The months go by slowly and it will soon be time for us to head home. Everyone is anxious to see their family, friends and America with all its wonders. It has been a long and hard journey, but it was worth the price we paid. The ship's damage control olympics concluded an all-day safety standdown. Damage control is integral to shipboard safety.
Teamwork is essential to damage control, and each team is called a repair locker.
Damage control specialists and Sailors from various other ratings make up the seven repair lockers and crash and salvage teams on board. Most Sailors are familiar with damage control olympics, as they are also an important part of basic training. These events are designed to simulate actual damage control emergencies. Pipe-patching is a team event where two teams try to patch two separate holes in the same pipe, fighting against the water pressure created by the opposing team's patch and getting very wet in the process. De- watering is another team event that simulates the removal of water from a flooded space using portable pumps.