In addition to managing his regular duties, the executive officer (XO) of the USS Guardian (MCM 5) is preparing to be the first surface warfare officer to "fleet-up" to commanding officer (CO). Lt. Ted Essenfeld, who arrived at the ship in January 2007, will lead the way in what will be a Navywide standard for surface warfare officers in line to become commanding officers. Under the fleet-up plan, officially set in motion in December 2005, XO’s serve 18 months and then transition to CO, for their command tour on the same ship. For Guardian, which is an O-4 command ship, it will only be 15 months for Essenfeld before he becomes commanding officer.