Center for Surface Combat Systems Provides Training to Support Navy’s Newest Ship
Written by Center for Surface Combat Systems and Naval Education and Training Public Affairs Monday, 08 March 2010 12:08
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Behind the Navy’s newest Littoral Combat System (LCS) ship is six years of program building, as well as developing the training and logistic support for the ship’s capability.
USS Independence is a 419-foot aluminum trimaran, the first of its design in the surface fleet. It has a displacement of 2,800 metric tons, is capable of speeds in excess of 45 knots, and can operate in water less than 20 feet deep. Propelled by four water jets in addition to two diesel and two gas turbine engines, the ship boasts a range of over 3,500 nautical miles.
"LCS will have the capability to secure the littoral regions which communities rely upon for food, transportation and for their well-being," said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead at the commissioning ceremony.
USS Independence and USS Freedom (LCS 1) are like no other ships currently serving in the fleet. They require less manpower, have state-of-the-art operating systems and their organizational structure has been completely overhauled.
The Center for Surface Combat Systems (CSCS), part of the Naval Education and Training Command (NETC), played a significant role leading and developing the LCS Program training plan that will enable the ship’s crew to conduct global operations in support of the Maritime Strategy.
“The development of the LCS Program, and of LCS training to enable the ship’s capabilities, has truly been an enterprise, and even a cross-enterprise project,” said Capt. Stephen Hampton, the second of two commanding officers to oversee the LCS training project. “Captain Roger “Rick” Easton, who I relieved, was the first. He and our CSCS team laid the groundwork for the new LCS training construct, definitions, requirements, and training pipelines. My challenge has been to take the foundation that Captain Easton laid, and refine those training requirements, as well as introduce system-centric procedures that can be measured with qualification metrics, measures, and standards. In addition, it was critical to identify training systems that support a continuum across the range of required maintenance, operations, and employment skills and abilities so that our Sailors are prepared to fight and win if called to do so.”
In 2004, shortly after the LCS program was started, CSCS was designated as NETC’s lead learning center for LCS training program development and training issues. CSCS assembled an LCS Task Force with representatives from Program Executive Office, Ships (PEO SHIPS), as well as several of NETC’s learning centers - Center for Naval Engineering (CNE), Center for Service Support (CSS), Center for Information Dominance (CID), and the Surface Warfare Officers School (SWOS). Later, the LCS Task Force became the Train-to-Qualify Working Group, and grew to include the LCS Program Office (PMS 501) from Program Executive Office Ships (PEO Ships), and LCS Mission Package Program Office (PMS 420) from Program Executive Office Littoral and Mine Warfare (PEO LMW), the LCS Class Squadron staff, and Naval Surface Force staffs.
NETC learning centers typically do not engage in shipboard billet manning development, but given the fast-track construction plan for the LCS program, and the tight connection required in the ship’s manning and training model, the centers were deemed best-qualified to develop the ship’s manning requirements.
“The LCS Task Force had the daunting challenge to keep LCS manning to 40 personnel or less, even though the LCS 2 is about the same physical size as a Navy frigate manned with nearly 200 people,” said Ed Gohring, acting executive director at CSCS.
The ship uses an innovative crewing model that reduces crew size, demanding each Sailor maintain high levels of proficiency in multiple fields, optimizing ship operability with multiple crews. Independence is manned by two rotational crews, "blue" and "gold," of 40 Sailors each. These crews are further augmented by 15 detachment specialists for each of the different mission packages for anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and mine counter-measurers. Additionally, the ship can embark a 23 person aviation detachment with MH-60 helicopters and vertical take-off unmanned aerial vehicles (VTUAV). The mission packages are interchangeable and can be rapidly changed out depending on which of the three missions the ship’s crew is required to perform.
CSCS also played a key role in advising the LCS Program Officer, Mission Package Program Officer, and Surface Force Commander with the development of its Concept of Operations, Navy Training System Plan and Training Front-End Analysis study for the Independence ship class, as well as making system integration engineering recommendations.
The CSCS’ N9 Technical Support Directorate provided guidance on how to properly define training requirements and determine how many students to put through NETC courses, including the cost of the training.
An LCS training pipeline was developed to teach fundamental systems knowledge and operational skills to Sailors. Systems training commenced for USS Independence’s rotational blue and gold crews in 2005.
“Since 2005 CSCS learning sites have provided operations, combat, and weapon systems training totaling more than 2,900 training days to Independence crewmembers,” said Greg Pruitt, Deputy, Technical Support Director at CSCS. “This equates to more than one fourth of all the training received by Independence crewmembers.”
A Train-to-Qualify (T2Q) process was defined that connects the initial LCS training model to Personnel Qualification Standards (PQS). T2Q is a new concept for the surface force that shifts qualification training from the ship to shore training, meaning that LCS Sailors report aboard ready to stand their watch and execute assigned duties.
