When USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) caught fire at the pier over the summer, sailors from across the waterfront rushed to the scene, some in damage control teams from their own ships and some showing up as individuals who wanted to help.
Though the five-day firefighting effort became very organized, the first minutes were confusing: it was a Sunday morning, when most of the Bonhomme Richard crew and leadership weren’t around, and disparate people who knew how to fight fires but hadn’t trained on how to fold in together in an organized way rushed to the scene.
A recent training exercise at the pier at Naval Station Norfolk sought to address that challenge.
Crew members of aircraft carriers USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) and USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) participated in two in-port emergency team (IET) training evolutions on Oct. 24 and 26, to learn how to not only handle an emergency and incorporate help from civilian emergency responders, but also to learn how to integrate help from a nearby ship.