The Learning Curve

Armed Forces Magazine has some interesting insights into the manpower issues on the Littoral Combat Ship. Keep in mind this is first in class, and they are learning on the job - so this is unlikely the way it will end up, only the way it is right now.

The crew works in three six-hour shifts. Sailors stand watch at their assigned stations for six hours and then have the next 12 hours off. But the caveat is that the ship conducts many missions that require more sailors than just one shift’s worth of watch standers, Doyle says.

Sounds great in theory, but in practice I think we all realize how many things can happen over a 12 hour span. The article does a good job of discussing how many evolutions are 'all hands' or require additional sailors. Sounds like virtually any operation can pull sailors off their 12 hour 'off' shift though, including helicopter launch/recover and small boat launch/recovery, among others.

Sailors only end up with about six hours of rest a day. “We try not to impinge upon those six hours. But sometimes we have to,” Doyle says. Emergencies, such as fire or flooding, require all hands on deck. Pulling in and out of port also involves the entire crew.

Timmons says he only has four to six hours of sleep every 24 to 48 hours. The work cycle on board is grueling but manageable, he says. He believes that LCS is the future of the Navy.

If Lt. Cmdr. Earl Timmons is correct, perhaps we should call squadrons of Littoral Combat Ships the fatigue flotillas. Regardless, it is important to keep in mind this is part of the learning process. It is less important that this is the issue now, and more important to observe how these lessons are learned and applied over time.

The article is worth reading in full. Note the point on fuel tanks and food stores, among others, that highlights plenty of places where changes to the design can be done in future blocks. I still say the Navy sounds like fools when they say they should build 55+ of these ships, but ~20-25 still seems like a reasonable number of hulls to learn important lessons with.