Surface Warfare Officers School Hosts the Ship Material Readiness Course Board of Visitors

From Surface Warfare Officer School Public Affairs

NEWPORT, R.I. (NNS) -- Surface Warfare Officers School (SWOS) is hosting a Board of Visitors (BOV) for the Senior Officer Ship Material Readiness Course (SOSMRC) in Newport, R.I. Jan. 25-27.

An annual event until the previous SOSMRC curriculum was disestablished, this is the first BOV since 1995. SWOS Commanding Officer Capt. Neil Parrott welcomed the advisory group as the meeting kicked off.

"We reestablished the SOSMRC based on the recommendation of the Surface Warfare Enterprise and the first course of the new curriculum convened in January 2010," said Parrott. "This five-week course for prospective surface ship commanding officers and executive officers is designed to improve their knowledge of material readiness requirements and improve the material condition of the fleet, two things that are vital to success during an afloat command tour."

"We are constantly improving the course and ensuring that we are teaching the most current topics to the future commanding officers of our ships," said Capt. Glenn Zeiders, SWOS department director for SOSMRC. "SOSMRC is the only course in the command pipeline to provide training on improving ship material readiness, and the BOV gives us an opportunity to brief flag stakeholders on current SOSMRC curriculum, focus areas, initiatives, statistics and metrics, measures of effectiveness, and resource requirements or shortfalls. It is a key part of validating and improving our curriculum, and we appreciate the time of so many experts from the surface Navy."

Over the course of three days, the BOV advisory group, comprised of 10 captains and commanders from commands throughout the Navy, will receive briefings on the SOSMRC curriculum and prepared recommendations for the BOV principals group consisting of seven flag officer stakeholders. Chaired by Vice Adm. Richard Hunt, commander, Naval Surface Force, the principals group will convene Jan. 27. Hunt emphasized the importance of upholding and refining a strong professional development curriculum.

"We must instill a culture of ownership, and re-establish rigor in the maintenance and material readiness process," said Hunt. "That starts with ensuring every member of the crew, from the commanding officer to the youngest Sailor on the deckplate, has a thorough knowledge of their ship's equipment and that they can repair and maintain that equipment throughout the ship's service life."

The SOSMRC BOV is slated to become a biennial event in the future.

To find out more about the SOSMRC or other courses of instruction at SWOS, visit http://www1.netc.navy.mil/swos/. You can also reach SWOS through Facebook, Twitter, and SWONET.