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Sea Stories
Military Sealift Command
Training
As I went through my pictures of my MSC days, I realized there were too
many fond memories to share on only one page. You'll find three MSC
topics in the list to the left, one for training, one for
people, and one for life at sea.
Military Sealift Command is a quasi military organization. The ships
are owned by the US Navy and designed to replenish stores, weapons,
diesel, jet fuel, etc to regular Navy ships while underway.
However the ships are
crewed with civilians - Civilians from all walks of life.
I served on board the John Lenthal, TAO-189, a tanker, as an Able Bodied
Seaman (AB). I was a watchstander and one of three lead UNREP helmsmen.
UNREP stands for Underway Replenishment.
The ships being replenished are from
100 to 200 feet to either side of the replenishing ship, very close
considering we were an 800 foot tanker. The UNREP helmsman must hold
course to plus or minus one half of a degree in 12 foot seas.
It's far too dangerous to use an autopilot. Try it
next time you go out on a boat. If you ever varied more than two degrees,
you were relieved of duty.
The pictures on this page are cropped from a full size picture which
gives a better perspective to what is being shown. To see a picture
full size, simply click on the picture and it
will appear full size in a new browser.
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This is one of the MSC training centers, located in Colts Neck, New Jersey.
The center contains impressive equipment and instructors. Every instructor
is either a Chief Mate or Master Unlimited with a wealth of experience.
The equipment is second to none and even Kings Point uses it to train
their students. New Jersey itself is incredible. Huge multimillion
dollar mansions and ranches. I saw many subdivisions of multi million
dollar homes. It's called the Garden State for a reason.
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Specialized fire training is one of their specialties.
Here helicopter fire training presents
unique challenges. MSC has special training for
these fires, including a variety of simulated weapons near the fire.
Keep the weapons cool during the fire!
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On the left is the ship fire simulator.
The ship is simulated, but the fire is real.
I'll never forget descending a long flight of stairs into a raging
engine room fire. It was so realistic that some of the guys
refused to descend the stairway to the fire.
On the right is standard
gas mask training. We were trained to survive a
variety of chemical weapons.
We learned how to inject drugs in critical time to
counteract certain gasses, such as nerve gas.
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Here are a couple of pictures hanging in the Small Arms instructors offices.
You got to love the humor behind these critical messages.
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Several days of Ship Security Training were taught.
The pictures speak for
themselves. Many simple, but very effective techniques were taught.
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A great week of training in Damage Control was taught.
Just what do you do
with a big hole in the side of your ship (or boat) below the water line?
How do you shore up doors to prevent flooding?
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