Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Santiago Navarro | 220617-N-NY362-1017 PHILIPPINE SEA (June 17, 2022) Damage Controlman Fireman Alek...... read more read more
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Philippine Sea –
A Red Wing, Minnesota native and 2021 Red Wing High School graduate is serving aboard the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam (CG 54).
Alek Schulenberg is a Damage Controlman or DC who works for the engineering department on the Antietam, which is forward-deployed ro Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan.
Damage Controlmen are first responders during flooding and fire scenarios. They are also in charge of training and evaluating a ship’s crew during damage control training evolutions.
“I like being that go to person when damage control scenarios occur,” said Schulenberg. “They primarily send us first to combat those situations.”
Damage Controlmen perform maintenance on various equipment such as CO2 and halon cylinders, which are essential fire extinguishing agents. They are also in charge of preparing repair lockers with this equipment in case a scenario does arise.
“It is very dangerous once a fire breaks out,” said Schulenberg. “You have about a minute to evacuate a space when a fire occurs before you lose consciousness.”
During this deployment, Schulenberg has participated in several flying squad drills, which are formal training scenarios that test Sailors’ damage control proficiency in areas such as combating fire and de-smoking spaces.
“Damage control is an important thing to have on a ship,” said Schulenberg. “It is used to combat what is going on inside of the ship rather than any external factors.”
Since being on the Antietam, Schulenberg has earned many qualifications including basic and advanced damage control, 3M, and Sounding and Security, which involves roving a ship’s engineering spaces to ensure normal operations. He looks to become part of the ship’s damage control training team.
“Training team members are like test proctors,” said Schulenberg. “They point you in the right direction during these training evolutions to make sure you know what you’re doing.’
The Antietam returned to sea on June 19th after a ten month in-port period. The ship recently concluded a bilateral exercise with South Korea in the Philippine Sea as part of Carrier Strike Group 5, which includes the CSG 5 flagship USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG 65). The exercise tested the interoperability between the two nations.
Antietam recently participated in a photo exercise, which included Reagan and Benfold, as well as other ships such as the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) and the USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62).
Antietam is attached to Commander, Task Force 70/ Carrier Strike Group 5 conducting underway operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.
| Date Taken: | 06.17.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.02.2022 00:07 |
| Story ID: | 426174 |
| Location: | PHILIPPINE SEA |
| Web Views: | 553 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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