Originally Posted by
WE Branch Fanatic
At the end of the day it is the OOW who decides Green or Red. FLYCO can jump up and down all they like but they do not have Charge of the ship It is all in those words "I have the ship". However when conducting flying operations a CVF or LPH will have the FLYCO request flying course to meet the flying programme. The OOW will give a approval to commence operations but can always cancel that authorisation if they need to manoeuvre etc. At the end of the day a 23 year old junior officer has a lot of power on a warship and only the CO, XO or other delegated officer (say Spec N) can override them and then only by taking Charge with the word 'I have the ship" or issuing a conning order.
The above account seems to confirm the wisdom of requiring only Naval Aviators to captain aircraft carriers in the USN. In the "black shoe" world vs "brown shoe" world of a USN aircraft carrier (black shoe are ship's company officers, brown shoe are carrier airwing officers) the captain of a USN aircraft carrier ALWAYS wears wings of gold and brown shoes. This ensures that the airboss has the influence and clout he needs to get the aviation job done.