Author Topic: Collision Reports Reveal Bigger Issue  (Read 398 times)

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rangerrebew

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Collision Reports Reveal Bigger Issue
« on: November 17, 2017, 11:33:31 am »
Collision Reports Reveal Bigger Issue

Proceedings Magazine - November 2017 Vol.

Captain Kevin Eyer, U.S. Navy
(Ret.)

 

The document released by the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) on 1 November, entitled “USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain Collision Reports,” is not a simple compilation of the two discrete Judge Advocate General Manual (JAGMAN) investigations that were conducted subsequent to each of these collisions. Those investigations, traditionally replete with raw facts and vital conclusions, have not been seen by the public – and they never may be. Rather, the CNO’s document is a highly filtered, specifically targeted, plain-language communication evidently designed for public consumption. To those accustomed to reading naked JAGMAN investigations, this report seems largely intended to satisfy only the casual civilian observer regarding delivery on the Navy’s repeated promises of “transparency” in these two accidents.

The hope must be that the Navy’s leadership identifies ground truth in all cases and takes the right actions to correct the long-term issues in the surface force.

https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2017-11/collision-reports-reveal-bigger-issue

Offline Smokin Joe

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Re: Collision Reports Reveal Bigger Issue
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2017, 11:50:35 pm »
From the article:

Quote
What is not answered in any detail are the following questions:

► What were all the players thinking, and why were they thinking those things?

► How is it possible that the bridge team members on the Fitzgerald were unable to employ a radar effectively?

► How is it possible on the John S. McCain that no one in the pilothouse seemed to understand the functions associated with the helm and lee helm?

How is it that there are not multiple crew members present in the wheelhouse at least conversant enough with the systems to perform gross maneuvers of the ship?  In a combat situation it is possible that any or all of these personnel present could be incapacitated. If there is only one person present who  can operate the helm, that lack of redundancy places the ship at risk. If no one can, the result is no surprise, only a probability (especially in 'crowded' waters) approaching certainty that there will be such an accident.

The navy has been in this rat trap before. Fires on the Oriskany and Forestall indicated a fundamental weakness in the training of only specialized fire response crews on the vessel, in both cases resulting in damage and loss of life beyond that which would be expected under similar circumstances with a crew where every person had some firefighting training.  The Navy corrected that problem, by requiring everyone on the vessel to learn the basics.

Here, again a critical weakness resulting from overspecialization has been exposed. Bridge crew should be cross trained in at least the fundamentals of maneuvering the ship (including collision avoidance equipment such as radars) to at least have the opportunity to prevent such accidents in the future.

If, in the quest to cut costs or for whatever reason, these vessels are undermanned, then that needs to be addressed. In a force which has been shrinking, one would think there would be available personnel who could adapt to a new vessel more readily, with at least an understanding of fundamentals, requiring only training in upgrades and new systems.

Just my civilian $0.02
How God must weep at humans' folly! Stand fast! God knows what he is doing!
Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

C S Lewis