SWO boss: ‘Many challenges remain’ in fixing surface fleet’s manning problems January 12 Quartermaster 3rd Class Annie Kilcrease uses an alidade aboard the guided-missile destroyer Ross in the Denmark Strait July 1, 2019. (MC2 Krystina Coffey/Navy) Chronic manning shortfalls aboard U.S. Navy warships were found to have contributed to the fatal 2017 collisions of the Fitzgerald and John S. McCain, disasters that killed 17 sailors and scarred many more of their shipmates for life. While the surface fleet has made improvements in manning its ships in recent years, more remains to be done, the head of Naval Surface Forces said Tuesday. “We are making progress with our manning issues, but many challenges remain,” SWO Boss Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener said during the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium.