Executive Officer (XO)

Job Description

The XO is responsible for the management of day-to-day activities,  such as administration, maintenance, and logistics, freeing a commander to concentrate on tactical/operational planning and execution and a general officer commander to concentrate on similar planning and execution at the operational-strategic level. The XO may take charge in the absence of the commander, the exception being commands with a deputy commander.

• The executive officer is the billet of the officer who is second-in-command.
• An XO is assigned to all ships, aviation squadrons, and shore units and installations, and is responsible to the captain for all ship’s work, drills, exercises, personnel organization, and the policing and inspection of the ship.
• When the ship goes to action stations, the XO confirms that the ship actually is ready for combat and reports this to the captain. The XO’s own action station is in a separate part of the ship from that of the captain, so that a single hit will not likely incapacitate both officers.^[1]
• On small ships with no first lieutenant, gunnery officer, or navigator, the executive officer may also be responsible for the duties of those officers.^[2]
• Carrier air wings in the Alliance do not have an XO, but have a deputy commander (DCAG) instead; for shore-based or functional naval air wings headed by a commodore, the equivalent position is the deputy commodore.

Responsibilities

• Co-pilot, mans battle station co-pilot station or forward batteries.
• Flight Ops. Commands all hangar space craft.
• Space Craft Pilot, SpecOp pilot.
• Ground Operations Officer.

References

1.  Naval Orientation. US Navy. pp. 16–2.
2.  Mayo, Claude Banks (1939). Your Navy. Los Angeles: Parker & Baird Company. pp. 287&288.