Many Independence Sailors have rolled down their sleeves and donned their flash gear for the second of three Total Ship's Training Assessments or TSTA II.
According to Cmdr. Juno Jamison, Integrated Training Team Administrator and a native of Little Rock, Ark., 37 Sailors of the Afloat Training Group (ATG) from Yokosuka and San Diego will be grading several of the ship's departments during the next four days. The focus of the instructors/assessors will be on damage control, specifically chemical, biological, and radiation (CBR) warfare, mass casualty damage drills, as well as communications, navigation, and underway replenishment evolutions.
"TSTA II is part of our tackle training strategy which is designed to take a ship, with basically a new crew, through a series of training evolutions. It started out with combat-ready training (CART) I and II, engineering certifications (ECERT), TSTA I (completed in March) and finishes with TSTA III. The end result is the critical Final Evaluation Period (FEP) in October," said Jamison.
Normally a carrier would repeat the entire training evolution over again shortly after FEP, but due to Indy's decommissioning next year, this will be her final training assessment, he added.
Although coordinating drills are a major part of ATG's responsibility, it's not necessarily their only one.
"They're not grading the outcome of the drills, but how the 1st Class Petty Officers are training the junior personnel," said Jamison. "They want to assure the drills are being conducted safely, effectively, and by the book."
The Damage Control Assistant, Lt. Cmdr. Tony Wilson of Manito, Ill., has a goal for TSTA II. "If we learn from TSTA, than we've accomplished our mission."
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