Visit to USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71), “The Big Stick”



Aviation Machinist's Mate Airman (AW)

Adam Johnson and Aviation Electronics

Technician Airman (AW) Malachi Bassett

make repairs on a light fixture

Team,

This week I had the opportunity to visit USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71) at Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipyard where she is just over halfway through a Refueling Complex Overhaul (RCOH). The RCOH is a process conducted on our nuclear powered ships that involves replacing expended nuclear fuel with new fuel. The “Complex” moniker is due to all of the “other” significant work that is being completed in addition to the nuclear refueling– a complete change out of the mast, catapults, arresting gear, electronic systems, flight and hangar deck refurbishment, habitability improvements, and the list goes on. The entire ship is an industrial environment while she gets a complete mid-life overhaul that sets her up for the next 25 years of operations.   

Sailors from Air Department's V-4

division work to finish various

upgrades on the first rehabilitated

berthing space. The berthing space

is one of 59 that have been upgraded

to provide Sailors a higher standard

of living.

Although a majority of the RCOH work is conducted by the shipyard, our TR Sailors are still tackling some big jobs. In addition to the standard habitability improvements, setting system conditions, retest following restoration, watchstanding and security, overall cleanliness, and training, our Sailors are responsible for removing/reinstalling insulation and painting the hangar bay overhead and bulkheads; painting 80% of ships spaces (including the two large mess decks); repairing or replacing 50,000 square feet of decking; rip out and rehab of 59 berthing spaces; rehab of all watertight and non-watertight doors and hatches; rehab of all ladders; cleaning all ships ventilation ducting; and tearing out 40 miles of obsolete cable ways.



 Every area I visited – from the flight deck, hangar, propulsion plant and machinery spaces, to the enclosed operating space, reactor training room, and berthing areas – I encountered our Sailors and shipyard technicians fully engaged and hard at work. 

   

Aviation Machinist Mate Airman
John Benfield needle guns a watertight
hatch to prepare the door for the
sandblast booth.



Now, I’ve talked at length about the complex missions our deployed Sailors execute around the world, around the clock, every day (conducting flight ops in support of combat operations, executing the BMD Mission, or conducting vital surveillance and intelligence operations). But it’s equally important to recognize that for every ship deployed forward, we have one back home conducting critical maintenance and training. In fact, we currently have 49 ships receiving some form of depot-level maintenance in our public and private shipyards. Each one of these carriers, ships, and submarines in deep maintenance are filled with hard-working Sailors who work long hours to execute the maintenance mission, and maintenance most certainly is a mission. Their duties may not be as exciting as carrying out operations at sea, but they still put in a full effort each and every day to bring their ships back to fighting condition. And while some of the other overhauls may not be as complex as TR’s, they are certainly just as important to the long term sustainment of our Fleet.    

Electrician's Mate Third Class Alisa Barksdale

performs an operational test on an elevator

As I walked THEODORE ROOSEVELT and spent time with her crew, I was very pleased with what I saw and heard from our Sailors - a very straight-forward recognition of the challenges such a complex refueling and overhaul presents to all hands, but also a great sense of purpose and determination to bring the ship through the overhaul and get her back to sea where she belongs, ready to go. All the best, JCHjr

       

ABFAN Bey (sitting) and ABE1 Samson

(standing).  ABE1 Samson is the

Air Department/V2 Division's Maintenance

Control Leading Petty Officer responsible

for tracking and execution of all planned

and corrective maintenance actions on

Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment

(ALRE)

SERMC-IMA Stand Up



Cutting the ribbon to make it official

Team,

On Tuesday I attended a ceremony for the re-establishment of the Southeast Regional Maintenance Center (SERMC) Intermediate Maintenance Activity (IMA) at Naval Station Mayport. This event is a big deal for our Navy because it effectively strengthens our capability (in the Fleet) to better train our surface ship crews to conduct shipboard maintenance and repairs.

