Question for USN types....

MikeD

Administrator
Staff member
What's the difference between a Hull Technician (HT) and a Damage Controlman (DC)? They sound the same to me.
 
A Hull Technician is basically a plumber, doing lots of welding, etc. A Damage Controlman works on all the DC gear,i.e., fire hoses, extinguishers, Quick Acting Water Tight Doors (QAWTD), etc. They are both usually in the same division (at least on a Small Boy) and both usually pretty good at overall Damage Control, but a HT does more than DC when it comes to "fixing things".
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I hope that's clearer than mud now.
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Does the Navy still have DC's? You know you're getting old when you have to answer questions like that....
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I actually did firefighter training at the Treasure Island Naval Station. That's when you know you're getting old!!!!
 
Yep, still have DCs.

they have no BTs left though..

Like said above, the DCs mainly do all the Firefighting and dewatering/shoring upkeep and maintenance, along with being the at sea and in port fire party leaders/members.

The HTs fix the toilets and clean up the CHT (sound it out
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) when it overflows. They also mainly do alot of welding and pipe fitting.
 
Question #2. Customs/courtesies/traditions

1. When ships arrive into Pearl Harbor, is it standard for them to render honors to the USS Arizona? Is it true that the Arizona is still a commissioned US Navy vessel?

2. I'm a little bit familiar with the "shellback" concept of those that have crossed the equator; any Shellbacks here? How do they know who has/hasn't gone through the "ceremony"? Also, isn't there a similiar "ceremony" for submariners that have cruised under the polar icecap, or something similiar?
 
Every ship that enters or exits Pearl Harbor renders honors to the Arizona. I'm not particularly sure about it still being a commisioned ship. I never had the privillage tobecome a shellback. You get a big certificate and it goes into you service record.
 
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I never had the privillage tobecome a shellback. You get a big certificate and it goes into you service record.

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From what I understand, the ceremony (which used to celebrate the tradition of Shellbacks) has turned into a big PC feel-good gathering....
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.
 
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2. I'm a little bit familiar with the "shellback" concept of those that have crossed the equator; any Shellbacks here? How do they know who has/hasn't gone through the "ceremony"?

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DP3 Perrone here
JC-Air America Member and Proud Shellback.

I crossed the equator back in Dec. '92 and it was a day to relax (for previous shellbacks) and humiliate the polywogs (those that have not crossed the equator). They used to use old pieces of firehoses to whip the pi$$ out of everyone. After the Tailhook scandal all of the physical violence was stopped.

If is was humilating and embarrassing they made you do it. Some of the stuff we did:

stand watch in our workspace and bang a dustpan with a broom and announce when a Sheelback entered the space.

crawled around the ship with underwear over our head that had a sock tied to it. we had to lean over and grab the sock from the guy infront of us.

they had a obstacle course of sorts on the flight deck and it was more humilation. blowing water out of the tie-down holders, climbing through slop and probably the worst was Baby Huey....They took the fatest sailor and you would have to take an olive out of his belly button. At the very end of the obstacle course you jumped into a huge tub of filthy water and when you came up, a shellback would ask you, "what are you. A shellback or a wog. If you answer a wog, it was back through the course again. If you answerd a shellback it was over. You basically stripped off your clothes and threw them overboard into the ocean. At the time I was on the carrier, there were no women so the naked sailors on the flight deck may have changed. If you were smart you had someone with some towels so you could get back to your berthing area with out flapping in the wind. I think it took a few days to get all the junk and stench off of you.

If you are on a ship that is crossing the equator, they can actually look at your prior duty stations and know if you have crossed the equator. I believe it may even be in your service equator, You also recieve an id-sized card and certificate that shows you have crossed the line as well.

Probably more than you wanted to know. I can bring my card to Network JC. Maybe we need a cermony of some sorts for Vegas.
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when we crossed the equator, our XO was a polywog. It was fun to see him go through the same mess.
 
I haven't crossed the equator. We were almost there and got turned around to go do other things.

Subs have Blue Noses which is for crossing the arctic circle. Everything is still very much like shellback but the theme is cold.
 
Excellent info, gentlemen. As one of the JC-Air America staff members, I need to familiarize myself will the nuances of each service that our members are from.

Good work. And carry on!

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Why do groundcrew at Navy/Marine Corps Air Stations always have the "micky mouse ears" helmets donned whenever they're on the flightline...even if no engines are running?
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You're require to wear a "cranial" as it's called, whenever you are out on the flight line during flight ops and whenever you climb onto an aircraft. They have saved peoples lives, when they've fallen off the top of an aircraft.
 
My plan for SERE school was to tell them I was a BT (buffer technician)....kinda forgot to put the ole' plan into action after meeting "oak" for the first time...
 
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the "micky mouse ears" helmets donned

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Here's one for you other Navy guys.....When I reported to the carrier I was given a GQ station and it ended up being Fire lockers and my job was working on the firehoses. I got my gear during one of the drills and went to put on the (one size fits all) helmet and youe guessed it, it did not fit. That was the end of that GQ station. They sent me back to the Data Center where I was working and that became my new hoem during GQ. IT could not get much easier than that.
 
you must have a giant melon...lol
they are adjustable, there are some small lock-nuts
that you can turn and extend the ear cup holders
kinda similar to some el-cheapo headsets
 
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