These middle-aged Navy officers already have years of advanced education at college and at military schools under their belts when they arrive at Groton, Connecticut, or Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for nine more weeks of rigorous instruction. But this time the stakes are higher; because these officers are candidates to command the Navy’s 70 powerful nuclear submarines, and this course will teach them how.

“The basic Submarine Command Course consists of four weeks in classrooms [or] attack trainers concentrating on tactics, employment, navigation, ship-handling and leadership,” said Lieutenant Commander Chris Loundermon, a Navy spokesman. “Three weeks underway on submarines putting lessons into practice; one week of reconstruction [where] the students prepare a brief of all torpedo firings during the underway portion of the course, and one week of … staff briefs.”

There are just three instructors: one at the Naval Submarine School in Groton, one in Hawaii and another in Norfolk, Va. The course is held four times a year, twice each in Groton and Pearl Harbor, and all three instructors share duties at all iterations. Average class size is around 20 students, often including exchange students from allied navies.

Captain Dave Kriete is one of the instructors. A 23-year veteran with multiple tours aboard attack boats and ballistic-missile-armed “boomers,” including a three-year stint commanding the boomer USS Rhode Island, he was hand-picked 18 months ago for the teaching gig.

Kriete says he oversees an evolving curriculum. “Part of reason we [the instructors] are split up is so we can stay in touch with the submarine force leadership. We try to stay finely attuned to their current goals, issues and submarine force problem areas.”

That means integrating new technology into the course at the same time that it makes its way into the operational fleet. One example is Vessel Monitoring System, the Navy’s new “paperless” chart. Instead of plotting their courses on unwieldy and out-of-date paper charts, these days navigators on a growing number of ships use the VMS’s constantly-updated digital maps to simplify and speed up navigation.

VMS recently joined the submarine force, so Kriete has begun teaching it to future commanders. “As those systems came on line, we inserted some hands-on VMS training labs for the students. That evolved into series of trainers [or simulations] where [students] will participate as officers of the watch, having to navigate using purely electronic navigation. That includes not only VMS, but advanced radars too.”

“All students are a little different,” Kriete said. “Some do well in the classroom phase and struggle at sea. There are a few more who struggle in the classroom, mostly due to time management [challenges]. When they get out to sea they find themselves in their comfort zone. Neither phase is easy. They are both very, very demanding in terms of mental effort required, in terms of physical stamina and being able to shift from one mission area to the next.”

Exchange students from the British Royal Navy, the Australian and Canadian navies and others bring fresh ideas to the course, Kriete says. “They each operate their submarines differently. … They deploy to different parts of the world. They have slightly different methods for operating a periscope or shooting torpedoes or navigating their ship. To a man, each of those international guys has been very willing to share those experiences with the rest of the class. I see that as a two-way relationship. We benefit and they benefit.”