The ships referenced in the article are a newer class of ship. It was designed for reduced crew capacity, but as you stated it's simply impractical to try to p

The ships referenced in the article are a newer class of ship. It was designed for reduced crew capacity, but as you stated it's simply impractical to try to perform specialized skills outside of your training area. The real problem is that they're reducing the crews on ships of all kinds, not just the newer ones. I inherited 2-3 people's worth of equipment responsibilities when I checked on board, and that's on top of all the extra nonsense the Navy has you do other than work on your equipment.