WASHINGTON, D.C. (NNS) - "Adm. Gilday wants to focus on three things," Vice Adm. Tom Moore, Commander, Naval Sea System Command (NAVSEA) told his waterfront team at the Southwest Regional Maintenance Center (SWRMC) this week in San Diego. "Warfighting, warfighters, and building the future fleet. Under warfighting, the very first thing he listed is to improve the depot-maintenance performance during modernization of ships and submarines. You all are the critical path to get these ships back to the Fleet."
Moore and Mr. Jim Smerchansky, NAVSEA Executive Director, visited Southeast Regional Maintenance Center (SERMC), Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC), and Southwest Regional Maintenance Center (SWRMC) on Oct. 15, Oct. 24 and Nov. 4, respectively, meeting with the maintenance commands' leadership and employees. Of particular focus were meetings with management oversight leadership where they discussed the RMCs' role in sustaining the Navy's operational capabilities and the importance of consistently returning ships to the fleet on time.
"As we focus on our mission priority of delivering ships on time, it was important to us to come out to talk to the Regional Maintenance Centers (RMCs) and strengthen alignment across the Enterprise," said Moore. "The work being done by these Sailors and civilians is critical to meeting the demands of the Fleet in a world of great power competition."
In addition to meeting with leadership, Moore and Smerchansky toured production spaces in all three RMCs where they had an opportunity to see the Sailors and civilians working on equipment from ships on the waterfront. Moore also spoke to Navy Afloat Maintenance Strategy (NAMTS) graduates about the importance of the program and how it can benefit the Fleet.
Moore and Smerchansky concluded their visits with All Hands calls where they talked about working with a sense of urgency to support the warfighter and the Fleet. They challenged the RMCs to think differently, challenge the status quo, take on measured risk and assess our priorities.
"I know you all are working very hard - so working harder is not going to move the needle as much as it needs to move," said Moore. "We need to be working smarter, thinking in a different way about addressing the problems facing us."
"Set big goals," added Smerchansky. "Even if it seems impossible, striving to achieve a big goal will challenge us to do our business differently to reach the goal. This will create improvements that will improve our ability to deliver ships on time and support the Fleet."
Commander, Navy Regional Maintenance Center (CNRMC) is a NAVSEA field activity, headquartered in Norfolk, VA and is responsible for coordinating the depot- and intermediate-level maintenance and modernization of the Navy's surface fleet.