Quote:
Originally Posted by oldpotatoe
Surprising...XO and CO, surprised they have the time. Most have had an Airwing or some other big boy bonus command...but then XO and then Deep draft, then CV CO....also means lots of time at sea, like 4 back to back(CAG, XO, deep draft, CO)....but competition for flag is fierce. Very sharp point at top of that pyramid.
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CAG is usually not in the XO path because of the nuclear power training pipeline. CAG is usually a twilight tour for a Captain aviator who didn't want to attend Nuke school. I've seen XO tours as short as a year followed by a one year deep draft. The most unusual was when I was on the TR 2001-2004. We deployed right after 9/11 for 7 months including 159 days straight on station. After that, we did a yard period followed by a surge deployment for invading Iraq with the same CO. CO's on other carriers were losing their **** that the TR did back to back wartime deployments with the same CO. He made Admiral, they didn't. I liked him.
But back OT, I was an officer of the deck on carriers and I never hit anything other than a light pole on the pier in Souda Bay, Crete and I told the Captain that I was going to hit it and there was nothing we could do but tell people to stand clear. 101,000 tons doesn't stop on a dime, especially if tugboats are pushing you.