(Amerika) Kanadische Marine

[Django]

Ausbildungsdefizite bei kanadischen Ubootfahrern?

Quelle: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=27bd9c53-5f37-4582-b5e6-2759d2fb9133">http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawaciti ... 59d2fb9133</a><!-- m -->

Navy qualified sub-standard submariners
John Ward Canadian Press
February 3, 2005
OTTAWA (CP) -- The cash-strapped navy had to skimp on training as it prepared to acquire new submarines in the late 1990s to the point where it certified sailors with only five days at sea as qualified submariners, says a former sub commander.
Peter Kavanagh told the Commons defence committee Thursday that the sailors may have been technically qualified from work on dry land simulators, but lacked the vital experience that comes only with time at sea.
Money problems and delays compounded the situation as the navy waited for the government to decide whether it would buy new subs, he said.
"Because we did not know whether we were going to get submarines or not, the navy was just trying to hang on until we got that decision, two years maybe and that really took its toll,'' said the retired skipper of HMCS Onandaga.
The problem became acute as the navy phased out its old Oberon-class subs and prepared to send people to Britain for transition courses to prepare them for the Victoria-class boats - four used Royal Navy vessels Canada acquired in the late 1990s.
The British were to train almost 300 Canadians to handle the new boats, but insisted that all of them be qualified in submarines first.
"We knew we were in trouble,'' Kavanagh said. "We didn't have anything like that number of submariners.''
For some time, he said, the navy had been under-manning the Oberon boats. That, coupled with normal attrition, submarine service is cold, cramped and uncomfortable, shrank the pool of qualified personnel.
"There was a period of years when the money to run the O-boats started to dry up,'' he told MPs, who are looking into the submarine program in the wake of a fatal fire aboard HMCS Chicoutimi last year.
The navy rushed to fill the gap. Sailors won their cherished dolphins, the gold insignia of a submariner, with little sea service.
The same problem exists today, Kavanagh said, with low levels of experience in the sub community.
"They are fine sailors, they are fine officers, they just don't have the experience.''
A spokeswoman for Defence Minister Bill Graham defended the navy's training.
"This new system of training is superior to what we had back on the days of the Oberon boats,'' said Isabel Savard. "It's considered to be extremely effective.''
Despite his criticism, Kavanagh said he doesn't think inexperience contributed to the Chicoutimi tragedy.
"That crew, the Chicoutimi crew was actually full of experienced submariners,'' he said.
"The proof is in terms of how they reacted to that fire ... they saved their boat. There was one fatality but it could easily have been many fatalities if that had not been an experienced crew.''
Kavanagh said the navy managed the sub program badly trying to save money.
There was no separate project office to handle the glitches that come with any new piece of equipment.
The money the government allocated for the subs wasn't enough to cover maintenance and spare parts, but the navy went ahead because the alternative was to have no submarines.
The idea was to muddle through, he said, then pick up the pieces in later years when there might be more money available.
He said he complained about short cuts in training and maintenance, but was brushed off as "an old-school submarine captain.''
© Canadian Press 2005