She received hundreds of hours of hands-on training from other qualified Sailors, spending days under instruction and behind the wheel until she qualified as a helmsman. I was unsure, but I wanted to get more command involvement under my belt too.”Ĭoughlin and her chain of command reached out to Theodore Roosevelt’s navigation department to begin the standard qualification process. “I had never even been to the bridge before, but my chief said navigation was looking for more master helmsmen and asked me if I would be interested. “I didn’t know about the position at first,” said Coughlin. Theodore Roosevelt’s helmsman qualification program makes it clear: Any Sailors, whether they have more than a decade of service under their belt or are fresh out of “A” school, will be given the same opportunity to prove themselves worthy of manning the helm. When a ship is executing a special sea-and-anchor detail, a strait transit, or pulling in or out of port, a master helmsman applies fine-tuned expertise and knowledge to navigate the variably-changing waters, ensuring safety of the crew and operational efficiency of the ship, guaranteeing a stayed course no matter the wind or tide. “When the ship is most likely to crash, that’s when we’re driving to keep the boat safe.” “Any time the navigation team thinks it’s going to be a difficult sea state, we’ll come up,” said Sonar Technician (Surface) 1st Class Allison Coughlin, from Ronkonkoma, New York, one of the Theodore Roosevelt’s master helmsman. However, during special evolutions and unique scenarios, the master helmsmen take charge.
Typically drawn from the ship’s deck department, their objective is to drive the ship at sea during normal situations. Navy, helmsmen have played an essential role, steering the country’s ships as they travel the seas. Among a crew of 5,000 Sailors aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) only four are entrusted to steer the aircraft carrier in restricted maneuvering evolutions.įrom the first days of the U.S.
0 kommentar(er)
