The red shirt-clad Sailors assigned to USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77)'s crash and salvage division stand at the ready to save lives and protect aircraft should anything go wrong on the flight deck.

Crash and salvage is the V-5 division of GHWB's air department. It is comprised of aviation boatswain's mates (handling) who are hand-picked for the critical job of being a firefighter on the flight deck.

"To become (a member of crash and salvage), you have to get your crash quals," said Chief Warrant Officer Dennis Stottlemyer, GHWB's Air Boatswain and crash and salvage division officer. "It's a long journey to that qual; you have to know every little detail about every single aircraft. It takes a special breed to be a part
of crash and salvage."

Crash and salvage comprises two main watch stations: line crew and
truckers. Truckers man the P-25 flight deck fire truck. Line crew stands ready to combat casualties that may occur during flight operations.

"Basically, we have the guys who are ready to immediately respond to any situation in the landing area," said Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) 2nd Class Michael Strobel. "We also have our trucks ready to combat any fire; they have the driver and two men dressed in hot suit men ready to combat any fire. As line crew, we split it - we have three people on each of the line crews, and we split the events, half and half."

The Sailors on the P-25 stand on posted watch at the end of the flight deck where they can respond to anything that might happen on the flight deck, ranging from a flaming engine to a simple flat tire.

"I'm a crash crewman. I wear the silver suit for firefighting purposes," said Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) 3rd Class Nicholas Anastasia. "It reflects heat up to 1,100 degrees for 11 minutes, so it can get pretty hot."

"The truckers are out there for two-hour rotations. It can get extremely hot so we're constantly stressing to our people to stay hydrated," he continued. "We give them a one hour break every two hours, for 12 hour shifts each day. One truck is always out there on the flight deck during flight operations."

Like any dangerous job, the Sailors assigned to crash and salvage take great pride in what they do, and look at each other as members of a sort of patchwork family. They know they can depend on the Sailor next to them to have their back if things turn ugly.

"We take pride in what we do," said Strobel. "It's a brotherhood. We're all tight with each other and we're really close to one another. This way, we can trust each other if anything happens out there."

Unlike most flight deck personnel, the Sailors of crash and salvage actually hope the day goes by without them being needed. They potentially hold the lives of everyone on the flight deck, from the pilot of the aircraft down to the junior airman, in their hands. Crash and salvage stands at the ready to put out fires and prevent catastrophe aboard USS George H.W. Bush.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), visit www.navy.mil/.