Unions on guard as US Navy seeks to use more civilians.

(From Lloyds List)

Byline: Coronado experiment initiates moves to create a culture based on performance instead of entitlement, writes John McLaughlin

THE USS Coronado is an old ship on a new mission. A US Navy spokesman describes it as an amphibious landing ship that carries marines and equipment to the scene of an assault.

Commissioned in 1970, it was converted 10 years later into an auxiliary command ship to provide fleet commanders with a forward presence during operations. Its home port is San Diego and it is typically crewed by 481 US Navy sailors.

That is not the case on its present mission, however. When it sailed out of San Diego on March 5 for its first major Pacific deployment for seven years, its complement included just 117 Navy sailors and 148 civilian mariners, or civmars. The latter are union members. A major question, as the lessons of the Coronado experiment are applied across the fleet, is whether they and other civmars in government employ will remain so.

On board the Coronado, the uniformed types are handling what the Navy calls 'tip-of-the-spear' operations, described by the spokesman as 'command, control, communications, computer and intelligence as well as the helicopter detachment, weapons systems and weapons capabilities'. To the civmars will go more prosaic but still essential tasks, 'including navigation and propulsion, auxiliary machinery operation, maintenance and repair, foodservice and other utility-type responsibilities'.

For the Navy, the logic of the Coronadoexperiment is compelling. Caught between the continuing budget crunch in Washington and hugely increased demands on its resources since September 11, it is looking to make major budget cuts as part of a sweeping overhaul. Employing experienced civilian mariners to perform non-military tasks allows for the replacement of a much larger number of raw uniformed recruits. That in turn improves on-board efficiency while lowering costs.