NORFOLK, Va. (May 1, 2023)-The Civil Service Mariners who crew the dry cargo ammunition ship USNS Alan Shepard (T-AKE 3) completed Military Sealift Command’s (MSC) first ever Afloat Readiness Assessment (ARA), March 26-27, at the Port of Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Performing an ARA serves as a checkpoint in the overall ship certification process. The goal is to assess the ship’s ability to maintain a continuous readiness posture throughout the operational cycle.
“An ARA serves two goals,” according to Supervisory Program Analyst Shannon Winfield, MSC’s Aviation and Surface Assessments Division Head. “First to provide MSC a holistic view of the fleet and its ships’ ability to respond to casualties in a contested environment and secondly to provide ships’ masters an objective review of how well their crew is performing in the assessed areas.”
An ARA focuses on a ship’s ability to respond to core damage control, safety of life at sea (SOLAS) and ship control casualties and emergencies. A minimum of four drills are executed during an ARA, to include two firefighting drills, one flood control drill, and one SOLAS or casualty control drill. In addition, a brief ship’s chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense (CBRN-D) program review is conducted.
“Provided a notional 60-month ship cycle, ARAs will be conducted 15 months after the beginning of the cycle, following major maintenance (ROD/DD), plus or minus 6 months to allow for scheduling flexibility,” according to Winfield. “An ARA takes approximately two days.”
With limited exceptions, ARAs are now conducted on MSC’s government-owned and government-operated ships.
“The ARA aboard USNS Alan Shepard was an opportunity for a fresh set of eyes, the Afloat Assessment Team, to critically evaluate the crew's response to fire, collision and flooding, helicopter crash and salvage, and abandon ship scenarios,” said Capt. Adel Desouki, USNS Alan Shepard’s ship Master. “The assessment team provided comprehensive oversight during each drill by strategically placing its assessors at key damage control stations, and therefore was able to generate detailed lessons learned and identify areas where the crew required additional training.”
“Completing the ARA has already improved USNS Alan Shepard's operational readiness,” Desouki stated. “Following the ARA's completion, the Ship Management Team conducted drills that specifically targeted the areas for improvement identified by the assessment team, improving the ship's emergency response readiness.”
USNS Alan Shepard earned an overall ‘outstanding’ on the first ever ARA.
“The Damage Control Officer, Safety Officer, and Training Officer played important roles in preparing the ship for completion of the ARA,” Desouki stated. “In many shipboard emergencies the Medical Services Officer (MSO) will be required to respond to personnel casualties; similarly, Alan Shepard's MSO contributed heavily to each drill's success during the ARA.”
Desouki offered some insight for the crews of MSC’s ships who will be undertaking future ARAs.
“Unlike a fire and lifeboat drill evaluated by the U.S. Coast Guard for a Certificate of Inspection, or a main space fire drill required for completion of an Afloat Training Availability, where in both cases it behooves the crew to conduct walkthroughs and practice drills in advance, the ARA is a pure assessment that incorporates unannounced drills with the drill scenarios known only by the assessors and key ship's personnel,” Desouki said. “It validates that the ship is meeting MSC's continuous readiness concept.”
“Preparing for an ARA is therefore a constant process that relies on the ship consistently completing regulatory body and type commander training, drill, and inspection requirements throughout its deployment cycle,” he added. “Furthermore, a whole-of-ship training plan that emphasizes different emergency stations each drill, neglecting none, is essential to ensuring the ship performs well during the ARA, and more importantly, is able to fight the ship effectively in a real-world emergency.”
ARA teams are comprised of 2-3 inspectors typically led by a Damage Control Officer (DCO) with a minimum of a Merchant Mariners Credential rating of Chief Mate or First Assistant Engineer. The remainder of the team is comprised of one or two DCOs who are subject matter experts in their respective areas.
“USNS Alan Shepard turned in a solid performance,” Winfield concluded. “I am proud of both the inspection team and the job the ship’s crew did. It was a pleasure to see how the crew managed to maintain high morale and enthusiastic attitude in their current operational tempo environment. It speaks highly of the ship’s leadership.”
| Date Taken: | 03.27.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 04.26.2023 10:12 |
| Story ID: | 443396 |
| Location: | AE |
| Web Views: | 635 |
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