Moving Picture: Trainer teaches sailors welding that can save a ship

Shouts of “hot metal!” ring throughout the welding area at the Great Lakes Naval Station Hull Maintenance Technician A School as Master Training Specialist Travis Parent, 27, dips a freshly welded bar into a tub of water with a sizzle.

This has been Parent's home for almost three years. He trains sailors fresh out of basic training for their new job — known in Navy lingo as a “rate” — in a two-week crash course in welding, brazing and sewage maintenance at Naval Station Great Lakes

Parent has trained about 1,500 sailors since 2012.

“We teach them the fundamentals of it,” Parent said. “Enough to equip them to work well out there in the fleet. A lot of stuff breaks out there and these guys are expected to fix it. That's what we do.”

Parent believes the hull technician “rate” is one of the better jobs in the Navy because they get to do a lot of work and get to see the entire ship.

“This is the best place I've been in the Navy so far,” said Parent, who gets satisfaction seeing someone who's never welded or brazed before grasp the concept. Brazing is a technique of soldering pipes together.

The biggest challenge, Parent said, is dealing with people who can't grasp the concepts he is teaching.

“I've learned a lot of patience being an instructor,” Parent said.

Sailors will employ the skills Parent teaches them when they go to their ship.

Parent describes the inside of most of the ships as having open pipes in the ceilings. These pipes are vital to the ship and sailors are expected to be able to fix them.

Having been in the Navy for 10 years, Parent has been to places like Brazil, Chile, Japan and the Caribbean. He honed his welding skills on an Assault Craft Unit-5 in San Diego where he worked on hover craft.

Having grown up in Maine and worked on fishing boats, Parent admits his first love is the sea.

“I do miss being out on the ship. I like it here, but I was really born for the sea,” Parent said. “I joined the Navy to go out and sail the oceans and see the world.”

Parent sees himself as a mentor to young sailors and hopes that some of them can step into his shoes in the future. “Not only am I teaching the future of the Navy, but I'm also mentoring them and ensuring that they can take over when I leave,” Parent said.

“These students are the future. We want to make sure we leave the Navy in good hands.”

Moving Picture

Everyone has a story. Moving Picture is that story. Our photojournalists tell that story in words and sounds, pictures and video, giving you insight in to the fascinating people that surround us everyday. Send us your Moving Picture ideas to <a href="mailto:movingpicture%40dailyherald.com?subject=Moving%20Picture">movingpicture@dailyherald.com</a>.