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Onboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), every department is responsible for a different service to the ship and it’s crew. Administration department provides the crew help with any pay issues, supply department provides meals for the crew on the mess decks, navigation department charts the course of the ship and air department can be seen launching and recovering aircraft on the flight deck. However, below the mess decks, hidden away from the rest of the ship, are the men and women in red, G-3 division.
Sailors assigned to weapons department’s G-3 division build and breakout ordnance to support the ship’s day to day combat missions.
It’s not every day someone can construct an explosive device with a group of friends and get paid to do so. However, as an Aviation Ordnanceman (AO) in G-3 division, that is exactly the kind of lifestyle these men and women pride themselves upon.
“When I first reported to the command in March of 2019 there was a fairly new crew I had to work with,” said Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Chase S. Thomson, G-3 division’s leading petty officer. “After several months of being here and training the team, I’ve recognized the motivation of the Sailors and their willingness to learn started to come to light.”
While most young adults find themselves employed at a starter job without any national responsibility at stake, the Sailors of G-3 are willing to spend countless hours at sea to ensure America is equipped with bombs, ammo, missiles, rockets and mines required to deter its adversaries and maintain global security.
Thomson said, “The special part about working in the division is knowing that the bombs we make probably won’t come back. Knowing that we are directly impacting the mission of deployment is the driving force of motivation for the crew.”
Weapons department has successfully expended approximately 100,000 pieces of ordnance during this deployment alone.
Like an assembly line in a factory, building ordnance is one important step in the process of Nimitz being mission ready. If the division falls behind on building weapons, the ship falls behind schedule.
“Weapons have to be built in a certain amount of time. They have to get up to the flight deck. My Sailors make building ordnance their number one priority,” said Lt. Maria Relayo, G-3’s division officer.
As with any mass production assembly line, G-3 requires a team of AOs to build ordnance.
“Each piece of ordnance requires a team of about 10 people to help assemble it,” said Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Jessica K. Markovcic. “Teamwork is definitely a huge part of what we do. Fortunately, we treat each other like family and are always willing to help each other out.”
A Sailor without the proper training in G-3 is one less hand in the mission. G-3 provides weekly and on-the-job training sessions with its Sailors in order to ensure that every member is ready to accomplish their daily tasks.
Thomson added that training leading up to this deployment had been intense and, as deployment grinds on, he can see how much it has paid off.
“We really take our training seriously. It’s important to be a good listener and to be able to read instructions carefully. After all, we’re working with bombs,” said Markovcic.
The division has three different levels of certification that make up a safe and functional crew. The initial certification is the team member qualification. This is a basic qualification every AO must attain.
“Team members are responsible for ordnance assembly and maintenance,” said Thomson. “The division receives a buildup sheet from ordnance control with a list of components for the specific bomb they’re building and then, once every piece is broken out, each piece is inspected to ensure none of the components have defects.”
The second level of certification is the team leader. Team leaders are responsible for managing the crew by assigning them to build and break out ordnance when need be.
“Team leaders are essentially driving the evolution. Team members look to them for guidance on what to build and how to build it properly,” said Thomson.
The final level of certification is the Quality Assurance/Safety Officer (QA/SO). QA/SO is overall in charge of making sure every procedure is conducted in a safe and correct manner.
“The QA/SO supervises the inspection and building evolution. They supervise team members and ensure weapon components are absent of any defects and that every step during the building process is followed correctly,” said Thomson.
These certifications make up the system of checks and balances that provide the jets on the flight deck with effective ordnance.
Thomson explained, “Without our division, we wouldn’t be a very effective Navy. Nobody would be out here building the ordnance that we use to take out the adversaries defenses or completing the mission that is assigned.”
Thomson said the division accomplished several milestones during this deployment including receiving a score of outstanding in both the Mine Readiness Assessment (MRA) and the Weapons Operational Readiness Assessment (WORA). MRA is a test to show the proficiency on how a team can build seven mines from start to finish.
“The team is given three hours to complete the goal all while being carefully watched by inspectors,” said Thomson. “They built seven mines in only 60 minutes. They did it fast and they did it flawlessly.”
WORA is a similar test except instead of building mines, the team is required to build three different bombs from beginning to end.
“WORA tests our team’s ability to build three different types of bombs in a correct manner with the correct number of personnel,” said Thomson.
These accomplishments are just a small testament to how efficient and effective the team in G-3 can be.
Relayo explained for the ship to succeed in bringing the fight to the enemy and remain the tip of the spear, it takes a level of initiative and trust in the junior Sailors. With the bulk of G-3 being E4 and below, she has to trust them to get the job done and mission accomplished.
“It takes a lot of mental discipline, maturity and focus to be able to build ordnance in a weapons magazine that most junior Sailors don’t always have. My Sailors have it,” said Relayo.
| Date Taken: | 11.28.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 12.28.2020 21:32 |
| Story ID: | 385914 |
| Location: | INDIAN OCEAN |
| Web Views: | 286 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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