Due to the close connection of procedures, skills, and standards to the fidelity of the training systems and simulations, the LCS 2 PQS development was led and developed by the CSCS Technical Support and Training directorates.
“LCS 2 PQS is different from PQS on traditional ships, by removing subjectivity,” said Michael Kroner, the leader of LCS Combat Systems PQS Development at CSCS. “LCS PQS employs Objective Measures, Metrics and Standards (OMMS) that require trainee performance to be measured against specific criteria and specific procedure”. OMMS ensures that each trainee achieves a common performance standard and LCS commanding officers and fleet leadership will know to what standards their Sailors are trained. OMMS also ensures the training system replicates the shipboard qualification requirement across multiple instructors that are not part of LCS crew.
“These OMMS, when combined with standard criteria like Firing Point Procedures (FPPs), ensure procedural compliance when employing the LCS combat system against the potential threats and operational scenarios,” explained Kroner. FPPs are also new to the surface force, and are based on specific procedures tied to system capability. According to Hampton, the submarine community has used FPPs for many years.
“CSCS introduced FPPs to the surface force to provide a class/baseline standard for training and warfighting,” said Hampton. “Firing Point Procedures are foundational engagement procedures that are driven by a technical warrant system and software configuration, as well as threat system configuration and employment”. “I see FPPs as critical to the entire Surface Force in order to standardize our engagement procedures by class or system baseline, and to reduce our training cost overhead by training to precise procedures and preventing negative training from occurring.
The LCS Shore-Based Training Facility (SBTF), which is operated by CSCS, is the final step in the LCS Train to Qualify process. According to Robert Shifflett, director of training at the SBTF, “High-fidelity shore based training systems that use the LCS tactical code and replicate shipboard and mission package system operations are vital to T2Q and enable us to train to employment-centric procedures like FPPs. Shifflett, and his team of twelve instructors administer LCS Capstone Trainiing which is the final step in the T2Q process. LCS Capstone training is unique. The SBTF simulators used to support the Capstone course are designed to look and feel like an LCS ship’s bridge while maneuvering at sea. It integrates synthetic radar scenarios with a corresponding window video display that creates a very life-like tactical training environment for both Integrated Command Center (ICC) and bridge watch standers.” The LCS 2 ICC is the equivalent of the Combat Information Center (CIC) in other Navy ships, where sensor data and information is collected, evaluated, and disseminated. Hampton and Shifflett emphasized the power of being able to integrate both visual or electro-optical and electro-magnetic (radar) sensor information, and translate that into training individual operator tactics and procedures that require execution from both Bridge and ICC watchstanders in synchronization with each other.
The LCS SBTF is comprised of three components which can be used independently or in concert with the others to provide more complex training scenarios.Each section of the trainer replicates the basic layout and design of the LCS command and control, bridge, and propulsion control systems. According to Shifflett, using mockups of these areas, which includes video screens reproducing scenes from a ship’s bridge windows, the CSCS team produces realistic training scenarios.
“The fully integrated training is the first of its kind in surface warfare,” said Shifflett. “It is unique in that it delivers bridge and ICC coordinated command and control procedures for platform, system, and weapons employment.”
After completion of T2Q, sailors will continue to train at the SBTF to ensure proficiency and refresh their skills. The SBTF also supports fleet deployment certification of LCS and mission package crews.
“The LCS class training structure, training system approach, and training process, particularly the development of high-fidelity SBTFs in the fleet concentrate areas similar to that of the aviation and submarine community, is a positive step forward for the surface force,” said Hampton. “In the future, as the training matures, LCS Sailors will be ready to operate and employ LCS systems against a more realistic set of scenarios; perhaps better than any other class in surface ship history.”
The rotational crew model has already been put into practice aboard USS Freedom (LCS 1). Freedom is currently readying for her maiden deployment, accelerated approximately two years. Hampton further explains, “the Navy expects to learn key operational lessons about Freedom in a deployment setting and to integrate those lessons into the larger LCS fleet, which is projected to eventually reach 55 ships.”
USS Independence will conduct further testing and evaluation before eventually heading toward its homeport in San Diego.
“CSCS and the Surface Navy have put forth a huge effort to get the LCS Program where it is today” Hampton said. “There is still a lot of work ahead for the Surface Warfare Enterprise and the LCS crews as we shape how these very capable ships will execute the many Navy and Joint missions. “LCS is bigger than just a new ship class; the LCS processes and training approach are an inflection point for the rest of the Surface Navy relative to the preparedness of our people to deliver capability as well as our readiness to execute combat operations against new and more challenging threats.” ♦
For more information about CSCS, visit their Web page at https://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/cscs/.
Contact: Steve Vanderwerff
850.452.4858
(DSN) 922.4858
(FAX) 850.452.4900