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| - Few military services can claim to have officers trained as well and as diversely as the officers of the Royal Naval Service. RNS line officers are trained in navigation, engineering, military tactics, history, the sciences and armed and unarmed combat. Any line officer on a ship is qualified to pilot that ship, to run its engines, to fire its guns, to take command if necessary. Line officers start their careers in the Royal Naval Service through one of two gateways: through the Royal Naval Academy in Enaj, or by enlisting directly as a midshipman.
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| abstract
| - Few military services can claim to have officers trained as well and as diversely as the officers of the Royal Naval Service. RNS line officers are trained in navigation, engineering, military tactics, history, the sciences and armed and unarmed combat. Any line officer on a ship is qualified to pilot that ship, to run its engines, to fire its guns, to take command if necessary. As the ship 'clears for action', that is, gets ready for an engagement, each officer will report to his assigned 'action station,' such as navigation, or weapons, or engineering. These assignments are set by an officer's position (i.e. 1st Lieutenant, 2nd Lieutenant, etc.) and will remain the same as long as he holds that position. When the ship is other than at action stations, the duty rotation is set by the 1st Lieutenant, and each officer is generally assigned to an area of the duty roster best suited to his skills and abilities. Line officers start their careers in the Royal Naval Service through one of two gateways: through the Royal Naval Academy in Enaj, or by enlisting directly as a midshipman. Cadets at the Royal Naval Academy take a four-year programme and graduate not only with a degree in one of various fields, but also with the rank of Lieutenant. They are trained in all the arts necessary to an officer in His Majesty's Service, and between terms they are sent on training missions aboard designated RNS ships. Midshipmen begin their career on the deck of an RNS ship. They learn many of the same things as their Academy brethren, but they learn it through practical experience, training in navigation, engineering, gunnery, tactics and all the other necessary skills of an officer. After six years aboard ship, midshipmen take the Examination for Lieutenant. If they pass, they receive their commissions as Lieutenants. If they fail, they must wait one year until they can take the examination again. If they fail a second time, they are discharged from the Royal Naval Service. Regardless of how RNS officers start their career, every line officer is theoretically in line for command. On every ship, there is a Captain (or on smaller ships, a Commander), and under that Captain a 1st Lieutenant, a 2nd Lieutenant, a 3rd Lieutenant and so on - though there are only rarely more than ten lieutenants aboard a ship. The position of the lieutenant in the chain of command is generally, though not always, based on seniority.
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![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)