USS George Washington Successfully Completes T-FEP
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS090727-16
Release Date: 7/27/2009 5:04:00 PM
By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Charles Oki and
Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Dave Reynolds
USS GEORGE WASHINGTON, At Sea (NNS) -- Sailors on board USS George Washington (CVN 73) successfully completed a Tailored-Final Evaluation Problem (T-FEP) July 23, receiving an overall grade of excellent.
Afloat Training Group Western Pacific (ATGWP) was on board George Washington for several days evaluating and training GW's shipboard training teams on their ability to effectively instruct and test Sailors on all aspects of fighting the ship, including combating actual damage control casualties, properly training new repair locker members, and numerous levels of technical training.
Due to the unique environment the Navy operates in, shipboard Sailors must be ready to fight the ship and be able to combat a fire or a damage control situation at any time, day or night. ATGWP tested that integration of effort.
"ATGWP was on board to make sure we were at a level that we could fight any casualty that could happen during a deployment," said Lt. Cmdr. Steve Sims, GW's Damage Control Assistant. "They were testing our damage control knowledge and our ability to combat damage on the ship. The evaluation went extremely well. The personnel in the repair lockers were well trained, so I think the two [General Quarters] each week we do have really paid off."
Sims said GW's T-FEP score reflects highly on the ship's integrated training teams—including Damage Control, Medical, Combat Systems, Engineering, Weapons and Force Protection—whose goal is to continually train Sailors up to the necessary level of knowledge in their relevant warfare area.
"Being the country's only permanently forward-deployed carrier, we don't enjoy the same work up and deployment schedules that the rest of the Navy undergoes," said GW's Commanding Officer Capt. David Lausman. "Whether we are underway on deployment or in our homeport of Yokosuka the crew remains ready for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for operational tasking. Being America's 911 Carrier Strike Group means that we need to be ready for anything at a moment's notice.
"The professional's from ATG, provided a critical, comprehensive validation of our self-assessment procedures and training program over a wide spectrum of damage control and war fighting skills sets as we put 'Warship Ready for Tasking' theory into practice. Our excellent performance during this T-FEP is a testament to the crew's professionalism, forceful team backup, and expertise that together with Carrier Airwing Five we are ready and prepared to handle the Nation's business anywhere we are asked to go."
Though T-FEP is a primary indicator of a ship's damage control training and organization, Lausman said Sailors from every shipboard department who serve in the ship's 10 repair lockers were responsible for GW's success through their knowledge, training and teamwork: Sailors like DC2(SW/AW) Jared Carpenter, a member of GW's Damage Control Training Team (DCTT) and on scene leader for the ship's flying squad – a rapid response team.
Carpenter received a Navy Achievement Medal for his efforts in preparing the ship for the inspection. He said that having a third party evaluate a training team's efforts is necessary to keep training honest.
"It's good to have ATGWP on board to make sure we're doing everything, as the Captain would say, 'by the book'," said Carpenter. "Before ATGWP came on board, we were running a [aviation fuel] fire drill according to the book, and we later found out that a change was made to the NSTM 555 (Naval Ships' Technical Manual Chapter 555—Surface Ship Firefighting) that we were unaware of and ATGWP informed us of the changes. The following day we made the corrections and we handled it extremely well."
Staying current is only one difficulty for training team members; each of them is a normal crew member with other significant primary duties, and trainers range from work center supervisors to leading chief petty officers all the way to the ship's most senior leaders.
"It takes a special kind of Sailor to serve on a training team," said GW's Executive Officer Capt. Daniel Grieco. "Not only are these men and women leading and mentoring their shipmates, getting the mission done and ensuring material readiness, they've agreed to taking on the significant responsibility of training up the crew in order to ensure we can fight the ship effectively. These are some of the finest Sailors in our Navy and I couldn't be more proud of them and their performance."
George Washington is currently participating in Talisman Saber 09, a biennial, combined exercise designed to train Australian and U.S. forces in planning and conducting combined operations, which will improve interoperability between Australian and U.S. forces while promoting security and stability in the region.
GW is the flagship of the George Washington Carrier Strike Group currently making its inaugural summer deployment from Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, on its first deployment since relieving USS Kitty Hawk last year.
For more news from USS George Washington (CVN 73), visit www.navy.mil/local/cvn73/.
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