Unleash Enlisted Sailors as WTIs
Investing in enlisted warfare tactics instructors would improve the surface force’s combat effectiveness and lethality.
By Lieutenant Kyle Cregge, U.S. Navy
January 2021
Proceedings
Vol. 147/1/1,415
On 27 October 1943, Lieutenant Commander Ernest Evans assumed command of the USS Johnston (DD-557).1 Declaring to his new crew and guests, “This is going to be a fighting ship,†he motioned toward the bunting-draped destroyer and added, “I intend to go in harm’s way, and anyone who doesn’t want to go along had better get off right now.†He continued resolutely, “I will never again retreat from an enemy force.â€
In recognition of his valiant spirit and heroism in fighting his ship until she sank in the Battle off Samar on 25 October 1944, Evans posthumously was awarded the Medal of Honor, and the culture he set serves as an example to all Navy ships striving for battle-minded and combat-ready crews.2
To live up to that example, the Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center (SMWDC) should expand schoolhouse capacity beyond officer-centric warfare tactics instructor (WTI) courses to include enlisted tacticians, and the Navy should open WTI billets to
enlisted sailors to supplement officer tacticians on board ships. This would improve the Navy’s investment in the surface force’s combat effectiveness and lethality across all surface navy combatants and foster a culture of learning and excellence throughout all ranks and ratings.
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2021/january/unleash-enlisted-sailors-wtis
