NORFOLK, VA – The Navy Afloat Maintenance Training Strategy (NAMTS) program graduated 1,135 Sailors in 2020, a record number, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Established by the Chief of Naval Operations in 1998, NAMTS improves organic maintenance capability and material self-sufficiency by training Sailors in a number of Hull, Mechanical & Electrical disciplines. With a focus on improving the material readiness of U.S. Navy ships while developing Sailors’ maintenance skills, the NAMTS program utilizes intermediate-level and hands-on maintenance production to meet job qualification requirements. The program also helps enrolled Sailors earn Navy Enlisted Classifications codes which are indicators of advanced specialty within one’s rate.
“Despite the challenges that the program and the entire Navy encountered with the COVID-19 pandemic, the NAMTS team and the Sailors showed great strength and resilience in overcoming obstacles,” said Rear Adm. Eric Ver Hage, Commander, Navy Regional Maintenance Center (CNRMC) and Director, Surface Ship Maintenance and Modernization. “The program continues to deliver to the fleet, Sailors who are competent and confident in their ability to own, maintain, repair, and sustain their shipboard equipment.
Enrollment for the second half of calendar year 2020 was record-setting. The expansion of training sites and an increase in the number of available NAMTS job qualification requirement requirements contributed significantly to the record number of enrollments. Notably, Surge Maintenance established their NAMTS program at the four naval shipyards and enrolled over 350 Sailors, the NAMTS Afloat program added five new training sites, and the curriculum development team added four new job qualification requirements in 2020.
“The success of the NAMTS program closing out a benchmark year despite the challenges, is a testament to the commitment towards consistent, continuous improvement of the NAMTS team and our Sailors,” said Dan Spagone, CNRMC’s Director of Intermediate-Level Maintenance. “Thanks to that commitment, we are improving the self-sufficiency of our Sailors and deployable units at sea, resulting in increased readiness of our surface fleet.”
As NAVSEA’s Directorate for Surface Ship Maintenance and Modernization, SEA 21 is the dedicated life cycle management organization for the Navy's in-service surface ships and is responsible for managing critical maintenance, sustainment, modernization, training and inactivation programs.
CNRMC oversees the operations of Regional Maintenance Centers in their execution of surface ship maintenance, modernization and sustainment.
