COMMANDING OFFICER
United States Navy Regulations states the various
broad responsibilities of the commanding officer (CO).
These regulations require the commanding officer to
maintain his/her command in a state of maximum
effectiveness for war. They also require that he/she
repair as much damage as possible immediately after a
battle or action.
To carry out this charge, the CO must ensure that the
ship’s officers and crew are trained and continually
exercised in all aspects of survivability. The CO should
be fully aware of the adequacy and operability of all
survivability systems and equipment. Shortages and
deficiencies must not be tolerated, and they should be
immediately rectified (fixed) or reported as casualties in
the ready reporting system.
EXECUTIVE OFFICER
The executive officer (XO) keeps the command
informed of the ship’s survivability readiness. The XO
carries out the requirements regarding the ship’s
survivability training, the readiness to manage
casualties, and the readiness to control and recover from
damage. As the team leader, the XO is the senior person
assigned to the damage control training team (DCTT).
The DCTT is responsible for all shipboard drills and
exercises in the area of damage control.
DAMAGE CONTROL TRAINING TEAM
Each ship has a DCTT. The DCTT trains the ship’s
DC organization in ship equipment, ship systems, and
procedures and techniques relating to the ship’s
survivability. The DCTT is organized to train all types
of DC-related exercises.
The DCTT evaluates and critiques the DC team’s
abilities as well as their own. The team is made up of a
variety of ratings, which provides the ship with a wide
range of experience. All team members are qualified, as
a minimum, to at least the level of personnel they are
training and/or evaluating.
ENGINEER OFFICER
The engineer officer is designated as the ship’s
damage control officer. The ship’s engineer officer fills
the billet as the department head of the engineering
department, and the DC division is one of the divisions
in that department. The engineer officer has the
following responsibilities:
The operation, care, and maintenance of the
main propulsion plant, auxiliary machinery, and
piping systems
The control of damage
The operation and maintenance of electric power
and distribution systems
Repairs to the hull
Repairs to material and equipment in other
departments that require the attention of
engineering department
Also the damage control officer (DCO), the
engineer officer reviews all administrative items drafted
by the DCA and DCA personnel. This is a primary
administrative duty that occurs before items are routed
to the CO for approval.
DAMAGE CONTROL ASSISTANT (DCA)
The DCA is the primary assistant to the damage
control officer in the areas of damage control;
firefighting; and chemical, biological, and radiological
defense. For the purpose of administrative organization,
the DCA is in charge of many programs relating to
damage control on the ship and monitors the
effectiveness of other programs.
T h e D C A i s r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e ove r a l l
administration and training of the ship’s DC
organization. Under the guidance of the DCA,
individual departments and divisions are responsible for
administration and training as related to damage control
for their personnel. All ships afloat must meet the
minimum prescribed formal training requirements to
include training for the following personnel:
12-3
Student Notes:
