EN1(SW) James Warner instructs Plebes on the proper use of a plug during damage control training at the Navy Operational Support Center in Baltimore. USNA photo by MC2 Patrick Gordon.

‘‘Water’s filling the room. It’s up to our knees! What do we do?” shouts one Plebe.

‘‘Use your hands until you can get a patch,” yells another.

‘‘Plug that hole! Plug that hole,” yells the first.

Lucky for all involved, this was just a training exercise completed in a three-story damage control trainer and run by Sailors of the Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC) in Baltimore. Their students are first year Midshipmen, known as Plebes, from the Naval Academy in the midst of Plebe Summer training, a six–week orientation to military life that transitions them from civilians to Midshipmen.

In addition to the initial training Plebes receive on the Yard, the NOSC Baltimore staff and Sailors from the Naval Academy train the Plebes in damage investigation, pipe patching, shoring, structural damage repair and teach the importance of these skills in a shipboard damage control environment.

‘‘This training creates a stepping stone for the Plebes so they get that familiarization with damage control, because as they progress through their careers, they are going to be in charge of repair lockers in their commands. So it serves as a start to the ultimate realization that everyone is a firefighter in the Navy,” said Electricians Mate 1st Class (SW) Carlos Mobley, Training Department Leading Petty Officer at NOSC Baltimore.

Mobley stressed the importance of damage control training, not just as it relates to the Plebes, but as it relates to the development of all Sailors, the ultimate readiness of the Fleet, and its war fighting capabilities.

‘‘It is important to everyone in the Fleet, because when you’re out to sea you don’t really have a fire department that you can call upon. All you have are your shipmates. So it is important for everyone to realize that it is everyone’s responsibility to combat the casualty; be it fire, flooding, man down, or whatever the case may be,” said Mobley. ‘‘Everyone has to be able to respond, and respond correctly. That will ensure that everyone will come back home alive and safe, should such an event arise.”

The damage control instructors from NOSC Baltimore took their jobs very seriously while conducting the training, reminding the Plebes that they might be called upon to utilize this training to save their lives and the lives of everyone around them.

‘‘After this training, they have an idea of how to control an emergency situation,” said Engineman 1st Class (SW) James Warner, a damage control training instructor at NOSC Baltimore. ‘‘Everyone in the Fleet is going to be in a position where they might see some kind of damage on a ship, and we break it down for them so that they are mentally and physically able to handle that kind of emergency if they are put into that kind of situation.”

Warner cited how important these exercises in damage control are when a real emergency occurs.

‘‘The training we are providing here at the NOSC gives the Plebes practical, hands-on, on-the-job training,” said Warner. ‘‘It really gives them a realistic idea of damage on a ship, so when they go on board a ship and see damage as new officers in the Fleet, they have that hands-on practical experience. It’s going to prepare them, in the event of damage, that they have to take the lead, be able to assess damage and lead others on how to do it. They won’t be blind-sided by it.”

The damage control trainers appreciate the scope of their training and their role in building the future of the Navy. ‘‘What we’re doing here at the NOSC for these Plebes is exactly what we’re here for,” said Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (SW) Bryan Armock, a damage control training instructor at NOSC Baltimore. ‘‘The Sailors here at the Navy Operational Support Center are doing exactly what that name suggests, lending operational support to the Fleet as a whole. These Midshipmen are going to take what we teach them during Plebe Summer with them when they become officers and future leaders of other Sailors and Marines.”

When Plebe Summer is completed, the Sailors of NOSC Baltimore will have trained more than 1,200 Midshipmen over a five-week period.