Sep. 12, 2013
Vol. 2 Issue 101
DAILY DIGEST
D PART II CENTRAL C
Story and photo by MCSN Eric Butler
In this article, we will explore the engineering side of Damage Control Central (DCC) and discuss how the chief auxiliary operator (CAO), chief electrical watch (CEW), damage control watch supervisor (DCWS), and list control watch (LCW) take care of all the mechanical and electrical issues around the ship. The CAO keeps a log of events for the Auxiliary Division. Events are reported to the CAO who reports the log to the engineering duty officer (EDO, not one of the seven watches in DCC) and the engineering officer of the watch (EOOW). The CAO coordinates mechanical trouble calls for a large number of ship components. This position is run by machinist’s mates (MM). To qualify for the CAO watch, often referred to as top-watch due to all the qualifications and duties they must
accomplish, MMs start performing auxiliary roves as E-3s and E-4s. Personnel qualification standards include air conditioning and refrigeration (AC&R), catapults, elevators and fire pumps which all culminate in a test and board for each section. Catapult supervisor is the next qualification requiring observation of maintenance performed on the catapults during a no flight ops day. In all, it takes an average of about three years to attain top-watch. Continued on page 3
Sailor of the Day
Story and photo by MCSN Eric Butler
I
nformation Systems Technician 2nd Class John M. Loeffler, from Robertsdale, Ala., was selected Sailor of the Day Sept. 12. “It feels good,” said Loeffler. “It was pretty shocking when they told me this morning.” As work center supervisor for CS-2 Division, Combat Systems Department, Loeffler enforced Information Assurance policy across two dynamic networks comprised of 2,002 automated information systems and peripheral assets supporting 7,738 user accounts to maximize the integrity and availability of the fleet’s first big-deck implementation of a Window’s 7 Virtual Environment Commanding Officer CAPT Jeff Ruth
COMPOSE 4.0 Enclave. Loeffler also tracked and maintained “Authorization to Operate” for 67 systems, ensuring configuration compliance in support of Nimitz’ Afloat Site Certification and Accreditation. His work center maintained a 98 percent spot check pass rate and an 85 percent decrease in user-initiated information assurance violations over the course of four months. To anyone looking to be recognized, Loeffler offered this advice: “Stay motivated. Listen to your chiefs. They know what they’re doing.”
Executive Officer CDR John Cummings
Editor MC2 (SW) Jason Behnke
Command Master Chief CMDCM Teri McIntyre
Public Affairs Officer LCDR Karin Burzynski
Lead Designer MCSN (SW) Kole E. Carpenter
Nimitz News accepts submissions in writing. All submissions are subject to review and screening. ”Nimitz News” is an authorized publication for the members of the military services and their families. Its content does not necessarily reflect the official views of the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Navy, or the Marine Corps and does not imply endorsement thereby.
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Continued from page 1
Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class Isaac R. Ortiz, from Oahu, Hawaii, said CAOs have to coordinate “massive amounts of trouble calls.” Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class Bryan A. Brys, from Terre Haute, Ind., said they often receive calls that don’t concern them, such as minor mechanical issues with personal property or mislabeled pipes. The CEW is the point of contact for the Electrical Division and watches over load centers that are outside the reactor plant. The CEW or the EDO also coordinates repairs for electrical trouble calls. This position is run by electrician’s mates (EM). The DCWS is the voice on the 1MC announcing material conditions of readiness and rings the bell in case of a casualty or report of fire or flooding. They are the main communicators with the bridge and repair lockers during general quarters. This position is run by damage controlmen (DC), machinery repairmen (MR), and hull maintenance technicians (HT).
Every qualification
DCs, HTs and MRs have are all utilized in the DCWS watch. A few of the duties they perform while qualifying for DCWS include list control and checking Halon and CO2 systems throughout the ship while roving on security patrols (also called sounding security patrols). “I like it,” said Hull Maintenance Technician 2nd Class Brett E. Robinson, from San Diego, Calif. “I would much rather be down here than roving.” The rotation is typically one week on and one week off. In comparison to the other watches in DCC, list control watch (LCW) is relatively simple. Qualifying takes standing watch under instruction, taking a test and an oral board. “For the oral board, you have to draw it all out, the
screen and where all the list control valves are,” said Damage Controlman 2nd Class Elizabeth M. Fitchpatrick, from Bakersfield, Calif. The LCW adjusts the list of the ship ensuring a .02 list to port as well as compensating for the list during times such as replenishment-at-sea. It is the only watch in DCC not requiring E-5s or above. This position, is run by DCs, MRs, and HTs. LCW is essentially a job qualification requirement ( JQR) in the road every DC, HT, and MR takes towards qualifying for DCWS. “There’s a lot of memorization that goes into this watch,” said Electrician’s Mate 2nd Class Jeffrey T. Stevens, from Lapeer, Mich.
The most qualified E-5s and above
in the EM Division are chosen to stand the CEW. The average time to qualify for this position takes about three months with a test and board at the end.
There are the engineer logs to learn, all the load centers and what they power all over the ship. CEWs have to know all the important equipment on the ship in order to properly balance or shift electrical loads. If a piece of equipment has to be electrically isolated and load center 31 needs to be powered down, CEWs need to ensure that whey won’t cut off the fueling of aircraft. While any given day, those who sign yoke may hear watch standers in DCC joking around and enjoying themselves, make no mistake they work together as a professional team to safeguard Nimitz. They are usually at the top of their game within their divisions and are ready to go into action when a bad day hits the fan. Next time you find yourself taking the steep ladder wells down to DCC, no need to knock, just ask permission to enter, fully dog down the hatch, and thank someone from the team of seven for the critical job they perform.
Obama:
Syria Strikes Justified, But Diplomacy May Work Story By Karen Parrish, American Forces Press Service
T
he credible threat of U.S. military force in Syria is critical to showing the world that chemical weapons use is unacceptable, President Barack Obama said in a speech to the nation tonight, but he added that he has asked Congress to postpone a vote authorizing such action. The commander in chief noted he has asked U.S. military forces to stay ready to conduct the limited strikes he has proposed, which would aim to reduce Assad's chemical weapons stocks and means of delivering them without putting U.S. boots on the ground. U.S. officials and others in the international community are now pursuing a last-ditch effort to disarm Bashar Assad's regime of the prohibited weapons, Obama said, including the sarin gas his forces used against Syrian civilians Aug. 21, killing 400 or more children among the more than 1,400 total dead. "We know the Assad regime was responsible," the president said. "In the days leading up to Aug. 21, we know that Assad's chemical weapons personnel prepared for an attack. ... They distributed gas masks to their troops. Then they fired rockets from a regimecontrolled area into 11 neighborhoods that the regime has been trying to wipe clear of opposition forces. Shortly after those rockets landed, the gas spread, and 4
hospitals filled with the dying and the wounded." Over the past two years, Obama said, "what began as a series of peaceful protests ... has turned into a brutal civil war. Over 100,000 people have been killed. Millions have fled the country." He has thus far resisted calls for military action, the president said, "because we cannot resolve someone else's civil war through force, particularly after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan." The Aug. 21 attack changed that calculus, the president said. "The images from this massacre are sickening: men, women, children lying in rows, killed by poison gas, others foaming at the mouth, gasping for breath," he said. "A father clutching his dead children, imploring them to get up and walk." The world saw proof "in gruesome detail" of the terrible nature of chemical weapons, Obama said, "and why the overwhelming majority of humanity has declared them off-limits, a crime against humanity and a violation of the laws of war." Chemical weapons were used in both world wars, the president said. "Because these weapons can kill on a mass scale, with no distinction between soldier and infant, the civilized world has spent a century working to ban them," he added, noting that 189 governments,
Courtesy photo
representing 98 percent of humanity, now prohibit the use of chemical weapons. Obama said he's cautiously hopeful about current international efforts involving Syria's closest ally, Russia, to remove and ultimately destroy Syria's chemical arsenal. He said he is sending Secretary of State John F. Kerry to meet his Russian counterpart Sept. 12, and that he will continue his own discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The president said he also has spoken to leaders of France and the United Kingdom, "and we will work together in consultation with Russia and China to put forward a resolution at the U.N. Security Council requiring Assad to give up his chemical weapons and to ultimately destroy them under international control." The United States will give U.N. inspectors the opportunity to report their findings about what happened Aug. 21, "and we will continue to rally support from allies from Europe to the Americas, from Asia to the Middle East, who agree on the need for action," the president said. If military strikes are ultimately required, Obama said, they will be decisive. "The United States military doesn't do pinpricks," he said. "Even a limited strike will send a message to Assad that no other nation can deliver."
The president also expressed his gratitude to U.S. service members and their families. "Tonight I give thanks, again, to our military and their families for their incredible strength and sacrifices," he said. Obama said he doesn't believe the United States should remove another dictator with force, as it did in Iraq. "But a targeted strike can makes Assad -- or any other dictator -- think twice before using chemical weapons," he added. U.S. ideals and principles, as well as national security, are at stake in Syria, the president said. "Terrible things happen across the globe, and it is beyond our means to right every wrong, but when with modest effort and risk we can stop children from being gassed to death and thereby make our own children safer over the long run, I believe we should act," he said. "That's what makes America different," the president concluded. "That's what makes us exceptional. With humility, but with resolve, let us never lose sight of that essential truth." Defense Department News Through Facebook On American Forces Press Service's Facebook page, you can post comments and share news, photos and videos. Go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/ American-Forces-Press-Service/65137437532 or search American Forces Press Service on Facebook.
Sailors and Marines participate in the Marine Corps Corporal Course .
By MCSN (SW) Phillip Ladoucer
By MC2 (SW) Ryan Mayes
QM3 Antoin Gray and QMSN Cheyann Wright prepare to fly the ensign.
By MCSN (SW) Kole E. Carpenter
By MC3 Chris Bartlett
THROUGHTHE LE NS
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AD1 Joseph Richardconducts maintenance on a tailpipe.
USS Nimitz (CVN 68) conducts maritime operations in U.S. fifth fleet area of responsibility.
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ON THE COVER: Sailors man watch stations in DC Central - Photo by MCSN Eric Butler
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