NORFOLK, Va. – Onboard USS Wasp, whenever the ship’s communications equipment, televisions and other vital systems are in need of repair or maintenance, the sailors from the ship’s Interior Communications shop are always ready to get to work.
“We own all of the alarms, telephones, navigation equipment, and a good deal of the ship’s flight equipment,” said Ensign Ashley Wessel, the IC shop’s division officer. “Thus, the safety of the ship depends on us.”
In particular, the IC shop is charged with getting down to the “nitty gritty” whenever they are called upon to perform corrective maintenance on the equipment they own.
“We maintain, troubleshoot and repair much of the electronic and communications devices on the ship, including its alarm and warning systems, telephone lines and closed circuit TV system,” said Petty Officer 1st Class James Freeman, an interior communications electrician and the IC shop’s leading petty officer. “We also maintain the ship’s 1MC, 5MC, tank level indicators, sound powered telephones, alarm systems and navigational equipment such as the dead reckoning tracer.”
Staffed by a total of nine sailors, the IC shop remains always on call in case these vital pieces of equipment break down, a task that ensures they keep constantly fresh in their skills.
“The most challenging part of our job is keeping the crew happy,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class R.J. Flores, an interior communications electrician. “If the TV cable system goes down when we’re underway, the crew’s morale goes down. Thus, we strive to keep that and every other system that we maintain running smoothly.”
Because of the large number of equipment and spaces they are responsible for, the IC shop sailors get to interact constantly with their peers in many different parts of Wasp.
“It’s fun to work with sailors from different ratings since our equipment is scattered throughout the ship,” said Flores. “As a result, we get to do a lot of networking with those who do other types of jobs.”
Being responsible for so much of the ship’s equipment also means that the IC shop is called to step up to the plate whenever Wasp goes through a formal Navy inspection.
“Our shop is one of the few that is involved in just about every type of inspection the ship goes through, such as INSURV (Board of Inspection and Survey) and ULTRA-S (Unit Level Training Assessment – Sustainment),” said Flores. “This is because we’re responsible for maintaining so much of the equipment that keeps the ship running.”
Bearing this responsibility is a task that the IC shop sailors always rise to, said Chief Petty Officer Melanie Young, an information systems electrician and the shop’s leading chief petty officer.
“Our guys are top notch, most of the time working behind the scenes where the rest of the crew doesn’t see everything they do for the ship,” said Young. “They’re hard working, never complain, and always get the job done.”
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