Equipment in inactive lay-up

In the past, IMAs (previously known as SIMAs) were an important part of a Sailor’s career pipeline because they served as an opportunity for hands-on training and mentoring from senior Sailors and Civilians. Due to funding and manpower cuts, however, IMAs were eventually drawn down and the work farmed out to industry breaking that virtuous cycle where our Sailors increased their skills at the IMA and rolled to their next ship with more experience. 

Equipment in inactive lay-up

When VADM McCoy and I visited the Mayport RMC last year (separately), we were both struck to see much of the machinery covered in plastic wrap and placed in inactive lay-up. During his visit, VADM McCoy vowed to work with the Fleet to tear off that plastic and restore the IMA capabilities to our Navy. Making the case for the funding and manpower in such a fiscally constrained environment has been no easy task, but our Fleet leadership worked together with CNP to make it happen.  As a result, we now have a plan to restore funding and manpower to the IMA in Mayport through FY2012 and we’re working to do the same at the RMCs in other regions. You can read more of the details in VADM McCoy’s remarks from the ceremony (see link below).

A big day for the Mayport RMC

I’m very pleased with the support the Fleet has received from VADM McCoy and his team at NAVSEA and I’m also very grateful for the support from our leadership; CNO has given us his full backing from the very beginning. I promised our Sailors I would give them the tools, training and time they need to deploy confident in their abilities to carry out their missions. I intend to stay focused on this commitment for the duration of my time in command…and I believe the stand-up of the IMAs is a very big step towards delivering on that promise. 

You can find VADM McCoy’s speech from the ceremony here. I highly encourage you to read through his remarks – ten minutes very well spent.

All the best, JCHjr

Initiatives to Improve Maintenance Performance

Team,
As I mentioned in my Post “Keeping the Fleet in the Fight – Then and Now,” VADM Kevin McCoy (Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command), RADM Thomas (Commander, Naval Surface Force, Atlantic) and I have been working to improve our ship’s maintenance performance and achieve their expected service life through proper engineering, planning, and execution of availabilities and class maintenance plans. Although we have a long way to go, we are headed in the right direction and have set in motion a set of initiatives to get at the root problems which have caused our current challenges. Some of these initiatives are:

• Reconstituting RMC Capability and Capacity – One of our primary goals to improve surface ship maintenance is to re-establish that “virtuous training cycle” where Sailors roll ashore and receive Journeyman training which will enhance their skills and better prepare them for their next sea tour. Next year, we are adding 385 civilians and 400 military personnel with the goal of adding an additional 248 civilians and 1,187 military personnel over the next five years.

• Implementing Total Ships Readiness Assessments – TSRA is a common integrated process to plan, identify, assess, document, repair, validate ship’s Current Ship’s Maintenance Project (CSMP), validate ship’s systems configuration and provide self sufficiency maintenance training to ship‘s force with the expectation of ensuring operational availability goals are met through the execution of total ship systems operational assessments and functional verifications. TSRA will be planned and executed by the Regional Maintenance Centers on all Surface Ships.

• Established Surface Maintenance Engineering Planning Program (SURFMEPP) – On 8 November, 2010 NAVSEA stood-up SURFMEPP which is responsible for managing the long-term maintenance requirements for ships in the surface fleet. SURFMEPP has expanded the scope of Surface Ship Life Cycle Management (SSLCM) Activity and is identifying, managing, resourcing and planning the execution of the necessary technical requirements that will enable each ship to reach its expected service life. Additionally, NAVSEA will be assisting CNSL and CNSP in establishing a more robust depot maintenance management staff in the N43 directorates with embedded Availability Work Package (AWP) managers.

• Maintenance & Repair Work Certification process - To ensure work completed during CNO availabilities and CMAVs results in ‘first-time readiness’, NAVSEA is establishing a work certification process to (1) ensure work packages contain requisite content that yields a ‘warship ready for tasking’ at the completion of the availability, and (2) to ensure that proper quality assurance is built into the production and test process to avoid rework, milestone delays, cost escalation and impact on ship’s employment schedules.

