SWO Community
Weapon Systems and Strike Groups
Boats
Current Events
Future Advances
100
Name of pin and year introduced
What is The SWO pin, introduced 1975?
100
Platform/platforms which utilize the Aegis Weapon System and AN/SPY-1 Phased Array Radar.
What are the Arleigh Burke Class guided-missile destroyers?
100
What is LANDING CRAFT, UTILITY, AND MECHANIZED – LCU?
100
Event which occurred during 2017 Hurricane Season:
Ships like USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) delivered disaster relief after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
100
This program is developing the Navy’s next-generation guided-missile destroyer to replace Ticonderoga-class cruisers and early Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
What is DDG(X)?
200
Role which SWO(N) serve in aboard a CVN.
What is Propulsion Plant Watch Officers (PPWO)?
200
This weapon system provides ships of the U.S. Navy with an inner layer point defense capability against anti-ship missiles (ASM), aircraft and littoral warfare threats that have penetrated other fleet defenses.
What is the MK 15 Phalanx Close-in Weapon System (CIWS)?
200
The material which the MCM-1 Avenger Class Mine Counter Measure Ship's hull is made of.
What is wood?
200
Event which occured April 2009:
USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) resolved the Maersk Alabama pirate hijacking in the Indian Ocean, marking the Navy’s first successful pirate seizure of a U.S.-flagged ship since the 19th century.
200
The Navy's foundational Medium Unmanned Surface Vessels.
What are the Sea Hunter and Seahawk?
300
Name of pin and year introduced.
What is The Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist (ESWS) pin, introduced April 1979.
300
Orginization of a Carrier Strike Group (CSG)
One Aircraft Carrier (CVN)
● Three - Four Guided Missile Destroyers
(DDG)
● One Combined Ammunition, Oiler, and
Supply Ship
● One Attack Submarine (SSN)
300
Flight/flights of DDG-51 Arleigh Burke Class Guided Missile Destroyers which can embark 2 MH60s?
What are flights 2A and 3?
300
Event which occured May 2021:
USS Portland (LPD 27) tested a high-energy laser weapon against a surface threat, marking a milestone in directed-energy warfare.
300
A new specialized career path modeled after the Nuclear Navy. These warfare officers alternate tours between conventional crewed warships and unmanned commands to build cross-functional expertise.
What is SWO-U (Surface Warfare Officer – Unmanned)?
400
The 4 types of Warfare Tactics Instructors “Witties,”.
Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD)
● Anti-Submarine Warfare/Surface Warfare (ASW/SUW)
● Mine Warfare (MIW)
● Amphibious Warfare (AMW)
400
Organization of an Expeditionary Strike Group.
● One Amphibious Assault Ship (LHA or
LHD)
● One Amphibious Transport Dock (LPD) Ship
● One Dock Landing Ship (LSD)
● One embarked Marine Expeditionary Unit
(MEU)
● Surface combatants
● Submarine
400
Name and crew size 
What is LCS Littoral Combat Ship Independence Class. 50-100 crew (mission dependent)
400
Event which occurred December 2024:
USS Indianapolis (LCS 17) completed a 22 month deployment to the Fifth Fleet AOR completing a proof of concept down range operational deployment involving multiple crew swaps in theater. During her departure she will engage in combat with Houthi forces while transiting the the Bab el-Mandeb Strait
400
A newly established enlisted rating dedicated entirely to operating and maintaining RAS platforms at the tactical edge. These sailors serve as the fleet's subject matter experts in mission autonomy, AI, and automated navigation.
What is Robotics Warfare Specialist (RW)?
500
The 12 warfare areas which apply to Surface Warfare.
1. Air Warfare (AW)
2. Surface Warfare (SUW)
3. Anti-submarine Warfare (ASW)
4. Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD)
5. Strike Warfare (STW)
6. Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO)
7. Naval Surface Fire Support (NSFS)
8. Electronic Warfare (EW)
9. Expeditionary Warfare (EXW)
10. Amphibious Warfare (AMW)
11. Mine Warfare (MIW)
12. Mobility (MOB)
500
A lightweight, quick-reaction, fire-and-forget missile designed to destroy anti-ship cruise missiles and asymmetric air and surface threats. For all versions of the missile, there is no shipboard support required (i.e., no illuminators) after missile launch.
What is RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM).
500
Name and well deck lift capability
What is LPD-17 San Antonio Class Amphibious Transport Dock. 2 LCAC or 1 LCU; 18 AAVs in the well deck.
500
Event which occured May 2026:
Under Operation Project Freedom, USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81), USS Mason (DDG 87), and USS Truxton (DDG 103) escorted two American-flagged merchant vessels safely through the Strait of Hormuz. During the transit, escort forces engaged and neutralized seven Iranian Fast Inshore Attack Craft (FIAC), maintaining the freedom of navigation through the critical strategic chokepoint.
500
New command element focuses on the tactical introduction of medium-sized USVs, critical sensors, and containerized kinetic payloads.
What is USVRON-1?