What I Learned from the British Navy
In 2017, as a naval officer serving his first tour aboard the destroyer USS Carney, I sailed to the southern coast of England to take part in the Royal Navy’s famed Flag Officer Sea Training, or FOST. One of the most renowned training programs for maritime warfare among NATO Navies, FOST puts ships through a 6-week gauntlet that evaluates their crews’ readiness to wage war. By the time we were done, there was hardly a member of our crew that wasn’t convinced this was the most demanding exercise they had undergone, in any Navy. FOST, through its integrated approach and high standard, taught us valuable lessons about driving and fighting ships. Indeed, the U.S. Navy’s own surface fleet, both in its culture and approach to training, could benefit greatly from the British way of doing business.