General Quarters - What Happens During General Quarters?

What Happens During General Quarters?

Only a few of the ship's normal operations continue unabated during GQ, so life aboard ship during that time can be restricted and extremely unbearable. For instance, in the event of a chemical attack or fear thereof, the crew might have to wear gas-masks or other breathing apparatus during GQ, making movement and exertion more difficult than normal. If sinking is imminent, life jackets and survival kits are the appropriate attire, also making movement and exertion more difficult than normal. Where enemy fire is the threat, helmets and/or anti-flak jackets augment the normal uniform, and fire-fighting teams and equipment are dispersed as necessary. Crewmembers who were off-duty when GQ was sounded have been roused from their sleeping quarters, food service and water supply is usually suspended, including water for cooking, showers and flushing toilets. In some instances, even drinking water is unavailable. Other life-support systems, such as air-circulation and air conditioning, might be scaled back or suspended completely to save energy and/or fuel for combat systems or emergency-response systems. No person must enter a battle station unless they are assign there, so as not to interfere with the crewmembers. Additionally, during GQ, no watertight hatch, fireproof hatch or any other secured entry-point may be opened without express permission from the senior crewman responsible for that area or from the ship's captain/bridge. Because of that, normal movement throughout the ship is usually not allowed at all, and when it is allowed, there must be a valid reason and/or purpose for such movement.

Enginemen, hull technicians, boiler technicians and nuclear-reactor units (where applicable) report to their workspaces. Crewmembers who are assigned to gun positions, missile systems, ammunition issue points and other weapons-related functions report directly to their posts. Command center, combat center, pilot house and communications personnel report to the bridge or other type locations from which they perform their duties. Crewmembers assigned to shipboard aviation units or duties report to either the flight deck, the hanger deck, fueling stations, observation posts, aviation workshops, etc. Pilots and flight crews report to their aircraft, if the expectation is launch them. Medical personnel report to hospital, clinic or triage spaces. Damage-control teams report to either their workshops or points of vulnerability throughout the ship. All non-essential personnel, such as those having no particular assigned battle station or duties during GQ, are expected to remain out of the way of crewmembers actively involved in the response. Those people might include passengers, media personnel, non-crew technicians, and in certain ships, embarked troops such as amphibious landing units (US Marines, for example). The best place for non-essential personnel to stay out of the way is in their sleeping quarters, which are usually not part of active response areas.

Certain lighting, especially outer lights that can give away the ship's position, speed, distance, displacement (tonnage), class/type or silhouette, are turned off or subdued, and inner lighting systems are diminished to only those absolutely necessary for movement within the ship's skin. Red lights come on automatically to alert any and all personnel that GQ is in effect, and in many parts of the ship, the red lighting completely replaces normal lighting.