Washington, DC — The United States Navy announced that aviators will no longer be eligible to command amphibious warships, ending a decades-long practice and prompting what officials are describing as “a period of reflection” among the naval aviation community.
The reflection is not going well.
“I have landed on moving ships in the dark,” said one affected aviator, a commander with eighteen years of flight experience. “In bad weather. With one engine. And now you’re telling me I can’t drive the ship.”
He was told yes, that is what they are telling him.
The decision, which centers on the specialized nature of amphibious operations and the need for surface warfare expertise in command billets, has been met with resistance from aviators who argue that flying a $100 million aircraft at twice the speed of sound should qualify them to operate anything the Navy owns.
Surface warfare officers disagree. They have disagreed quietly, for years, in the way that people disagree when they know they are right but also know nobody is listening.
They are now being listened to.
“An amphibious warship is not a plane,” said one surface warfare officer, who asked to remain anonymous because he still has to work with these people. “It does not go faster when you pull back. It does not climb. You cannot eject from it. These are things a ship driver knows. These are not things everyone knows.”
When asked whether he was surprised the policy had taken this long, he looked out the window for a moment.
“No,” he said.
The Navy stressed that affected aviators remain valued members of the service and will continue to be eligible for a wide range of command opportunities, none of which involve ships that carry other ships inside them.
At press time, one aviator had requested clarification on whether the policy applied to “boat-shaped aircraft” and was being helped by a chaplain.
