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Damage Controlman School

The Damage Controlman rating is an extremely diverse rating. A single Damage Controlman in today's Coast Guard has the knowledge and skills of numerous civilian professional trades. Welder, plumber, carpenter, and firefighter are a few examples of the trades and skills learned and practiced by the Damage Controlman. If you think you may be interested in a career that challenges your abilities in problem solving, allows you to fabricate repairs, provides you with the satisfaction of creating and building, and calls on you to act quickly in the event of an emergency, then the Damage Controlman rating is for you. Training to become a Damage Controlman starts with training at Damage Controlman "A" School in Yorktown, Virginia. You can view all the schools available in Yorktown for DC's right here. Many units in the Coast Guard also provide on-the-job training to become a Damage Controlman. The skills and knowledge learned and practiced by the Damage Controlman carry over well into the civilian trades, providing you with many opportunities for a career after the Coast Guard.

Resources

For Coast Guard members, additional Damage Controlman resources can be found on TCYorktown's Intranet site under Training accessible via a Standard Coast Guard Workstation.

Welding

Welding is one of the primary trades and skill sets of a Damage Controlman. Damage Controlmen are responsible for numerous types of repairs and fabrications which require proficiency in welding. Here you can see a student performing a vertical weld on mild steel using the shielded metal arc welding process.

Oxygen/Acetylene Cutting

Cutting metal for fabrication and repairs of shipboard structures and fittings goes hand in hand with the welding skills required for a Damage Controlman. Here you can see a student honing his cutting skills. Proficient oxygen/acetylene cutting skills requires practice performing cuts of various shapes.

Firefighting

Damage Controlmen are the Coast Guard’s firefighters. When the fire alarm sounds, you'll be the one expected to react to the situation. If you look closely at the picture on the left, you can see an outline of a student combating the fire. All students attending Damage Controlman school receive live firefighting training and classroom theory.

Chemical, Biological, and Radiological (CBR) Warfare and Defense

Damage Controlman are the experts in this critical field and are responsible for training personnel at their local units. Students receive training in various detection and decontamination procedures using state of the art equipment.

Carpentry

At many shore units in the Coast Guard, Damage Controlman are required to perform various degrees of construction and building maintenance. Students in this photo are applying their newly learned skills on a project in the carpenter shop.

Plumbing

Repairing plumbing systems and fixtures, both on ships and at shore units, is another trade and skill set of the Damage Controlman. Repairs and installation of common residential and commercial fixtures and systems are performed by Damage Controlmen. Here you can see a student making repairs to the drain pipes of a sink in the plumbing lab.

Watertight Closures

A key role of the Damage Controlman on board ships is the maintenance and repair of watertight closures. In the event of any damage sustained to the ship, watertight closures are secured to prevent the spread of damage. Watertight closures aboard a ship include doors, hatches, and scuttles. Students here are performing maintenance to a small hatch that also has a scuttle in the center.

Practical Damage Control

The field of Practical Damage Control is one of the most exciting and intense parts of the DC rating. In emergency situations it is the Damage Controlman who is called upon to save a ship from sinking whether it's repairing a damaged pipe, Shoring up collapsing beams, pumping out floodwater or cutting through a bulkhead.

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Last Modified 9/9/2008