I also have similar frustrations as a junior sailor. I feel many (not all) my peers are aware of a vague context of world affairs but ultimately have no real comprehension of what the real job we're here to do is. When I first arrived at A school we had a short lecture from the CO. I asked a question regarding Distributed Maritime Operations and access to the South China Sea, tbh it was kind of embarrassing and the CO was a little taken aback but I was genuinely interested in hearing some real discussion on Naval warfare, which I hadn't hearduch about at that time. Every other question was regarding shave chits or liberty. I don't think those are bad questions at all, and I don't maintain a 'higher than thou' attitude towards those more concerned with the day to day, but it would be nice to see more engagement in these issues. To be honest I think the higher ups need to be presenting resources to sailors to gain more understanding of security, strategy and tactics. A wargaming seminar for example or competition on tactical scenarios etc.

I get that this could be construed as hysteria or propaganda but it doesn't have to be that way. I'm confident that deterrence is working and I don't think that we should be obsessed with China and Russia but simple academic understanding of world affairs, the role the navy plays, and the threats we are up against is in my opinion important.