Leann Villalta: I haven't heard the nuke school part, they do have to have their wings.
Arlene Maycumber: By law all aircraft carrier CO/XO billets are filled by naval aviator/naval flight officers and they have to attend nuclear propulsion training. The CO/XO don't operate the reactor but they do supervise it so they must be qualified. The USN takes their reactor program pretty seriously so I bet the school for CO/XO is no cakewalk but then again by the time one is in the carrier captain pipeline they are probably holding a masters in aeronautical engineering like one of my CO's or some other advanced degree. No dummies get to be captain of a bird farm. I would also add that being a CAG is a separate command track from the bird farm, I would think you are one or the other. None of my captains on Carl Vinson had served as CAG. CAG's are a "separate but equal" kind of situation. One of "my"CAG's is now a four star admiral, Mark Fitzgerald is his name. Two of "my" thr! ee XO's are now senior admirals, Bob Willard is Com Pacific Fleet and Evan "Marty" Chanik is a recently retired Vice Admiral who is now the Exec VP at Northrop Grumman. Interestingly enough neither of "my" captains were selected for admiral....Show more
Hong Hunkin: yes. since all our Current Carriers are now Nukes( the JFK and Kitty Hawk were our last conventionals) all aircraft carrier COs must be Aviators who have also attended the Nuke Pipeline.
Lolita Deschamp: The requirement for aircraft carrier COs to be pilots was when the Navy realized that the carriers were worthwhile vessels that had value and that the aircraft they carried were both their main weapons and their first line of defense. They did not want a 'battleship' captain to think they could take on a battleship within range. So the Navy put out a directive which became policy that it would be best for an officer who thought as a pilot to be the CO. By the time the officer is in position ! to be a carrier CO he has been an LSO and CAG. The carriers a! lso have a flag officer onboard who is the carrier group commanderSince the carriers are nuclear powered this posed a dilemma for the Navy. One part of the Navy required pilots to be CO of carriers, but Rickover (and law) required that COs be nuclear power trained. A compromise was reached and an advanced officer training was established. Carrier Perspective Commanding Officers and Executive Officers do not go through the same pipeline as enlisted and junior officers. Since the CO has the decision making responsibility and accountability for everything on the ship they need to know the nuclear propulsion systems. They do have a Chief Engineer who is responsible to the CO for the propulsion plant and most of the time there are other Chief Engineer qualified officers who are riders. I know many submarine officers who have rode carriers in this role.When I went through prototype at A1W in Idaho, before it was shutdown, carrier PCOs went through training only at A1W since! it was the prototype for engineroom number 3 of the USS Enterprise and were also able to simulate a catapult launch. There were 2 classes of 6 in the six months I was there. It's my understanding they go through their training at Ballston Spa, NY.EDIT: Captain David Logsdon has his wingshttp://navysite.de/co/logsdon.jpg...Show more
Donita Desjardin: Here's the official bio of the commanding officer of the USS Nimitz. http://www.nimitz.navy.mil/_links/co.htmlPlease note that he is a pilot and he went to nuclear power training from 1999 to 2001.
Jinny Dronen: Don't believe the part about nuke school - I do think they have to have their wings and have commanded other ships (smaller than a carrier.Capt Logsdon commanded the Artic a supply ship - before he took command of the Trumanhttp://navysite.de/cvn/cvn75.html#coYes they do have to attend some nuke training but they are no way qualified nuke officers, this training is in addition to their command at sea tra! ining. The military is all about training - training - training.......S! how more
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