. With AEGIS in training, we can simulate every operator input that would be required to fire, and some scenarios include failure to fire to train us how to deal with that. The only value in missile firing is weapons testing which is carried out 90% of the time by a handful of lucky units.I joined because I wanted the adventure of serving. This is a typical motivation for an officer. I am getting out, also typical of non-psychopath officers. The enlisted join for a variety of reasons, money, escaping rural dead end lives, seeking adventure, just plain stupid. Most enlisted leave after one contract to go make more money somewhere else. Staying in as enlisted makes more sense since they often have more job satisfaction. 1/2
>>65108046>nothing stupid >is a swoLmao
>>65108505What kind of ships does an officer want to see? People on here cry and piss themselves at the new frigate proposals. What do you expect from the new designs?
>>65108505>sounding tubesas in for the bilge tank? fucking gross
>>65108046What weapons do you want to see integrated or developed for large surface combatants over the next decade?I'm partial to guns, but the only thing getting traction nowadays is lasers and hypersonics.
>>65108046If this applies to your ship, does it bother you that there are no harpoons for anti-shipping duty on most Burkes?
>>65108046have you figured out yet that nobody actually does maintenance?
>>65108456LCS is a good idea and I think it gets shit on unfairly. For one they look pretty cool. Going fast is fun. They are truly shit minesweepers though. Constellation is a gay compromise ship that will never be built, Trump class is just retarded and will never be built. If I was in charge of procurement I would be buying something that has a low cross section, uses existing VLS system, has a really powerful radar similar to SPY, but also has multiple light antiaircraft emplacements to cheaply kill suicide drones. It must be able to house and launch 2 helicopters for ASW purposes. I honestly thing 5" gun is an overrated capability and could be replaced by surface to surface missiles or ideally missiles from helicopters. Propulsion should be gas turbine.>>65108507On God my co-workers are usually cool people but some are just the dumbest motherfuckers around and many washed from flight school or some other program they actually wanted. >>65108497E-dogs stay mad we literally eat the same food. The wardroom pays for its own coffee dumbass that's why our shit is better.>>65108540Big guns are unfortunately not useful for the American gameplan. We have lost our stomach for indiscriminate shore bombardment. We have prototype missile dazzling lasers which is pretty neat. What's really exciting is that they are trying to make infrared cameras that will be used to take stellar fixes even during the daytime. GPS denial is still a threat but not nearly as scary.
>>65108452I appreciate that pep talk, the general feel i get is I'll just be the butt of jokes at OCS and in fleet, but I'm colorblind so its the only job I can do (besides intel, but my wife is foreign). My recruiting chief likes me and doesnt guve me shit for SuppO but I've gotten jabs from the other recruiters at the depot that give me a bit of concern.
>>65108573>LCS is a good idea and I think it gets shit on unfairlylolwut
>>65108506>. Areas include things like seamanship (shiphandling), damage control, search and rescue, engineering drills (practicing what to do in the event of failures of engines, reduction gears, steering, etc) and more warfare oriented things like air defense, ballistic missile defense, surface warfare, antisubmarine warfare. Each of these areas is divided into individual events that must be satisfied on a rotating basisdo you manage to do all that in a single working-up and deployment cycle?>I joined because I wanted the adventure of serving. This is a typical motivation for an officer. I am getting out, also typical of non-psychopath officers. The enlisted join for a variety of reasons, money, escaping rural dead end lives, seeking adventure, just plain stupid. Most enlisted leave after one contract to go make more money somewhere else. Staying in as enlisted makes more sense since they often have more job satisfactionthankswhat's the typical career path and number of years served for the typical Navy psycho, non-psycho, and enlisted?how do modern ship's crew communicate with families, and how often?
>>65108046how bad is undermanning & deferred maintenance right now? do you think the navy will ever get around to fixing it or will they let the problem fester until it sinks a ship or something equally embarrassing?
>>65108046When the Zumwalts get their hypersonic missiles, should they be reclassified as a Cruiser? CGH-1000 (Cruiser, Guided missile, Hypersonic)? Asking for a friend.
>>65108573>They are truly shit minesweepers though.So we should be going back to drag chains and EOD divers?
>>65108046what department are you in and also have you thanked a GSE today?
>>65108573>trying to make infrared cameras that will be used to take stellar fixes even during the daytimeThey had that decades ago. Look at a pic of a SR-71. You will see a round disk on spine of the plane just aft of the cockpit. Used for celestial navigation at mach 3 in the era before GPS.
QRD on bridges run entirely by enlisted?
>>65108046What billet did you get? Tell me not DCA. I did 1st LT for first tour and COMPSRON for second tour. COMPSRON is a blast, super fun and not hard to get. Would recommend for any other people ending their first sea tour. It's like an 8 man staff with 2 other line officers and you work 3 hours a day then go scuba diving or surfing or get shit faced with the RMs, they have like 5 boats set aside just for deep sea fishing and you don't have to write casreps or stand watch since the Mariners do that. Plus you get to fuck around with Bradley's and Abrams and D-9s and a lot of other shit you normally would never get to do as a SWO. Underways are usually some spooky lily pad stuff for SEALs or SOF-D. Also the way leave and rotator schedule works you're almost definitely going to be an acting Commodore for at least a couple weeks each tour. As a LTJG. Which I found amusing
>>65108498>straightsDisregard; idiot posting.
>>651080461v1 Burke flight III vs Type 055 Renhai: out of 10 fights, how many times does the Burke win?
