Philip Vian's aversion to staff work and why training matters

Philip Vian's Action This Day appeals to Alex Clarke for its author's operational adventures and skill at avoiding Admiralty and staff appointments. That aversion to paperwork becomes a professional weakness in his reading of the memoir. At senior rank, Vian faces the task of organizing a staff without having served on one or attended staff college. The example supports the argument for requiring staff education and practical staff experience before wider command. Glynn Stewart connects it with Starship's Mage, where a young captain's staff appointment completes a qualification needed for eventual promotion to commodore, although her short time at captain still delays advancement.