Nontechnical Skills for Officers of the Deck (NTSOD) rating form: a user's guide

Abstract

This user's guide introduces the Nontechnical Skills for Officers of the Deck (NTSOD) rating form and provides guidance for how it should be used. The purpose of the NTSOD rating system is to provide a framework for evaluating the nontechnical skills of U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officers of the Deck (OOD). Nontechnical skills are the cognitive, social, and personal skills that complement technical skills. The NTSOD system supplements the current OOD qualification process by providing an objective and documented assessment of the nontechnical skills of OOD candidates. The NTSOD system consists of four categories of behavior (leadership, communication, situational awareness, and decision making), which are subdivided into 10 more specific, and observable, elements of behavior. The framework was developed through the analysis of data collected from qualified OODs. When properly utilized, the authors believe that the NTSOD system can produce skilled OODs, and increase the overall safety of the surface fleet by providing feedback on a crucial aspect of OOD performance that is not consistently evaluated across the Surface Fleet.