A current philosophical trend in Navy training is to place less emphasis on traditional shore-based training and more on shipboard training. While many technological advancements help achieve this goal (e.g., embedded training), a lack of adequately trained instructors represents a potential problem to shipboard training. Shipboard instructors must manage the scheduling and conduct of a complex web of interconnected training exercises designed to meet learning objectives for multiple teams, as well as individual-level objectives for specific watchstanders. All this takes place within a functioning operational environment where task requirements compete with training demands. In order to provide meaningful, coordinated instruction in this environment, instructors must have a clear understanding of the instructional processes involved. A one-day instructor workshop was conducted in order to shape instructors' "mental models" of the scenario-based training cycle. As part of an effort to validate this training, we examined changes in the mental models of 17 shipboard instructors from a pre-commissioned ship using a concept ordering task before and after the training workshop. Using these data, instructors' mental models were compared to an expert's model (i.e., the course developer) in order to validate the training received. Results are discussed in light of mental model theory as well as the demands of shipboard instructor training.