Two congressional representatives, along with members of the House Armed Services Committee staff and their own staffs, saw firsthand how the Surface Warfare Officers School (SWOS) trains students during a visit March 26.

Reps. Robert Wittman and Donald Norcross toured several of the trainers, including the Conning Officer Virtual Environment III trainer and the Full Mission Bridge simulator, used at SWOS as part of the surface warfare curriculum. SWOS instructors recreated training situations and demonstrated the capabilities of the systems used to teach officers in a multitude of shiphandling scenarios during normal daytime and nighttime operations and low visibility.

The group also observed case-study oriented replay of incidents at sea that reinforce for students sound shipboard watchstanding principles.

Capt. Scott Robertson, SWOS commanding officer, discussed the history of SWOS and the surface warfare officer training curriculum with the visitors.

"SWOS has used the past year to reevaluate the way we train our surface warfare officers," said Robertson. "In addition to the attention we have given our navigation, seamanship, and shiphandling curriculum, we are marching ahead with changes and upgrades in maritime warfare, engineering, damage control, and leadership development."

SWOS readies sea-bound warriors to serve on surface combatants as officers, enlisted engineers and enlisted navigation professionals to fulfill the Navy's mission to maintain global maritime superiority.

For more information about Surface Warfare Officers School, visit
http://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/swos/ or http://www.facebook.com/SWOSCOLCOM/.

For additional information on the Naval Education and Training Command, visit https://www.netc.navy.mil, http://www.navy.mil/local/cnet/, http://www.facebook.com/netcpao or @netcpao.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.