While underway, an aircraft carrier can house five thousand Sailors and serves four meals daily to ensure every Sailor is fed regardless of their schedule. However, the amount of preparation and clean-up required can take a toll on spaces and equipment.

In preparation for the Material Assist Visit Sailors assigned to S-2 aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) are inspecting and correcting anything that falls under their responsibility by climbing and crawling every inch of their spaces. 

“For preservation of S-2 spaces, it gets a little complicated for us, because most of us are cooks, but we are able to get creative using our people,” said Chief Culinary Specialist David Cunningham, the S-2 maintenance team leader. “We have them going through all our spaces, collecting up hits so we can have another team come behind them and fix.”

The team members are working in a variety of areas, such as preservation, repair, painting and wiring. One of the members of this team is Culinary Specialist 2nd Class Daniel Grabenschroer.

“I am going through and working on every hit from the last Material Assist Visit,” said Grabenschroer. “I am also creating a list of new hits for ourselves from what we didn’t see before now and we are knocking them out. This benefits the galleys a lot as there are many things that go on behind the scenes.”

While Grabenschroer is cataloging hits, Culinary Specialist Seaman Marshaun Reed is repairing equipment used to produce meals.

“We start with the small stuff we have on hand, like screws and bolts, then we work up to the larger equipment that will take a while longer. I feel a sense of accomplishment seeing equipment that’s been down finally working,” said Reed.

The teams are a mix of damage controlmen, electrician’s mates and culinary specialists. Having various rates working together enables knowledge sharing which helps Sailors learn skills to repair equipment. Grabenschroer said he appreciates the help.

“It’s pretty great to have these people from these rates around because they train us on stuff we’re not 100 percent sure on how to fix,” said Grabenschroer. “It also helps a lot that we have them right there with us, it allows us to get more accomplished.”

“All of the members of the team know what the goals are and we all have a strong mindset to get what needs to be done completed,” said Reed.

With the repair needs of many problems the team does not rely on knowledge alone but also strong leadership.

“We have really strong and helpful leadership from Chief Cunningham,” said Reed. “He helps the teams plan and keeps the whole thing in check.”

Cunningham’s leadership doesn’t just focus on the problems at hand but also those that may arise in the future.

“If we don’t maintain our spaces they will not preform to standard and we will not be able to complete our mission so we have to plan ahead,” said Cunningham. “We all run into roadblocks, so we are taking measures to make sure that we are prepared for when the major inspections come.”

When these inspections do occur, or when something just needs repair in the galley, the Sailors in S-2’s maintenance team will there ready with the knowledge and know how to fix things that come up.

For more news from USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), visit www.navy.mil/.

Get more information about the Navy from US Navy Facebook or Twitter.