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female Master Diver in the Navy, Chief Rebecca Jones’ day of touring historical sites in the Philadelphia area. We
ns and dive knife. toured Independence Hall and Carpenter’s Hall and saw
the rooms where the Declaration of Independence and the
e next morning kicked o with a physical training ses- Constitution were drafted as well as where the US Navy
sion. Later in the day there was a community relations event was created. During the visit we also had the opportunity
where we cleaned di erent spaces of the battleship based on to visit other attractions such as the Liberty Bell and the
our team assignment areas. CPO selects were taught about world-famous Wawa! It truly was a very humbling and
preserving Naval history by ensuring sweepers was carried heartwarming experience. Departing the city, we belted
out in the various spaces of the ship. is a orded us an Anchors Away and Navy cadences which set o car alarms
opportunity to contemplate questions about who was here and attracted residents to see what was going on with the
before us? What kind of sailors walked these passageways? salacious echoes. Our patriotism was felt by the residents
What incredible decisions were made on this bridge of this and visitors of Philadelphia.
storied ship? Far too often do we walk in spaces without
capturing its true signi cance. As we began to clean and Later that day we participated in a Damage Control
prep the space for paint we looked around and it was seem- trainer evolution. e most signi cant lesson here was
ingly unimpressive; but when we understood where we how to work as a team in a frantic environment. Our
were and who lived there we all began to feel a connection Navy have been ridden with tragic Ship res and disas-
to the ship and were excited to leave our mark (Even if it ters. “Damage Control e orts on ships such as USS
was just in a coat of o -white paint.) COLE, USS STARK, USS JOHN MCCAIN and oth-
ers have shown that through perseverance and determi-
e second day began with another motivated PT session, nation, as a team we can save lives. Damage Control is
much like the day prior. is prepared us for an active an all hands evolution and is the duty of every sailor in

The Naval Enlisted Reserve Association 15