Photo By Petty Officer 3rd Class Connor Loessin | ATLANTIC OCEAN (Aug. 2, 2017) -- Hull Maintenance Technician Fireman Katlyn Wyatt,...... read more read more
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In the early morning and late at night or any time trouble calls happen, one group of individuals is ready and trained to respond. The hull maintenance technicians of the Navy are experts in maintaining the ship’s systems and making parts needed on board. Working in engineering department, they run the machine shops and the trouble call systems, making sure the ship is running smoothly.
“Layman’s terms, we’re like the fix-it-up guys,” said Hull Maintenance Technician 1st Samantha Piña. “We’re like the Bob the Builders of the ship.”
Besides plumbing, hull maintenance technicians fabricate parts and tools, weld, and conduct inspections, said Chief Hull Maintenance Technician Joshua Taylor. While maintaining the sewage system is the part of the job they’re known for, fabrication plays just as big of a part, said Taylor. From doors to drip pans, the machine shop has made parts for many departments on board, said Piña.
“You’ve got to have an imagination,” said Taylor. “You have to be able to look at something and tell how to take it apart and put it back together. To build something from nothing.”
What hull maintenance technicians are most known for is their work with the sewage systems. Ford has a system that’s not on every ship in the fleet: vacuum collection, holding, and transfer (VCHT). VCHT is different from the gravity drains on ships like USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) meaning maintenance is different, said Pina. If this system clogs, the hull technicians respond to trouble calls and go about fixing it.
“Dealing with [sewage] is not fun,” said Hull Maintenance Technician Fireman Kaitlyn Wyatt. “But within the first three days of getting here, I had screws covered in [sewage] in my hand. There wasn’t anything I could do. It was my job. I’ve been elbow deep in toilets. It’s disgusting but it has to get done. If people want to use the bathroom, it has to be fixed.”
Aside from day to day work, hull maintenance technicians work with the other rates in Engineering on the ship’s flying squad, the first line of damage control in the event of a casualty on board. While each rate has a specialty, each one does about the same thing in flying squad, said Pina. They work hand in hand to train to combat shipboard casualties that can happen any time.
“We don’t get credit for most of the stuff we do,” said Wyatt. “You don’t get any recognition for being in engineering. Especially on flying squad. But we do it and get it done. Because no one else going to run into a fire.”
Hull maintenance technicians are the jacks of all trades for the maintenance world. Their support throughout the ship helps keep things running smoothly so the Sailors aboard can continue to carry out their mission.
| Date Taken: | 06.13.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 01.31.2018 10:47 |
| Story ID: | 264063 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 54 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Ford's Repair Squad: Everyday Jobs of Hull Maintenance Technicians, by PO1 Brigitte Johnston, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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