What qualifications do carrier commanders have?

Question

Given how poorly qualified some cruise captains seem to be, I find myself wondering what sort of qualifications the military requires for the people it puts in charge of multi-billion-dollar aircraft carriers. How much experience does a typical carrier commander have, and what sorts of qualifications? How does the military decide to whom it can entrust a ship with thousands of people aboard and costing billions of dollars, with the kind of duties that a warship has? I hope they do a better job of selection than civilian cruise lines.

Armed with Inkstick · Accepted Answer

Carrier commander must be:

1)  An aviator
2)  Have gone through Nuclear Power School
3)  holding the rank of Captain, which means roughly around 20-26 years of service
4)  As mentioned, must have had command of a deep-draft warship (eg something with a draft of greater than 45 feet).   

They must have gone through a selection board of other senior officers judging them on their previous qualifications and performance.

I'll also add that the Navy has a fundamentally different outlook in navigation, mainly that we believe you should try and avoid rocks, not see if you can fit in the 5m difference between the 10m depth curves that are between them.  

The other unofficial part of it-the guys who are selected for it are absolutely the top candidates for it, and are utterly highly qualified for it.

Anonym · Answer

Two qualifications:
 1) Must be Naval Aviator

 2) Must have been commanding officer of deep draft ship

Hayley · Answer

Don't worry, they have lots and lots of experience.  That cruise line captain looked as if they just pulled anyone off the street and said, "hey you want to be captain of a cruise liner?"

If you want to see more about carriers and their operation, you can view the entire documentary series on them on PBS.org if you want.

http://www.pbs.org/weta/carrier/

lana_sands · Answer

Well don't be so sure. The Navy fired over 26 captains last year.

But this guy is typical of the qualifications. http://www.public.navy.mil/airfor/CCSG2/Pages/RDML%20Nosal.aspx

What qualifications do carrier commanders have?

4 Antworten