• Established Workforce Development Program – Developing standardized training plans for critical maintenance team members (Project Manager, Ship Building Specialist, Assessments Coordinator, Contract Specialist, Integrated Test Coordinator, Port Engineer, and Integrated Project Team) resulting in common standards and certifications.

• Stood-up SEA 21 Readiness Task Forces – To perform coordinated, comprehensive, holistic assessments of systems and ship classes and develop recommended actions to improve readiness. For example, the MCM Class Task Force identified 51 actions to improve the readiness of our MCM force and those actions are currently being implemented throughout the Fleet.

• Improving Corrosion Control – Effective Corrosion Control is one of the most fundamental components to maintaining our platforms. We currently have Corrosion Control Assistance Teams (CCAT) supporting Norfolk, Little Creek, and Mayport and are establishing CCAT support on the West Coast and our Forward Deployed Naval Forces in Japan. We are also implementing corrosion control fundamentals training for all-hands training on our ships. Developing a plan for large scale testing of improved corrosion control technologies to bring the latest coatings and materials from industry to our surface ships.

• Improving Deck-plate Material Readiness and Sailor Proficiency - NAVSEA 21 and CNRMC are deploying maintenance assistance teams and systems readiness teams to train Sailors in safe equipment operations and PMS execution. NAVSEA is capturing the experience from these engagements to improve PMS products, technical schoolhouse training, equipment maintenance strategies, sparing/COSAL and technical documentation. Noteworthy efforts have been in the areas of AEGIS/SPY System Alignment and Groom Teams (SAGT), Valve Maintenance Assistance Teams (VMAT), Deck University, and Auxiliaries Maintenance Assistance Teams (AMAT).

• System Sustainment - NAVSEA has been building lifecycle sustainment capability for shipboard systems and equipment to ensure that their material condition is regularly monitored (Distance Support); that meaningful system health metrics are captured; their maintenance strategies and technical training content are correct; that equipment obsolescence is proactively managed; and that logistic documentation is accurate and current.

• Single Surface Training Integrator (SSTI) – Following a best practice used in the submarine community, NAVSEA has established PMS 339, Single Surface Training Integrator, to act as the Navy’s program manager for Sailor technical training for all shipboard systems. PMS 339 will fuse technical training requirements and validate them through various OPNAV sponsor shops and execute technical training budgets assigned to them. The intent is to have clear and unambiguous accountability for the effectiveness of Sailor technical training for the life of a system (‘cradle to grave’).

These are just a few of the initiatives that ADM Walsh, VADM McCoy, VADM Hunt, RADM Thomas, and I are executing to improve our surface ship maintenance; many of them are temporary initiatives focused on re-establishing fundamental processes and identifying programs and processes that are ineffective and need to be eliminated.

As I have mentioned in the past, we established many organizations and processes over time which never got after the fundamentals. For example, one of the lessons we learned with LPD-17 was that we did not have a comprehensive electronic database or paper Equipment Deficiency Log (EDL) to track propulsion plant deficiencies. With all of the BoDs, EXCOMMs, Oversight Councils, Enterprise Initiatives, afloat applications, and Integrated Readiness Teams, we didn’t have a simple mechanism in place to accurately track the current status of USS SAN ANTONIO’s propulsion plant…

These initiatives above are not about “reinventing the wheel,” but are focused on doing what we know from 235 years of experience works – proper engineering, effective maintenance planning and execution, accurate assessment, accurate record keeping, steady application of sufficient resources, and effective maintenance training focused on maintaining our standards of operational readiness.
All the best, JCHjr

Keeping the Fleet in the Fight – Then and Now

Team,
On 8 May 1942, USS YORKTOWN (CV-5) was severely damaged by the Imperial Japanese Navy during an air attack at the Battle of the Coral Sea. The Japanese left her crippled in the Pacific and reported her off as sunk.
It was during this time that our Navy code breakers intercepted and deciphered Japanese plans to attack at Midway in just a few short weeks. The Japanese anticipated a major Fleet engagement would ensue and they could finish the job they started with the attack on Pearl Harbor – the complete destruction of our Fleet. 
Having a good idea of Japanese intentions, Admiral Nimitz, Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CinCPOA) drew up plans to engage the Japanese in a surprise ambush at Midway. It was clear that Nimitz would need all three of his remaining carriers – ENTERPRISE, HORNET, and YORKTOWN – at Midway to have a chance at winning this fight.

