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Boatswains Mate "A" School

The most versatile member of the Coast Guard's operational team is the Boatswain's Mate (BM). Boatswain's Mates are masters of seamanship, and are capable of performing almost any task in connection with deck maintenance, small boat operations, navigation, and supervising all personnel assigned to a ship's work force or small boat station.

Training for Boatswain's Mate is accomplished through 12-weeks of intensive training at BM “A” School located at Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown, VA. Here students are exposed to all facets of the Boatswain’s Mate rating, from tying knots to navigating.

For Coast Guard members, additional information concerning BM "A" School can be found on TCYorktown's Intranet site under Training accessible via a Standard Coast Guard Workstation.

Course Outline

  • Week 1  The first week starts off with indoctrination to base and school policies and procedures. Class work will consist of leadership training, basic fire fighting, buoyage systems and chart symbols, and donning and doffing personal protective equipment.
  • Week 2   Basic knot tying, line splicing , seize and whip line, how to stand a lookout watch, duties of a helmsman, identify locations and positions on a vessel, boat characteristics-features, watertight integrity, stability and communications.
  • Week 3  Basic navigation, plotting latitude and longitude, conversions, plotting labs, and 16 hours of team coordination training (TCT).
  • Week 4  Underway small boat training on 41’ Utility Boats.
  • Week 5  Navigation rules (NavRules).
  • Week 6  Advanced navigation to include; plotting latitude and longitude, constructing of track lines, plot labeling, calculating, time, speed and distance, basic chart prep, set and drift, plotting visual and radar fixes, LORAN C, prepare harbor and open ocean charts, boat and ship anchoring, demonstrate taking a boat in tow, manual deployment and boarding procedures for a survival raft, perform as a rescue swimmer.
  • Week 7  Underway small boat training on 41’ Utility Boats.
  • Week 8  Tactical data, advance and transfer, solve basic maneuvering board problems, true wind, maintain surfaces and conduct level 1 safety inspections.
  • Week 9  How to plot a vessels course in restricted waters, scaleable integrated navigation system (SINS) lab, radar lab. • Week 10: Underway small boat training on 41’ Utility Boats.
  • Week 11  Time zones, sunrise/sunset, tides, currents, maintain charts and publications, comprehensive exam (COMPLOT).
  • Week 12  First aid and CPR, intro to small boat plotting, prepare for helicopter operations, emergency procedures in the event of a boat capsize, leadership, and prepare for graduation.

Contacts

  • School Chief:  (757) 856-2233
  • Asst School Chief:  (757) 856-3500 ext. 4535
  • BM “A” Yeoman:  (757) 856-2647
Last Modified 9/17/2008