NAVSEA providing ready naval assets to combatant commanders on time

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In fiscal year (FY) 2017, Naval Sea Systems Command’s (NAVSEA) surface ship maintenance team has improved the Navy’s rate of returning surface ships to the fleet on time following maintenance availabilities.

NAVSEA’s Surface Warfare directorate (SEA21) and Navy Regional Maintenance Center (CNRMC) teams are addressing NAVSEA’s number-one mission priority in the surface ship maintenance and modernization community by implementing budgeting and planning processes; improvements in maintenance availability work packages; the integration of major modernization work with ship maintenance; and also by working with NAVSEA’s contracts directorate (SEA 02) to implement new fixed price contracting strategy and incentive approaches.

“In the process of working with senior Navy leaders within the surface maintenance community, we’ve been able to better identify and eliminate barriers to our successful completion of the on-time execution of chief of naval operations (CNO) avails,” said Rear Adm. Jim Downey, commander, Navy Regional Maintenance Center and NAVSEA deputy commander for Surface Warfare (SEA 21). “In large part, we are making progress by working across the fleet, NAVSEA, industry and the RMCs to start planning earlier with improved accuracy to better smooth workload perturbations. We have also worked closely with our contracting officers to evolve our surface ship contracting strategies to increase accountability, enhance performance and improve overall management of our surface ship maintenance and production capacity.”

“We’ve undertaken a number of efforts to improve our on-time delivery trends, including the work we’ve been able to implement through the Surface Fleet Avail Scheduling Team (Surface FAST) to level load workload by port,” said Downey.

According to Downey, the work accomplished through the Surface FAST has enabled the fleet and NAVSEA to focus its ongoing efforts on level-loading private shipyard capacity (manpower, drydocks, etc.) to the maximum extent possible, while balancing the industrial workload with the operational requirements of the Navy’s Optimized Fleet Response Plan (O-FRP).

“Our efforts have been enhanced through the Surface Maintenance and Engineering Program (SURFMEPP) efforts to mature ship class technical foundation papers, which help identify critical lifecycle maintenance requirements and improve estimates for recurring maintenance. Additionally, we have implemented SEA 21’s availability duration analysis process. This allows the fleet commanders and type commanders (TYCOMs), as well as NAVSEA, to better understand and plan for major modernization and lifecycle maintenance requirements, which drive availability durations.”

These efforts, coupled with a robust risk management process, have helped SEA21/CNRMC succeed in identifying schedule, planning and execution risks earlier in the availability planning process. This, in turn, has helped the command approach each availability with a full understanding of all complex and critical work, improve ship-checks and pre-availability assessments, and systematically reduce or mitigate risks using an improved planning methodology.

Rear Adm. Downey noted that the command leadership support (commander, Naval Sea Systems Command and the chief of naval operations), transparency with the Fleet, and initiatives (many of which were introduced by his predecessors) are enabling the current team to be successful. Most of all, however, it is the SEA 21/CNRMC and larger NAVSEA team of dedicated people that are achieving on time deliveries.

Their combined efforts to improve on time delivery of surface ship availabilities in FY 2017 have resulted in 93% of all CNO availabilities on track to meet current TYCOM-approved end dates as indicated below.

USS Devastator (MCM 6)
USS Carney (DDG 64)
USS Lassen (DDG 82)
USS Roosevelt (DDG 80)
USS Gonzalez (DDG 66)
USS Ramage (DDG 61)
USS Vicksburg (CG 69)
USS Mason (DDG 87)
USS Nitze (DDG 94)
USS San Antonio (LPD 17)
USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41)
USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110)
USS Port Royal (CG 73)
USS Momsen (DDG 92)
USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60)
USS Fort Worth (LCS 3)
USS Boxer (LHD 4)
USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49)
USS Russell (DDG 59)
USS Cowpens (CG 63)
USS Chosin (CG 65)
USS Somerset (LPD 25)
USS Comstock (LSD 45)
USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53)
USS Typhoon (PC 5)
USS Gridley (DDG 101)
USS Decatur (DDG 73)