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Surface Force Revises Damage Control Doctrine

Navy Newsstand

Release Date: 9/16/2003

Story Number: NNS030916-10

Release Date: 9/16/2003 12:55:00 PM

By Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- Aboard a ship at sea, all hands need to be proficient as firefighters. But a new approach to shipboard firefighting, issued to the fleet in a recent revision to the Surface Force Repair Party Manual, recognizes that not every fire requires all hands to fight it.

The revision of the Repair Party Manual, announced by the Commander Naval Surface Forces by naval message Sept. 9, reorganizes shipboard damage control to make it more efficient, align best practices and policy, and give commanding officers more options in responding to damage, such as fires and flooding.

"In the past, if there was a small fire aboard a ship, they would call away the 'flying squad,' and investigators would make the decision whether they would be able to handle it or not," said Senior Chief Damage Controlman (SW) Terry Nash, the damage control expert on the Naval Surface Force staff. "If they couldn't handle it themselves, the only option for the CO [commanding officer] would be to call away general quarters [GQ]."

All hands would then get involved, according to Nash, and it would take between seven and 10 minutes to set boundaries dictated by condition "Zebra."

The new approach, which adds an intermediate response option called Condition II between the rapid reaction of the flying squad and shipwide GQ, will save response time. It will also let Sailors manning important watch stations, such as on the bridge or in the Combat Information Center, to remain in those roles.

"Now, instead of letting the fire burn or the flooding continue while you set Zebra shipwide, you can get people to the scene and decide what to do immediately," said Nash. "The great thing about Condition II is that the CO can decide to bring in a single repair locker, and if they can't handle the damage themselves, he can bring in another repair locker or set GQ. He has that flexibility."

The development of the new damage control doctrine benefited from a tremendous amount of input from the deckplate level.

"We did this with a lot of input from the waterfront," said Nash, pointing out that the goal was to align policy with the best practices from damage control aboard USS Stark (FFG 31), USS Samuel B Roberts (FFG 58) and USS Cole (DDG 67).

"There's a culture change involved, and we recognize that," said Nash. "But the feedback from the waterfront has been very positive, because everyone has had a hand in offering their input."

Surface ships are required to implement the changes outlined in the newly revised Repair Party Manual by the beginning of next year. An electronic version of the instruction is available on the Web sites of both Naval Surface Forces Pacific and Atlantic Fleets, https://extra.cnsp.navy.mil and http://www.cnsl.spear.navy.mil, and compact discs will be sent to commands on request.