Ship's readiness is inherently linked to the readiness of systems and personnel operating, troubleshooting, and maintaining ships in the fleet. Having trained personnel with the right mix of skills and experience is critical for a ship to successfully perform its mission and to maintain a high state of operational and material readiness. Operating and maintaining today's ships in an efficient, safe, and cost-effective manner while staying within budget thresholds and optimal manning is challenging. Navy formal schools try to meet the ship's training needs, but with a wide range of equipment configurations in the fleet, there are times when an immediate Type Commander intervention is needed. Waterfront training, to include various hands-on training brought to the ship by waterfront Mini-Camp training, fills those interim training gaps. The In-Service Engineering Agent (ISEA) for a given system or equipment takes on the role as the technical trainer, and brings in-depth expertise to the waterfront with a unique combination of knowledge and experiences that span system design, acquisition and modernization, Research and Development (R&D), operation and maintenance planning, technical documentation, policy, and assessment knowledge.

In this paper, we discuss the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division-Ship Systems Engineering Station (NSWCCD-SSES, referred to herein as SSES), Philadelphia's response to the fleet to fill skill-level challenges that arise to ensure shipboard and waterfront personnel maintain their technical understanding of the ship's systems. Making training available to sailors in their day to day work environment - onboard Navy ships - is essential for keeping skills current and ensuring fleet readiness. A Mini-Camps' primary focus is to provide tailored hands-on training utilizing actual shipboard equipment supported by classroom training. The ship becomes the classroom, and sailors get documented needs-based training tailored to the equipment and systems they operate and maintain every day. In a pilot program implemented for select systems, Mini-Camps are also being used to augment Afloat Training Group (ATG) training on ship scheduled basic phase events. Mini-Camps serve to provide input to standard training processes and programs such as formal training courses taught in Navy schoolhouses, Human Performance Readiness Reviews (HPRRs), and Navy Training System Plans (NTSPs) and provide feedback to Program Acquisition Resource Managers (PARMs), Technical Warrant Holders (TWHs), Ship Class Managers (SCMs), and both NAVSEA In-Service and Acquisition Program Offices.