NORFOLK, VA (NSN) (NNS) -- Rear Adm. Tom Anderson, commander, Navy Regional Maintenance Center (CNRMC) and deputy commander, Ship Maintenance and Modernization (SEA 21) for Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), visited Forward Deployed Regional Maintenance Center (FDRMC) headquarters in Naples, Italy, and its two detachments in Rota, Spain, and Manama, Bahrain in early September.
His tour started in Naples, where he met with the FDRMC leadership team to discuss manpower planning. He also outlined his objective of establishing an Expeditionary Maintenance Project Team to more aggressively respond to future maintenance requirements.
"As the Navy’s leaders in surface fleet maintenance and modernization, no one works harder or is more committed to maintaining the surface fleet than the SEA21/CNRMC team," Anderson said. "That is the message; that is who we are and who we aspire to be. The Navy has a noble mission, and each of you is directly a part of that!" he added in his all-hands calls with staff in Naples.
In Rota, he met with the leadership from the Spanish shipbuilding company Navantia, which partners with the U.S. Navy to provide maintenance and repair support to the Navy’s four forward-deployed Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers: USS Porter (DDG 78), USS Donald Cook (DDG 75), USS Ross (DDG 71), and USS Carney (DDG 64). Anderson toured USS Ross (DDG 71), a Ballistic Missile Defense-capable ship that is executing a Selected Restricted Availability and is on track to return to the fleet later this year.
In Bahrain, Anderson continued discussions on manning requirements and focused on the detachment’s plan to execute forward deployed sustainment support of Littoral Combat Ships through the Consolidated Ship Maintenance Support Facility that opened earlier this year to provide enhanced combat capability to the 5th Fleet.
“FDRMC will need to be positioned for maintenance and repair oversight of LCS ships in theater for these ships upon arrival,” said Anderson. “It is critical that our strategy here be aligned with the needs of this AOR and the Fleet.”
Meetings with Rear Adm. Renshaw, deputy commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, and Chief Executive Officers and leadership of Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard Bahrain, and Bahrain Ship Repair and Engineering Company, provided for dialogues on the maintenance capabilities and capacity of the region.
With the visit to FDRMC Naples and its detachments in Rota and Bahrain, Anderson completed in his first 90 days as CNRMC visits to all of the RMCs under his purview, reinforcing to the civilian and military teams his commitment to the fleet through excellence in execution of surface ship maintenance.
CNRMC is a NAVSEA field activity and oversees the operations of Regional Maintenance Centers in their execution of surface ship maintenance and modernization.