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Damage Control Top Focus During Tortuga SRA

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS061023-02
Release Date: 10/23/2006 7:37:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class David J. Ham, USS Tortuga Public Affairs

SASEBO, Japan (NNS) -- A ship-wide damage control (DC) test was administered Oct. 19 aboard USS Tortuga (LSD 46) as part of an ongoing all hands effort to get the crew proficient in casualty response while the ship undergoes its restricted availability (SRA) period.

The ship’s crew has been undertaking classroom refresher courses and conducting early Friday morning fire drills as two of the major ways that they are learning DC skills.

“Everyone from the lowest ranking seaman to the captain on board Tortuga is essentially a firefighter,” explained Machine Repairman 2nd Class (SW) Nathan W. Bantz.

The DC refresher courses, headed by Damage Control Assistant, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Sedan W. Jacobs, are designed to reintroduce and teach crew members the basics of material conditions and water tight integrity. Topics of study have included firefighting agents, firefighting equipment, firefighting procedures, dewatering equipment and ship-specific DC characteristics.

“Classroom training is a chance for everyone on the ship to become familiar with the different aspects of damage control so if an actual casualty were to take place, our Sailors are better prepared to combat that casualty,” said Jacobs.

Classroom training is engaging, say most of the crew. Officers and enlisted alike ask questions and pose what-if scenarios. DC instructors keep the sessions informative yet fun and interesting. Sailors can be seen with basic DC study-guides after working hours. Others quiz shipmates from classroom notes or handouts.

Efforts to improve DC knowledge among the enlisted and officer ranks have proved fruitful. In only one week of post-workday classroom training, basic DC test scores have risen as much as 30 percent.

“The ship as a whole has made significant improvement in a very short period of time,” said Jacobs.

The training has not stopped in the classroom. In order for Tortuga’s crew to keep up with their day-to-day work and not have to worry about a drill in the middle of the day, Tortuga’s damage control training team (DCTT) has implemented early Friday morning drills.

The narrowing of spaces due to the depot-level maintenance poses problems to effective training.

“Safety is paramount,” said Bantz.

If a prospective space is unattainable, the firefighting team works around it or the drill is handled elsewhere.

“The crew has responded positively with these early morning drills,” said Bantz. “Sure, we are conducting the drills early in the morning, but it is the best time to train, because it does not interfere with the normal day to day work that goes on during the maintenance period.”

SRA is typically nine weeks long with depot-level availability where intensive time-consuming repairs are completed.

Tortuga is part of the USS Essex (LHD 2) Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), operating out of Sasebo, Japan, though the ship is currently in a ship's restricted availability (SRA) period. Tortuga and the ARG are part of Task Force 76, the Navy’s only forward-deployed amphibious force, which is headquartered at White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan, with an operating detachment in Sasebo, Japan.