Originally Posted by rickair7777

Very dirty on a DESRON, and degraded effectiveness. The O's in CIC train for years to manage complex battle problems. The E's could push a button and launch a weapon to engage a single target, but they can't manage a large-scale engagement, especially in CWC environment like a strike group.

On a submarine? Not a chance. The E's are very stovepiped into their tactical niches, the operation of the ship as a whole and most especially tactical employment 100% requires O's. With no O's, the E's could surface the ship and drive home, not much more. If they tried to engage say a neer-peer SSN, they would lose very badly. Kind of like saying an enlisted aircrewman could grab the stick and fly a full strike package mission in a hornet, with potential air-to-air and IADS evasion.