NOB, Norfolk, VA –
The maintenance teams at Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC) know “fixing ships” can be a grind. They are responsible for managing ship availabilities and ensuring the work gets done – crucial work in keeping ships operational ready. The job can be thankless with extremely long hours, so when leaders take a moment to recognize a team’s hard work it is greatly appreciated.
Just over six months into their Extended Dry-Docking Selected Restricted Availability (EDSRA) at BAE Systems Shipbuilding in Norfolk, USS Cole’s (DDG 67) Maintenance Team has been receiving praise from industry leaders and has been singled out to Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command for their ability to bring ship’s force (S/F) and contractors together to work efficiently as one cohesive unit. But for them it’s just a matter of using their experiences, communication and building trust with others.
Project Manager Jeff Dann says he approaches an availability the same way he did when he worked in Rota, Spain, prior to coming to MARMC. He believes S/F, contractors and the maintenance team working in cohesion is vital for success.
“When I was in Rota, I worked with Spanish National Contractors (Navantia),” he said. “They had never worked with the government before, but we knew at FDRMC (Forward Deployed Regional Maintenance Center) that if they failed, we failed.” I’ve worked with some co-workers in past who had the mentality of ‘that’s not our job, we’re supposed to oversee them not tell them how to do their job.’ I understand we pay them to do a job, but I’m not going to sit back and watch them fail. That’s a waste of time for everyone. So we’re out there encouraging everyone to look out for each other (contractors and government).”
The maintenance team has years of shipbuilding experience among them, and they’ve been able to use their experiences to set the tone of the avail.
“We all have different backgrounds and some of us have been in ship repair for many years, so not too many things surprise us as a team,” added Assistant Project Manager Mike Piazza. “Together we have seen many challenges and we know what we have to do to overcome them. Everyone has a skillset from what they’ve seen on their last ships and they bring that here.”
The team holds weekly progress meetings to discuss with S/F, BAE and sub-contractor major events and track the status of the EDSRA. They also hold daily coordination meetings (otherwise known as production meetings) to ensure everyone stays informed.
“We get together quite frequently to discuss upcoming events and hash out things,” said Project Support Engineer (PSE) Jim Schaffer. “Everybody is fully engaged and open for suggestions. Even if someone doesn’t get an answer they’re happy with it’s taken with a grain of salt, and we make the changes that we need to fix it.”
That collaborative approach has created a positive environment and strengthened camaraderie since Cole first arrived at BAE last summer. Due to port-loading issues, the docking was delayed a few weeks and pushed to October. The end of availability date was also shifted to the right from July to September 2019, but the schedule has been in the green since.
With the 20 percent Open and Inspect (O&I) nearly complete on 129 tanks, structural work on the intakes and uptakes in progress, shafting and propellers have been removed and much of the underwater hull repairs completed, the ship is on schedule for a March undocking. Things are going well now, but the team is quick to tell you this isn’t just a Cole maintenance team effort – It is a total MARMC team effort.
“I have to give a lot of credit to MARMC’s Engineering Service Desk (ESD), embedded MARMC Engineering, here at the shipyard.” said PSE Chris Schaffer. “Whenever we have a problem or need them to review something the ESD is always there for us and get it done quickly.”
“It has proven to be very beneficial to assign one SBS, Dennis Neuman, to track all material (government furnished materiel and contractor funded materiel) to ensure we have the required parts and pieces to put this great warship back together,” added Dann. “Dennis has done a fantastic job taking on this task for the team. He really keeps my stress level down.”
The team also attributes much of the early success to S/F aboard USS Cole who have embraced the shipyard environment by remaining engaged.
“The ship’s company has been amazing,” said Integrated Test Engineer John Brewbaker. “They have not given up ownership of their ship and are very proactive. They have been invaluable throughout the entire availability.”
“When you talk about the ship’s force, you have to talk about the main propulsion assistant (MPA), Lt. j.g. Brian K. Reese, too,” added Piazza. “He has been the cog that keeps everyone connected and on the same page.”
Despite the current momentum, the team realizes it is truly early on in the avail (45% completed). Those in the shipbuilding industry know a project of this magnitude is a marathon and obstacles unforeseen can always come up. You have to stay focused throughout the entire race.
“Our goal is to continue the effort that we have established so far and improve on what we already have in place,” said SBS Winfred Basnight. “I think if we can maintain that and continue to look ahead like we’ve been doing, we should finish on time, under budget and do it safely.”
“I’m not the type of person who celebrates before the end zone,” said Dann. “In the end, when we’ve made budget and we’ve made schedule that’s when we can really look back. But know that there are lessons we learn every day. No one is celebrating, but we’ll take the positive feedback along the way to assist with morale. It lets us know we’re doing things the right way and gives the team a sense of pride, “Fixing Ships!”