Major Command at Sea/Shore for Aviators (including Marine CAG opportunity)

[Uncle Fester]

...The officer detailed to command an aircraft carrier, an aircraft tender, or a ship with a primary task of operating or supporting aircraft shall be an officer of the line in the navy, eligible for command at sea, designated as a naval aviator or naval flight officer...

See, that's what I thought the law said, too. But apparently LHA's (which, in any other Navy, would be called aircraft carriers) are commanded by Shoes at least some of the time. So LHA's and other big-deck Gators aren't considered aviation ships? Or is this reg just being ignored nowadays?

Not that it really matters, I don't think. This is a holdover law from Back in the Day when it was assumed that the "battleship guys" couldn't command carriers because they literally knew nothing about aviation and wouldn't employ the Air Group correctly.

 

[Flash]

See, that's what I thought the law said, too. But apparently LHA's (which, in any other Navy, would be called aircraft carriers) are commanded by Shoes at least some of the time. So LHA's and other big-deck Gators aren't considered aviation ships? Or is this reg just being ignored nowadays?

Not that it really matters, I don't think. This is a holdover law from Back in the Day when it was assumed that the "battleship guys" couldn't command carriers because they literally knew nothing about aviation and wouldn't employ the Air Group correctly.

I think we consider them amphibs before anything else. And other countries 'jump-jet' carriers don't generally have amphip capabilities, they are basically LHA/LHD's without the Mairines and their landing craft.

I think it is still very relevant, I think having a SWO CO of a CVN is a recipe for trouble. Reading about some of the issues the Harrier guys had with non-aviator types in the Falklands battlegroup and from my own experiences trying to explain aviation ops to non-flyers, the same issues from 'back in the day' still exist today.

 

[RotorHead04]

From Gator NATOPS: LHA/LHD = amphibious assault aviation ship
From CV NATOPS: CV/CVN = aviation ship

... four days to my H2P board. If it would have come up a week later, I might not have known the answer!

edit: I'm part of the SAR Det on an LHD right now and we have a SWO CO / HSC XO / HSC Airboss. SWOs on board say that the CO slot has alternated back and forth between SWO and Aviator each time the Skipper changes. It would appear, however, that having all that helo experience in the other major billets (PHIBRON is a LAMPS guy, too) is sufficent to offset a SWO's lack of avation experience ... save no flight suits on the bridge (for our dissassociated bretheren) we haven't seen too much red a$$ so far ...

 

[Uncle Fester]

... save no flight suits on the bridge...

I don't think that's because of a Shoe skipper. That's been Ape Law on every CV/N I've been on, too.

It's gotta be interesting for the Ship's Company guys, alternating between Brownshoe CO's and an Aviation-style command climate and Blackshoe CO's and their Shoe command climate of pain and hate.

 

[bert]

I don't think that's because of a Shoe skipper. That's been Ape Law on every CV/N I've been on, too.

It's gotta be interesting for the Ship's Company guys, alternating between Brownshoe CO's and an Aviation-style command climate and Blackshoe CO's and their Shoe command climate of pain and hate.

It is all relative - having cruised with ~ dozen different CO's/XO's on big-deck amphibs there were shoe CO's among the best, and by far the worst was a P-3 NFO.

 

[BigIron]

It is all relative - having cruised with ~ dozen different CO's/XO's on big-deck amphibs there were shoe CO's among the best, and by far the worst was a P-3 NFO.

I agree with this as I've lived it. Brownshoe doesn't always = warm, cuddly and happy.