USS Shoup Adds Realism to Egress Training

By Lt. Jacquelyn R. Bengfort, USS Shoup Public Affairs

USS Shoup, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Shoup (DDG 86) conducted a series of shipboard emergency egress training sessions Sep. 20-25 during its current deployment with Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 9.

Egress training is required every six months for all Sailors assigned to sea commands, to ensure they can escape from workspaces and berthing areas in the event the ship sustains major damage.

Under close supervision, Sailors are typically blindfolded and tasked to find their way to safety without sight, sometimes travelling hundreds of feet in the process.

In order to add more intensity to the training, the USS Shoup Damage Control Training Team used smoke machines, strobe lights, and sound effects to heighten the sense of urgency to evacuate.

Shoup Sailors were also required to locate and don Emergency Escape Breathing Devices before making their way out of darkened spaces.

"Now that we are on deployment and heading toward uncertain waters, it is extremely important that we be creative in our damage control training to make it as realistic as we possibly can," said Lt. Elisabeth Erickson, USS Shoup damage control assistant.

The overall goal of the training is to make certain all Sailors know both the fastest and alternate routes in case the ship suffers damage leading to fire or flooding, and to increase their confidence in their ability to egress safely in darkness or heavy smoke.

"Egress training will save the lives of our Sailors if the ship takes damage," added Erickson.

USS Shoup is currently underway on a scheduled deployment to the 7th and 5th Fleet Areas of Responsibility with Abraham Lincoln Strike Group.

USS Abraham Lincoln is the flagship of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 9, which consists of embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, San Diego-based guided-missile cruiser USS Cape St. George (CG 71), and the embarked Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 9, which includes the Everett-based destroyers USS Momsen (DDG 92) and USS Shoup, as well as the San Diego-based destroyers USS Halsey (DDG 97) and USS Sterett (DDG 104).