[Newsbot]

Title: US navy returns to celestial navigation amid fears of computer hack
Category: Science
Posted By: N_Fiddledog
Date: 2015-10-15 00:14:53

[uwish]

hum, I would have thought is was still part of their basic training..wonder if the RCN is doing this?

[Strutz]

I think it's a good idea to keep up the training in the pre-computerized way of performing tasks such as this and almost everything else too.

We've become so dependent on relying on computer programs, GPS and even calculators to tell us the answers that it's easy to forget how to answer the questions ourselves, especially if one has not been trained how to do so.

[QBall]

uwish uwish:

hum, I would have thought is was still part of their basic training..wonder if the RCN is doing this?

When I was in the Navy (left 8 years ago) celestial navigation was only taught to Navigation Officers. It was not taught as part of the Naval Officer Training Course (aka basic training for Naval officers). Learning celestial navigation is all fine and dandy to get the ship from A to B on the open ocean, however most land attack missiles and most newer anti-ship missiles use GPS. So it looks like if the satellites get taken out we'll be going back to WWII style visual engagements with guns.

[uwish]

QBall fair enough, I figured it would be as part of the Nav courses....

[Freakinoldguy]

At one time every MARS Officer both Bridge Watch keepers and Navigators alike took celestial navigation during their MARS II sea phase but, when they shit canned Training Squadron in the mid 90's and went to the Trainers at NOTC they found it somewhat difficult to conduct Celestial Navigation inside a building and let it lapse.

I still am a firm believer in sending MARS officers to sea to learn their trade rather than putting them in a large computer controlled box because, as we discovered with the first NOTC class that got to use the trainer was that the half of the class that went to sea was light years ahead of the ones that stayed ashore and used the trainer.