Seapower - August 2009

And this is the time when you do a critique, after a drill. This is the most important part of the drill. This is where you point out our foibles, point out our problems. … This is also where other people bring their input. … In the incident we had, many of the things we did, as far as a safe room or a secondary fallback or taking the engine down, were discussed at these critiques from these drills.

What is next for you? PHILLIPS: I’m looking at going back in September to work. I am — and I’ve been doing this for 30 years — contemplating retirement and other opportunities, but right now, I’m looking at going back in September. I still love being at sea. … I like being on the ocean. I like being on ships. … Every day, something makes me laugh. I learn something every day. And no two days are the same, haven’t been for 30 years and never will be.

Will you be on Maersk Alabama
again?
PHILLIPS: The last I heard that
was my ship, and so hopefully it
still is. … I love that run. The
weather is pretty good, except for
the monsoon. You’re not under a
microscope. I’ve been doing that
run for almost two years.

LISA NIPP

Phillips addressed the dinner that concluded the Navy League’s Board of Directors meeting June 13 after being presented with the Adm. Arleigh Burke Award for Exceptional Leadership.

you’re doing. The only way to do that is actually training by doing and not by videotape. It’s hands-on.

We practice different fire scenarios, we practice security scenarios. Four or five days before the [April 8] incident, we were doing a security drill. I wanted to check out the status of our security preparedness and the atmosphere of the ship, and we found that we didn’t do very well. So a lot of things we did during that drill aided us in the situation.

Does a predictable route make the ship an easier target? PHILLIPS: Well, ships themselves are predictable and I think we are seeing that a lot of the pirates now are getting inside information. … I believe [security is] an ever-evolv-

ing thing, and so is piracy. They’re evolving. They’re not stupid.

What are your feelings about arms or private security aboard commercial ships? PHILLIPS: It’s a comprehensive, multifaceted defense that we have to have. No. 1, for me, would be a force-protection team. By that I mean two, maybe three, superior-trained persons — an ex-SEAL, ex-special