Photo By Hendrick Dickson | JOINT EXPEDITIONARY BASE LITTLE CREEK-FORT STORY (Oct. 5, 2022) Military Sealift...... read more read more
The Military Sealift Command (MSC) Underway Replenishment (UNREP) Training Center (MUTC) at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach, Virginia, is the primary training pipeline for the more than 7,000 civil service mariners (CIVMARS) who serve in the fleet.
The curriculum includes: Standard Tensioned Replenishment Alongside Method (STREAM) for Fuel and Cargo, Ordnance Handling Training, Material Handling Equipment, Banding & Palletization, Explosive Material Handling Equipment, Magazine Sprinkler Operation and Maintenance, Forklift Operations and more. The courses provide CIVMARs with classroom and practical training where they can experience what it is like working at sea aboard MSC ships.
With more than 30 replenishment oilers and dry cargo ships in MSC’s inventory, the STREAM course is a core MUTC curriculum. It trains CIVMARs in conducting replenishments at sea and ensures MSC is capable of achieving its mission of providing logistic support across the full military spectrum 24/7, 265 days a year.
“Our primary focus is training people to do underway replenishments aboard our ships,” said David Dodge, MUTC Instructor. “To that end, our STREAM class is our primary training objective. We have two courses of stream, one is a stream familiarization which right now, we are running through all of the new hires that come through MSC before they go out to the ships so when they get to the ship they will have some idea of what they are going to be doing.”
“The other STREAM course is a full two-week course available for anyone at MSC, but usually the ones who take most advantage of it are the Reservists who go through it before they go out for their two weeks underway. They learn safety procedures, actual underway replenishments. We go through each step as if they would do on a ship.”
More than 500 CIVMARs go through STREAM each year, where they simulate replenishments-at-sea using the on-site refueling and cargo rigs configured with all the same equipment found on both sending and receiving ships.
“The only thing missing here are the ships and the water,” said Dodge. “We start with classroom training in standard operating procedures for UNREP. They learn about rig team organization, safety procedures and communications. Then we take them out to the rigs for hands-on lessons. Everyone gets to participate and see what it’s like to actually conduct an UNREP. At the end of the course, we test what they’ve learned and present them with their certificates.”
The nearly 20 MUTC contract and civilian instructors train thousands of CIVMARs each year in STREAM and the other courses. These courses are invaluable, especially for new hires who come to MSC with no prior experience. The MUTC gives them a look at what it’s like to be at sea and work operate aboard an MSC ship.
“I wish I had the opportunity to go through courses like this when I first joined MSC,” said Hilda Jacobs, Material Handling Forklift Instructor. “It helps when you have an idea of what you’re doing. Before, new hires would just get thrown out there. There is a lot going on at sea and people don’t have a lot of time to really help you. Here we have the time. They can make the mistakes here, but out there, those mistakes could cost somebody their life.”
MUTC has provided replenishment training and engineering services to the surface fleet since 1976. As MSC and the Navy fleet take on a new generation of challenges, MUTC will continue to be a critical to ensuring maritime forces most invaluable assets are ready to take on the challenges.
“Our goal is to ensure our people, whether they are CIVMARs, active duty Sailors or Reservists, are confident in their ability to do their jobs at sea,” said MUTC Site Administrator Cody Holliday. “We want to ensure everyone who comes through here is able to take what they learned back to their ships and are able to operate their jobs safely and efficiently. Ultimately, that will affect how successful we are at MSC and impact our ability to may operability at sea.”
| Date Taken: | 10.17.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 10.17.2022 17:31 |
| Story ID: | 431507 |
| Location: | VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 350 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, MSC UNREP Training Center Keeps CIVMARs Ready to Sail, by Hendrick Dickson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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