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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.