When I showed up to the USS Antietam (CG-54) in 2019, seabag on my shoulder, talk of the imminent decommissioning of the old cruisers dominated the crew rumor mill. It seems the cruisers have been set to decommission next year . . . every year since 2015. And yet here it is, 2023, and we are still slouching along.
There is an easy solution to this: Turn the last remaining cruisers into training ships. Though slightly different from destroyer, and certainly different from amphibious ships, the cruisers are good platforms on which to learn the principles of ship driving, navigation, and 21st-century naval operations.
In fact, why not have the Basic Division Officer Course (BDOC) that all prospective surface warfare officers (SWOs) attend just after commissioning take place on board the old ships? It would prevent junior officers from having their first ship assignment be literally the first ship they ever set foot on, as was the case for me. I attended Officer Candidate School and did not have the opportunity to take a midshipmen cruise. Putting prospective SWOs on board training ships would give them a chance to get used to ship life (watch rotation, drills, sleep patterns, etc.) and be better prepared for when they actually join the fleet.
These mini deployments would not have to last long, just a few days at a time. The BDOC instructors (normally lieutenants) could stand in as department heads, the executive officer, and commanding officer, mirroring the command structure on a real ship. Students would have an opportunity to go to the “CO” with contact reports and permission items and to give briefs for evolutions such as anchoring or underway replenishments.
A bare-bones crew of boatswain’s mates, quartermasters, a few gas turbine systems technicians and machinist’s mates, and a handful of other engineering ratings could make up the crew, helping teach the new officers about the equipment. The enlisted crew is a severely underused resource when it comes to training new junior officers. This could be a prestigious assignment, as they often would be the first interaction these new officers have with the surface navy.
Most important, though, students would be able to drive a real ship on the real ocean instead of relying on simulators ashore to assess their skills. A final BDOC assessment could be having to successfully con the ship out of San Diego harbor or Norfolk in front of Navy personnel. I learned a lot from my instructors in the simulators, but many of them were former merchant ship captains, and while their knowledge was extensive, they had little idea how different operations can be on a Navy ship.
During the decommissioning process, the cruisers would keep their essential equipment (engines, habitability equipment, firemains, galley equipment, etc.) and several berthings. They could be stripped to only what is necessary to survive a few days at sea; enough to get out of the harbor and a few miles offshore.
It would be expensive to keep the old cruisers going, but training ships would not require nearly as much equipment and upkeep as operational ships. And the return on investment would be a stronger group of prospective SWOs, showing up to the fleet with more experience and skills and better equipped to handle life at sea. Even if the ships could not somehow make it to sea, the Navy could hold BDOC on them anyway. Keep them at the pier and, at the very least, junior officers would get used to the ship as the place around which their lives soon will revolve.