Calling an officer a gunnery specialist does not by itself show that he was committed to battleships. In the 1900s through the 1930s, gunnery and some torpedo training supplied broad professional education because guns remained the main shipboard weapon across destroyers, cruisers, and capital ships. Aircraft also served as spotting platforms for heavy guns, so experience with gunnery could overlap with aviation rather than oppose it. An officer's full career and the contemporary meaning of a specialism provide better evidence of his outlook.
Notable Point · 18:35-19:43
Why gunnery training did not define a battleship admiral
Gunnery credentials were broad professional preparation when guns remained the principal shipboard weapon, not proof that an officer rejected aviation or smaller warships.