 Foreign object damage or foreign object debris, also known as FOD, is a serious issue in the Navy. FOD can be as small as a pebble or it can be as large as a tool. We conduct FOD walk-downs on the flight deck before every flight evolution and in the hangar bake twice daily since it is such a big concern. When most sailors hear the word FOD, they think about flight operations on the flight deck or on the flight line. But on the amphibious assault ship USS Pellowill, FOD has another home. The deck department performed a FOD walk-down in the well deck before LCAG operation so that we make sure we get everything out of the well that doesn't belong there. Where something is left behind during a FOD walk-down, it can literally hurt somebody, possibly even kill them or terrible, very, very valuable piece of equipment. The well deck is full of places for FOD to hide, like the pad eyes that are used to secure equipment while the ship is underway. An LCAG or landing craft air cushion uses large fans to propel itself over land and sea and those fans circulate a heavy mist of water as well as any debris that might be nearby. Petty Officer Markel Ancrum guided the LCAG into the well deck and was right in the middle of the storm that came with it. It gets pretty windy down there once the LCAG comes in. It kicks up a lot of dirt, rocks and little things that we can't pick up during a FOD walk-down. FOD damage costs the Navy nearly $90 million a year, not to mention personal injury to sailors and Marines. From USS Pellowill, I'm Petty Officer Nick Brown.