Introducing the Future of American Mariner Education and Training

[@thomassalois3508]

I think these ships are going to be awesome the academies will be lucky to have them

[@anthonyC214]

These ships can be used as hospital ships to replaced the Mercy and Comfort

[@brasswindpdx6122]

Seems like a lot of taxpayer dollars to spend. What's wrong with the Kings Point model of sending cadets out on actual working ships? I think that we need a couple of new Coast Guard ice breakers before we go spending money on new construction for maritime academies.

[@williammahoney6819]

Actually if we were to be most efficient the USMMa, which supplies the least number of graduates to the maritime industry--most go into military or shoreside industries--and is the most expensive. The State Schoolships have tuitions paid by the students, provide technical-based training by preference, and have a high percentage of graduates who actually go to sea. Perhaps the best solution would be to have two training ships that would be shared between the Schoolships.

[@brasswindpdx6122]

We don't have publicly funded aviation academies to train airline pilots. What's wrong with letting the military train ship's officers just as it trains our (airplane) pilots? These maritime academies are essentially glorified vocational tech schools. They're not a bad thing. However, this shipbuilding proposal seems like a lot of tax dollars to throw at training ships. In the past, training ships have been gotten on the very cheap -- typically retired naval or cargo vessels. The thing about using these for FEMA response... I don't buy it. Naval vessels have served this need in the past, and I see no reason why they couldn't continue to do so. Let's say that we have a natural disaster - - - we have naval vessels that are crewed and active, so they could respond quickly. Or, you have these training ships. Let's say that they are already out on a training cruise. What do you do? End the cruise and offload everyone, then bring on a special FEMA crew. Does this mean that we have FEMA crews on standby ready to take over the ship. Also, let's look at where natural disasters that could be aided by ships might happen. In the USA, that's mainly the gulf coast, which is near the Texas school. What sort of incidents would the ships in California, Maine, and Massachussets respond to? Another thing is that US naval vessels are already deployed around the world, so if there's an issue in Africa, then we probably already have naval vessels nearby. With these ships, we would need to bring in the FEMA crew, then sail to Africa. It would take several weeks to get there. I think that what the maritime academies want and what the American taxpayers need are two different things.

[@red77montecarlo]

Someone hasn't been paying attention to current events. News Flash Merchant Mariners are teaching Navy SWOs how to do their job because the Navy can't seem to run their boats without hitting others or running aground and losing sailors. During my last round of training earlier this year the Navy higher brass were there discussing how they can integrate their officers into the training the Merchant Mariners are receiving. Reservists that I went to school with who have commercial experience are being offered high bonuses to come back and train. Glorified Vocational Tech School Graduate

[@AndrewPerlak]

brasswindpdx, there are not enough ships in the American fleet to handle the amount of cadets that need sea time. I agree that cadet observing is the best way for kids to learn, but training ships are needed for the thousands that can’t due to the lack of open space

[@MyaRoseMusic]

Everything that Cadet Perlak (who Cadet Shipped on a Tanker this summer) said is 100% correct. The SMAs spend a great deal of resources trying to find billets for Cadet's aboard U.S. and foreign flag vessels that aren't already being filled by USMMA Midshipman. In fact, it is my husband's sole job at a SMA to find these billets. If putting all 2/C Cadets out Cadet Shipping was an option... it would have already been done.