Designated Shipboard Training Officer (DSTO).

Introduction:

This section provides guidance on the appointment of a DSTO and the part they play in your on board practical training at sea.

When you arrive on any new ship, you’ll be assigned a DSTO who will manage your time onboard and give you any support that you need. If you have any questions, queries or concerns, your DSTO is the person to talk to. If they’re not about, then the Duty Officer or another senior crew member should be your second port of call.

The involvement of your DSTO in overseeing your training may vary considerably from ship to ship. However, they are not there to teach you in the normal sense as; you should have learnt most of the theory in the classroom beforehand. The time they do have to spend with you face to face is often limited. They will have their own role to play whilst on board and this may dictate the time they are available to spend with you.

For more background information on the part they play in your training, read the relevant notes that you will find in your MNTB TRB.

You should expect to spend a short time each week reviewing progress and agreeing aims and objectives for the following week and whilst this could be a formal process, it is often likely to be less so. Your input is imperative, so make sure you continually identify what you think you should be doing next and feed in any ideas you have. You need to be driving yourself but remember, there are many constraints as to what you might be able to do and when. So don’t be too surprised if any idea you have cannot be undertaken just when you want to do it. Operating ships is a complex process and there may be very valid reasons why undertaking the simplest task may not always be possible.

Updated:     June 2017.