Meanwhile, YORKTOWN arrived back at Pearl Harbor badly damaged on 27 May; she would undergo emergency repairs in Dry Dock #1. The initial estimate by our Naval Engineers was that it would take at least three months to get YORKTOWN back in the fight, but Nimitz had other plans. "We must have this ship back in three days," he told the yard manager and workers. The reply was a simple “Yes, Sir” and sure enough, she got underway three days later on 30 May 1942. She joined up with Task Force 17 and then rendezvoused with Task Force 16 northeast of Midway on 2 June where she participated in one of the most decisive naval battles in history. Although YORKTOWN was lost in the fight, she exacted a high price for her sacrifice: the U.S. Navy Carrier Force sank the Japanese Carriers SORYU, AKAGI, KAGA, and HIRYU, and effectively ended the Imperial Japanese Navy’s advance in the Pacific.

The fact that YORKTOWN did not sink at the Battle of the Coral Sea was a testament to those who designed, built, maintained, and operated her. That she was able to fight again four weeks later at Midway was a testament to the Navy engineers, planners, estimators, and shipyard workers who understood that their job was to take broken and damaged ships, repair them, and return them to service ready for combat as quickly as possible. YORKTOWN’s departure from Pearl Harbor on 30 May 1942 remains one of the greatest single industrial achievements of the Second World War, a real tribute to our Naval shipyards and their ability to get it done.

As I reflect on the past and present states of ship repair, I am concerned that some of the organizations in the business of fixing our ships may have lost their sense of urgency and commitment to our required and time-tested standards of technical performance, that they have lost the ability to “get it done,” on time, on budget, and with high quality work. As a result, the Fleets devote a disproportionate amount of repair money to a handful of units and maintenance re-work; we risk our ability to meet near-term operational commitments; we jeopardize the expected service life of ships that should last for 30-35 years; and most importantly, we put an increasing and absolutely unnecessary burden on the backs of our Sailors.

As Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces, I’ve talked a great deal on this blog and in other forums about the importance of maintaining our standards in everything we do. You can find a few of those posts here, here, here, and here. The fact that today’s conflicts lack the immediacy and intensity of Fleet operations like those during the Second World War should not, and must not, diminish the importance of completing quality repair work on time and on budget. We are operating at a very high tempo; routinely, over half of our Battle Fleet is underway, making way with about 40% of the Fleet forward deployed. Our ship maintenance effort must keep pace.

Even after making allowances for the major differences separating today’s repair industry from the one that existed in 1942 – factors such as the significantly increased complexity of today’s ships, enhanced worker safety provisions, stringent environmental protection and pollution abatement regulations, and all the complexities associated with current government contracting practices – I still strongly believe that today’s waterfront repair efforts can be significantly improved. We must recover the capacity and capabilities that we demonstrated on YORKTOWN in 1942. We must do better…we will do better.

Our Navy and the shipyards have been in this business together for a very long time. I have great confidence in our ability to demonstrate the commitment to technical excellence and superior quality in our shipyards that we have had for so many years. VADM Kevin McCoy and I are in alignment on what we need to do and we’ve set in motion a number of initiatives to improve our maintenance performance. What we need now is the commitment of our waterfront repair professionals – Navy, government civilians and contractors – to do better and return us to the YORKTOWN standard of performance. We did it in May 1942; I know we can do it today.

All the best, JCHjr