He doesn’t really have a firm grasp on the big picture and is very Navy biased. He wasted all that unlimited tonnage sea time on a limited license that is a shame. NROTC and even the academy do not prepare SWO’s for a maritime license, they don’t even teach Navigation at the academy anymore. While some of those courses, SWO included, should absolutely be reviewed and approved by the USCG for credentialing and even sea time if appropriate, they don’t add up even slightly to a Maritime Degree.
Naval officers don’t have nearly the autonomy or skill that Licensed Mate has. They rely on the other dozen people on the bridge to navigate, avoid collision, and pilot. They can be Political Science majors with 16 weeks of SWO school, that doesn’t compare even marginally to 4 years of focused Maritime training. Naval ships spend a huge amount of time in port, NMC will appropriately only count 60% of the sea time.
So while some of his arguments are legit, the Navy could definitely do more to align the trainings and streamline transition, they do need to get out of their own way. And the first step, he nailed, stop imagining that Merchant is inferior to SWO, and stop imagining that the a real credential and real ship experience is a step down. Seamanship is just one of the skills that SWO’s learn, Naval gunnery, Air intercept, pomp and ceremony have no bearing on a civilian credential and are correctly disregarded by the NMC. They spend a lot of time on ships, not engaged in seamanship, and that is not the case for Merchant Mariners. All day is spent on shipboard duties in the Merchant service.
As long as the Navy is focused on the outdated Von Clauswitz doctrine that every officer should be a generalist, then their experience wont apply well to specialized credentials.
I am always torn on the military to mariner thing. I can see its benefits. The understanding of a civilian license for most SWO officers is far outside their training and seems to get lost in the discussion on the subject outside of the old salts here.
One thing in his article I do agree with was
Quote: “By facilitating access to maritime certifications and encouraging participation in the civilian maritime sector, the Navy could improve Reserve SWO skills, readiness, and versatility.”
I wish there was some way to have a more direct civilian “cadet” experience for these military mariners. Never will happen as the navy would not want to put their people on a civilian ship and unions probably would not like it either. Maybe it could be something that happens through unions/employers when they are civilians apply for licenses. Sort of a last step, that would ease some requirements if you can demonstrate skill onboard a real civilian vessel. I am not smart enough to propose how that would wade through the bureaucratic process to become a CFR.
Regarding licenses the article author did get issued, I hope he is mentored well when he starts working on them as they are very different from what he did in the Navy. He is likely ill-prepared but teachable 200 ton master, 500 ton mate. However, I feel the same way about academy graduates, (of which I am one) especially the ones with no cadet commercial sea time. Most vessel owners are aware of this though and will train him.
Below is a “Captain Ron” video on his military-to-mariner experience for a humorous effect.
I don’t believe that you can, unless things have changed, I had a SWO friend who used his time for a limited license and was not able to apply for a bigger license, he was really mad and totally screwed, but this was several years ago so maybe things have changed… though I doubt it. Any future licenses are based on the time applied to the existing license.
You can, as long as the time meets the requirements for the new endorsement being applied for. This is not new, it’s been true for a long time. I suspect your SWO friend’s time did not meet the requirement for the new endorsement he was applying for (or an error was made).
I learn something new every day. Thanks. He was actually a CG officer, so maybe his time was on smaller vessels and didn’t count, or someone at the REC was messing with him.
