NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Stacy Hanna
Date: 2004 Jan 29, 17:34 -0500
Joel,
I don’t have any contacts at the academy
right now, so I’m sure your information on classes is better than I have
right now. Your information sounds like it is probably correct based on an
instruction from CINCLANTFLT that recommends that STELLA be used for all sight
reduction. Currently the Officer assigned to the ship as Navigator and the
Senior QM are required to take a celestial navigation course which utilizes
pubs 229 and 249. That is one of the courses that I teach and I haven’t heard
any rumors about changing either the course or the requirement for it. You are correct about the move to
electronic charting to replace paper charts. When the new NAVDORM comes out
(expected in March), I will have more information on changes to Navy policy
regarding navigation (although it wont address training at the academy or in ROTC).
From my experience the only officers coming into the Navy that really have a good
understanding of celestial navigation are the graduates of the various Merchant
Marine Academies and it has been that way for quite a while now. One other item
that people might not be aware of is that NIMA has changed their name again, they are now NGA (the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency).
-----Original Message-----
From: Navigation Mailing List
[mailto:NAVIGATION-L@LISTSERV.WEBKAHUNA.COM] On
Behalf Of Joel Jacobs
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004
15:53
To:
NAVIGATION-L@LISTSERV.WEBKAHUNA.COM
Subject: CELNAV AT THE USNA AND
MORE
TO:
ALCON
This
took me a lot longer to deal with than expected due to the snow and ice
storms pummeling the NE.
Whatever Ken Gebhart heard is incorrect. The movement is in the
exact opposite direction.
This is my
understanding and has no official standing.
The
plebes take NS 100 in their second semester of their first year which runs the
gambit of the basics of piloting, dead reckoning, rules of the road etc.
Link to
NS 100: http://prodevweb.prodev.usna.edu/SeaNav/NS100/100info.htm
The old
Advanced Navigation course that was the first semester of the Youngster (second
year) that delved into the theory and practice of CELNAV, and all other forms
of navigation using techniques we all are familiar with including
what the Navy calls the strip method, is out. There will still be some
practical hands on experience will continue during the Summer Cruises on the
YP's.
Link to
NN 204. This has not as yet been revised:
The NEW
advanced Navigation, NN 204, will only cover the practical aspects of
CELNAV in two short sessions without any theory. The emphasis will be on using
the software program called Stella, mentioned earlier by Stacy and me, in
place of strips and tables. This software program includes sight
reduction, DR and all the sailings.
THE BIG
CHANGE is that the Navy is embracing electronic charting to the exclusion of
paper charts, and will adopt it fleetwide supposedly by 2007. NEMA is getting
out of the charting business and some commercial operators are supposed to pick
up the slack.
But one
big positive is that the entire brigade will be spending more time offshore in
Navy boats such as the YP, and sailing fleet where in the past only maybe 25%
of the mids had 4-6 weeks at sea in small craft.
Any
errors in my interpreting what was said are my own and should not reflect on
anyone but me.
Stacy,
please feel free to add to this.
Joel
Jacobs