For those of us who have served, we all know that we drill the shit out of things... Onboard my ship, it was General Quarters - over, and over and over again.
Secure the hatches, doors, scuttles, report to your designated battle station, don equipment, investigate, etc... And all was timed.
Fail to make it in the allocated time limit? Reset, and wait for the random redo.
Then you had your normal nightly SAT/BAF drills (Security alert team/Backup Alert Force) to train readiness in case of a physical attack when in port.
But have any of you had to actually put that training to live use?
A *real* mainspace fire?
A *real* Zulu Five Oscar or otherwise threat that either gained access or is trying to?
Mine was a collision in 1999. It happened so fast yet in slow motion, and that repetitive training kicked in and we managed to mitigate the damage and keep it to a minimum.
The investigation that happened afterwords was something else I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
When the USS Fitzgerald had its collision in 2017 - I legit cried like a fucking baby. Not only because several sailors lost their lives, but because a part of the *why* they lost their lives.
When it comes to damage control the old motto is "Ship, Shipmate, Self". The integrity of the ship comes first and foremost.
And one thing we train when securing spaces is to do it in a timely fashion especially in a perilous situation.
Even if that means having to scuttle that hatch and lock it shut - even if you still have shipmates in that space that cannot be saved.
That hit me hard.
