Posted on Oct 2, 2015
Asking this to the Navy personnel here. My Grandfather was on the USS Bunkerhill (CV-17) Aircraft carrier.
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He was on the USS Bunkerhill, from his DD-214 I saw that he was a FC1. What is that. I don't remember his ranking. I do remember he was in the Navy Reserve. I think he was a PO1, not sure. Can anyone help.
*********** Thanks for All of your comments has helped tendentiously. ****************
******Update here is his head stone from the Grave site. I was wrong in saying FC. He is an F1.*******
*********** Thanks for All of your comments has helped tendentiously. ****************
******Update here is his head stone from the Grave site. I was wrong in saying FC. He is an F1.*******
FC: Fire Controlman
Sailors
Rank
Edited >1 y ago
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 13
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SGT Bryon Sergent Among other things, they're the ones that push a button and, somewhere over the horizon, someone dies.
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Well Fire Controlman was a relatively new rate at the time this ship was commissioned. It was split off from the Gunners Mates. The FC's handled ballistic calculations or the guns where as the gunners mates took care of the mounts. That's all I really know about the history of my rate.
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PO2 (Join to see)
Yes rate and MOS are basically the same. And yes carriers back then had AA guns 40 mm and 20 mm however they also had larger 5 in. 38 caliber guns similar to the ones on our modern destroyers and cruisers just much less advanced.
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SN Greg Wright
CDR Terry Boles Commander, placing an @ in front of those names would tag them (like I did you, here), and they'd get notification of your response, even if they don't come to the thread. Hope this helps.
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PO1 John Miller
SGT Bryon Sergent - "Fire control wouldn't be a fireman?" You would think so but no. "Firemen" are the group of non-rates (E3 and below) who are assigned to Engineering rates. Just as "Airmen" are assigned to aviation rates, Construction Men are assigned to Sea Bee rates, Hospital Men are assigned to medical rates (there used to be two, Hospital Corpsmen and Dental Technicians but Dental got merged into HM), and Seamen are assigned to Deck, Supply, Admin, Combat Systems, Operations, and basically all other areas I didn't already identify.
Your Grandfather's rate of FC falls under Combat Systems so as an E3 and below he was actually a Seaman.
Your Grandfather's rate of FC falls under Combat Systems so as an E3 and below he was actually a Seaman.
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PO1 J R Foster
I can't speak with too much authority on exactly what an FC did in World War 2, but I imagine it was much the same as what I did when I was in. For instance, my first NEC (Naval Enlisted Code) was 1163. I worked on the Terrier Missile System aboard the USS HALSEY (CG-23), on the Fire Control Radar, the radar that provided guidance to the missiles in flight, uplinked signals to the missile, etc.
At some point, I heard it was under Admiral Zumwalt, Fire Controlman got changed to Fire Control Technician. During that time, we were FTs, not FCs. So, I started out as an FTG3 (Fire Control Technician Guns) after making Third, then after my "C" school, became an FTM3 (Fire Control Technician Missiles). Shortly after putting on my Third Class crows (around mid to late 1985), the Navy changed the surface Fire Control Technician rating back to Fire Controlman for surface sailors (so I and others had to change our crows to reflect the change). FTs still exist in the submarine community.
For example; on my first ship, the Gunners Mates took care of the launcher and the missiles and we took care of the radar portion of the system, as well as the plot computers for the radar and the associated equipment that made up the Terrier Missile System.
Hope this helps.
Respectfully,
JR Foster
FC1(SW)
USN (Ret.)
At some point, I heard it was under Admiral Zumwalt, Fire Controlman got changed to Fire Control Technician. During that time, we were FTs, not FCs. So, I started out as an FTG3 (Fire Control Technician Guns) after making Third, then after my "C" school, became an FTM3 (Fire Control Technician Missiles). Shortly after putting on my Third Class crows (around mid to late 1985), the Navy changed the surface Fire Control Technician rating back to Fire Controlman for surface sailors (so I and others had to change our crows to reflect the change). FTs still exist in the submarine community.
For example; on my first ship, the Gunners Mates took care of the launcher and the missiles and we took care of the radar portion of the system, as well as the plot computers for the radar and the associated equipment that made up the Terrier Missile System.
Hope this helps.
Respectfully,
JR Foster
FC1(SW)
USN (Ret.)
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