Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center's (MARMC) Dynamic (AFDL 6) dry-dock partnered with Naval Sea Systems Command's (NAVSEA) Heavy Lift and Dry-docking Unit in training exercises at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story the week of Nov. 14.

Thirteen Reserve officers and a representative from the United Kingdom completed a portion of their Heavy Lift Project Officer and/or Deck Officer Qualifications during the teams visit to the Navy's oldest active dry-dock.

"Our folks are here to meet the personnel qualification standard (PQS), and Dynamic is allowing us to complete the first phase of getting our crew members certified," said NAVSEA Heavy Lift and Dry-docking Unit Commanding Officer Cmd. Elmer Roman.

"There are not always a lot of opportunities to observe dockings," said Dynamic Commanding Officer Lt. Edward Menezes. "This gave the Reservists who were here, who are stationed all over the country, a chance to come together and not only train on their skill sets, but also gave them the chance to see an evolution all in one place."

The Heavy Lift Unit is responsible for transport of damaged vessels to foreign ports for repair, and serve as the experts in relocating smaller vessels and craft to regions whose missions require their presence. Additionally, the unit supports both the inspection of foreign dockyards used for emergent repairs and emergency overseas dockings of U.S. Navy vessels.

"Since this is an all-Reserve unit, we don't do a lot of heavy lifts," said NAVSEA Heavy Lift and Dry-docking Unit Project Officer Capt. David Ferris. "So, we get a huge amount of support from the active side -- NAVSEA 00C is an all-active command, but we support them in this aspect. It is a small part, but when it happens it is a very important part of their effort."

Dynamic, which specializes in the dry-docking of small vessels and craft, provided the opportunity for the heavy-lift trainees to do calculations for block builds and afforded them hands-on experience with working the pump room, as well as line management and handling.

"We were already scheduled to dry dock Landing Craft Unit (LCU) 1644 this month, so we planned this partnership to occur during that docking phase," said Menezes. "This provided a real-world scenario for the heavy-lift folks to shadow our Sailors throughout the entire process, start to finish."

Trainees also received classroom time, which consisted of many mathematical concepts and safety training specific to salvage and heavy-lift operations.

"The relationship is probably one of the best I have seen in my career," said Roman. "Working with active-duty side, approaching Lieutenant Menezes -- he was on board with us from day one, and that is what this is all about. We are one team, all working to accomplish the Navy's mission. A key thing for us is it is very important to maintain our unit readiness, because when things happen and we have either a casualty or an attack on a vessel, we are the ones who have to go execute this mission. This makes it critical for me to have my guys trained."

"This was a positive experience for everyone involved," said Menezes. "The guys that were here all have a ton of docking knowledge, which allowed our crew to pick their brains for best practices that we could implement in future dockings. On the flip side, we were able to show some of their new folks what they are getting into. So, it was a win-win for both of our organizations, and we hope to have them back in the future to perform these qualification drills."

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

For more news from Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center, visit http://www.navy.mil/.