Chapter 12 Damage Control

Figure 12-1.Administration organization chain of command

Basic Military Requirements (BMR) Revised Edition
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CHAPTER 12 DAMAGE CONTROL Damage control is the responsibility of ALL HANDS, from the commanding officer to the newest recruit. Without proper damage control training, your shipmates may be injured or killed, or perhaps your ship may sink. During World War II, many ships were saved because of the positive damage control practices. For instance, the German battleship Bismarck was kept afloat and remained in a fighting status for an extended period in spite of the British pounding it with heavy gunfire. You can see that survivability through positive damage control is not only important for the United States, but on an international level. Effective damage control (DC) requires the correct use of equipment and techniques to prevent or minimize the damage effects caused by battle, fire, collision, grounding, explosion, and so forth. DC also includes defensive measures used to reduce the effects of weapons of mass destruction, such as chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) warfare. Remember, our Navy gives you the best damage control training in the world. As a ship’s crew member, it’s your responsibility to properly safeguard yourself and your ship. You learn how to do this through training. You may feel the information in this chapter doesn’t apply to you because of your chosen occupational field. Remember that as a Sailor, no matter what your rating, you may serve aboard ship at any point in your career. Therefore, as a crew member, you must know your damage control responsibility. For more in-depth information about the administration and organization of damage control, you should refer to the following manuals: Surface Ship Survivability, Naval Warfare Publication (NWP) 3-20.31 Naval Ship’s Technical Manual (NSTM), chapter 079, vol. 2, “Practical Damage Control” Naval Ship’s Technical Manual (NSTM), chapter 555, vol. 1, “Surface Ship Firefighter” Our Navy has a complete organization in place relating to damage control. This organization consists of the following two main parts: 1. The administrative organization, and 2. The battle organization. ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION Learning Objectives: When you finish this chapter, you will be able to— Identify the chain of command within the damage control administrative organization. Recognize the functional purpose of each part of the organization and the interrelationships between the parts. The damage control administrative organizational chain of command is shown in figure 12-1. As you can see, the responsibility for damage control begins with the commanding officer (CO) of a naval ship and runs to the most junior Sailor in the DC division and damage control petty officer community. Look at figure 12-1. As you can see at the level of the ship’s damage control assistant (DCA), other personnel report to the DCA. Each person has a different administrative responsibility and tasking. Each person reports back up the chain via the DCA. PURPOSE OF ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION The administrative organization requires the efforts of all hands to establish and maintain material readiness conditions. Material readiness is 12-1 …the events of 14-15 April 1988 have proven that solid damage control, good training, and sound leadership based on experience can save a ship that is on fire and sinking, to fight another day. —Paul X. Rinn, CAPT CO, USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58)

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