Nimitz News Daily Digest - Sept. 24, 2013

Sept. 24, 2013

Vol. 2 Issue 108

DAILY DIGEST

behind the wheel of the mighty warship Nimitz

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ay shapes are up, hard hats and orange vests are donned, the gunner’s mates have their M14 rifles prepared to shoot shot lines and the 200-man working party is manned and ready. USS Nimitz is commencing her approach alongside the Military Sealift Command fast combat support ship USNS Rainier (T-AOE 7) for yet another underway replenish-

Story and photos by MC3 (SW) Raul Moreno

ment (UNREP). The two iron giants begin sailing alongside each other, together displacing more than 140,000 tons. Behind the wheel of this 1,115-foot multibillion dollar aircraft carrier, keeping a constant distance of 160 feet between the two ships is a 5-foot3-inch boatswain’s mate from Augusta, Ga., Boatswain’s Mate Seaman Darlene Gueits is one of the few master helmsmen aboard

Nimitz. She said the best part about being a master helmsman is the opportunity to drive the ship. “I mean, how many people get to say that?” she said. A master helmsman is in charge of controlling the course of the ship during special evolutions like UNREPs, strait transits, general quarters (GQ) and pulling in and out of ports. During these evolutions, precise steering is required to navigate the ship. continued on page 3

Commanding Officer Capt. Jeff Ruth

Executive Officer Capt. John Cummings

Editor MC2 (SW) Jason Behnke

Command Master Chief CMDCM Teri McIntyre

Public Affairs Officer Lt. Cmdr. 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

“During UNREPs you must make sure that you’re staying within certain degrees,” said Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Jose Garcia, from Union City, N.J., also a master helmsman. “We have another ship right next to us, so we are dealing with our lives and other peoples lives.”

Throughout these evolutions, master helmsmen rotate the helm only fractions of degrees to stay on a specific course. They also pay close attention to every outside factor that affects ship movement, like wind direction and sea current. If done for too long, the job can easily become difficult.

“If it’s a long UNREP, it strains your eyes because you have to be constantly looking at a monitor,” said Garcia. “I think the longest we have driven was during an UNREP, it was about eight hours long.”

In addition to steering from the pilot house, master helmsmen have another obligation in aft steering.

“If something were to happen and we have a loss of steering, the master helmsman would have to respond to that,” said Garcia. “We would be the ones driving from aft steering.”

In case of an emergency, master helmsmen have 30 seconds to reach aft steering.

Since being a master helmsman is a demanding job, it takes considerable training and experience to fill the position.

“The hardest part is actually getting the qual,” said Gueits. “It took me forever to get it. I started during RIMPAC [Rim of the Pacific] and finally got qualified in May.” To become qualified, watch standers must man the helm and log hours for every type of special evolution. Once completed, the final approval depends on the commanding officer (CO).

“The CO is always there watching you, making sure you can do everything right,” said Garcia.

“When the captain sees and thinks you’re ready for this, he’ll let you know that you’re qualified and

The master helmsman cover rests on the bridge.

he’ll give you your red hat.”

The red hat depicts a helm along with the title “Master Helmsman” and is a symbol of accomplishment. Aboard Nimitz, only three Sailors currently possess the red hat.

“We are losing one soon,” said Garcia. “He’s detaching, so we definitely need more.”

Nimitz is required to have a minimum of two master helmsmen to get underway. There are currently three more Sailors standing watches under instruction and striving toward receiving their own red hat.

“When I’m in the bridge, I instruct whoever is driving to makes sure all the procedures are done correctly,” said Gueits. “I make sure that they’re staying on course and that they’re focusing on the task at hand.”

The black ball-diamond-ball day shapes are up on the yardarm once again. Nimitz and Rainier are sailing alongside each other. While Sailors are patiently waiting for their care packages to arrive, there’s a skilled Sailor behind the wheel, keeping the distance between Nimitz and Rainier at 160 feet.

“When we pick somebody to get qualified, it’s because we know they can drive really well,” said Garcia. “It’s something that you learn only by driving a lot. It’s all about the experience.”

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PEOPLE

“I would say I bring the years of experience.

It’s the same skillset, but I use a different toolbox.” -Cmdr. Wegemann

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Nimitz Gets New Physical Therapist

Story and Photo by MC2 (SW) Devin Wray

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chair that was once filled by the ship’s previous physical therapist, Lt. Douglas Santillo, sits empty in Medical Department. It’s empty not because his replacement isn’t on board, but because she chooses to sit on a stool to force her to keep her back straight; a testament to the dedication she has to her craft.

Originally starting her major in Biology, Cmdr. Laura Wegemann switched to Anthropology and joined the Navy in 1993 after studying as an undergraduate at Northwestern University in Chicago. She joined as a way to get her Masters Degree in Physical Therapy.

“I learned physical therapy at the same time I was learning to become an officer,” said Wegemann.

What started as merely a five-year commitment to get her degree has now turned into a full naval career.

Two years into that commitment, Wegemann married, and later had two children.

She said she has spent her entire naval career until this point honing her skills at different hospitals on land. She comes to Nimitz now from Naval Hospital Yokosuka, in Japan where she spent six and a half years.

“It was interesting, it was like a big family,” she said. “We were responsible for both landbased and small-boys, but not the carrier there.”

The shipboard experience has taught her a few things in her short time here.

“Just being in the ship’s environment is eye opening because I found some of the advice I used to give to patients from ships would now just go right out the door,” she said.

She said coming to a ship for the first time

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in her career has also presented new challenges.

“It’s definitely different than a hospital,” said Wegemann. “There’s less room and less resources to work with so I’ve had to change how I would usually manage patients. It was overwhelming at first but I feel like I’m starting to get the hang of it.”

Wegemann said the brief time she spent getting a pass-down from Santillo not only helped her adjust to the ship, but to practices she does not commonly use.

“Even with 18 years of experience I learned a lot from the 10 days or two weeks I was here with Lt. Santillo,” she said. “He took the second level course in dry point needling and I only took the first. I never really used it but I’ve been impressed with the practical applications of it.”

She said dry point needling is a good treatment for chronic pain, but she also uses treatments like spinal manipulation for short lasting back or neck pain. One patient even said she has a motherly touch, which may provide patients with a different experience than before.

“I would say I bring the years of experience,” said Wegemann. “It’s the same skillset, but I use a different toolbox.”

Wegemann said Sailors can be safe to help prevent her from having to open her toolbox though.

“Prevention is a lot easier than curing a problem,” she joked. “It’s easier to recover when the Sailor is already in shape. Exercise is the bread and butter of a physical therapist, so we’ll probably try to throw in an exercise to try and fix things. It’s better to cure a problem early on before it becomes a chronic problem so come on down and see us.”

THROUGHTHELEN

Sailors perform maintenance on the ejection seats of an EA-6B Prowler.

An F/A-18F Super Hornet launches from the flight deck .

By MCSN Siobhana R. McEwen

By MCSN Siobhana R. McEwen

By MCSN (SW) Kole E. Carpenter

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AD2 Gary Manley conducts an engine cavity inspection on an EA-6B Prowler.

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ON THE COVER: BMSN Darlene Gueits, right, oversees SN Sadie Greenman at the helm.

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