Measurement and Analysis of Officer of the Deck Competency
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Authors
Cunha, Jesse
Dearth, Robert
Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2019-10
Date
October 2019
Publisher
Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
Recent ship collisions have heightened the U.S. Navy’s focus on the development and tracking of mariners’ skills. Using data collected by the Surface Warfare Officer School (SWOS), we estimate the statistical relationship between officers’ prior experience and their current ship-handling proficiency. Our sample contains 164 randomly-selected first-tour Officers of the Deck (OODs) who were serving on 61 ships in 2018. Officers’ recent experience was self-reported in a survey, and proficiency in a ship-driving simulator exercise was assessed by a post-command Commander or Captain. Participation was mandatory and compliance was full, ensuring that the sample is representative of the population. We find that mariners’ skills, knowledge, and experience on the bridge are meaningfully correlated with proficiency. This finding suggests that policies designed to encourage additional opportunities for deliberate practice may mitigate short-term skill degradation and lead to long-term mastery of maritime skills. In light of our findings, we suggest policymakers should increase resources for simulator training and encourage the use of simulators to mimic the myriad and complex situations that a mariner may encounter in real world operations.
Type
Technical Report
Description
Prepared for the Surface Warfare Officer School
Series/Report No
Department
Graduate School of Defense Management (GSDM)
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
NPS-GSDM-20-001
Sponsors
Surface Warfare Officer School, Newport, RI
Prepared for the Surface Warfare Officer School
Prepared for the Surface Warfare Officer School
Funder
Naval Research Program
NPS-19-N082-B
NPS-19-N082-B
Format
67 p.
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.