Navy selects MITAGS for firefighting and damage control training

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(BALTIMORE) — The Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) has been selected by the U.S. Navy to provide mission-critical firefighting and damage control training to Navy and Coast Guard sailors stationed in the Seattle area.

Training standards require that all sailors must be prepared to combat fires or flooding at any time, whether at sea or in port. The Pacific Northwest is the only part of the world where the Navy contracts this type of training to a civilian fire school.

The MITAGS trainer, named M/V Fire Dragon, was designed and built for the sole purpose of helping mariners practice the skills essential to controlling fire and managing flooding aboard ship. Live exercises take place in a number of interior compartments which replicate the conditions found aboard military vessels – engine rooms, pump rooms, galley and living quarters.

In preparation for this new contract, the structure has benefited from a number of technology and capacity upgrades. Fire Dragon can now support scenarios that simultaneously combine multi-compartment fires along with ruptured pipes, holes in the hull, and weakened doors, hatches and bulkheads.

“We are very excited for this opportunity to serve our Pacific Northwest Navy and Coast Guard service members, and provide quality training to help keep them safe,” said Capt. Jon Kjaerulff, MITAGS’ director of business development, who is overseeing the implementation of the contract.

Kjaerulff, a Navy veteran, emphasized that many of the instructors teaching these programs have also served in the military. “It is our honor to serve the men and women who serve on the front lines of freedom,” he said.

MITAGS was awarded a five-year contract, with training set to begin in January 2022. This is the largest single contract MITAGS has been awarded in its 40-plus-year history, resulting in the creation of eight new full-time jobs. In addition, MITAGS is committed to utilizing veteran-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, HUBZone small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses (including ANCs and Indian tribes) and women-owned small business as subcontractors to assist with fulfilling parts of this contract.

For additional information about the available job openings, visit www.mitags.org/careers.

– Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies

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A MITAGS simulator room. MITAGS photo
By Professional Mariner Staff