BREMERTON, Wash. –
2022 saw a Navy-wide celebration of 100 years of aircraft carriers. Looking back, it was also a year of immense pride and celebration of the carrier project teams here at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility and the work they do to keep up with a century of growth and development. PSNS & IMF has played a prominent role in the history of naval aircraft carriers, and it is a legacy that will continue to be built upon as the new Gerald R. Ford-class carriers make their way to our waterfront in the coming years.
Carriers have gone through hundreds of evolutions, upgrades and innovations in their history—and PSNS & IMF has kept up with them all. In 1922, USS Jupiter (AC 3) was converted and commissioned as USS Langley (CV 1), becoming the first American aircraft carrier. After nearly 40 years of progress and modernization, in 1961, USS Enterprise (CVN 65) was commissioned as the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier and Nimitz-class carriers have been operating around the globe for almost 50 years. PSNS & IMF has been at the forefront of maintenance and modernization for these supercarriers in Bremerton and Everett, Washington; San Diego, California; and Yokosuka, Japan.
Aircraft Carrier Team 1, spearheaded by Naval Aviation Enterprise leadership (a coalition of the public and private shipyards, NAVSEA, NAVAIR, Type Commander, and fleet maintenance leaders), has developed a true partnership with the shipyards and facilitated development of tried and true processes to complete maintenance and modernization periods as planned, returning these capital ships to the fleet in the best possible condition. Our carrier project teams have celebrated many "wins" and seen their share of challenging upgrades and complex work, but they have always met the challenges head-on.
The past seven years have seen record-setting shipyard performance on aircraft carriers, with 15 out of 16 availabilities characterized as “wins” by NAVSEA. In that time, seven availabilities were completed early, three completed on time and the remaining five completed their availabilities within a handful of days late. Both of the availabilities at PSNS & IMF last year—USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70)—completed early. The USS Ronald Reagan’s FY22 Selected Restricted Availability completed two days early May 11, 2022, under the leadership of Project Superintendent Monte Levin. USS Carl Vinson completed its Planned Incremental Availability four days early Dec. 4, 2022, under the leadership of Ken Carlson. USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), led by Brian McDermott also completed flood dock on time in August 2022 and has transitioned into the test program.
Chris Hughes, carrier program manager, Code 312, Aircraft Carrier Program Office, attributes this success to the shipyard production teams and command leadership doing more listening and supporting.
“The command still has work to do, but it’s becoming a better environment for our people,” he said. “There were some great people who came before us that did the ground work, taught us, and set us up for success. These were the trailblazers who formed strong teams and helped establish the project management philosophy we use today.”
Hughes especially found the contributions of project superintendents to be instrumental in how the carrier program has succeeded.
“Dave McPherson, Dirk Close, Tim Ferguson, Tom Woodell, Terry Brown, and Brian Fazio all contributed as project superintendents,” he said. “They are all great leaders who taught us and had a hand in where we are today.”
Hughes also notes that while carrier project teams have been generally successful in meeting the challenges and returning carriers to the fleet as promised, there is still much to learn and more to improve—the nature of Get Real, Get Better.
In the last decade, these teams have seen daily reminders of how important each individual can be in making change and improving processes. Whether it was the innovations in the shafting and rudder process or the improvements to propulsion component overhaul, these teams made a point to continually pursue excellence. The command will continue to need that level of drive, fresh ideas and honest feedback in the coming years.
Flexibility will also be paramount in the continued journey of success. USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is the lead ship in the new class of aircraft carriers, which brings significant innovation and is designed for improved reliability and maintainability. We expect to see our first Ford-class carrier, USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) in 2027 as the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) departs the west coast. The Ford-class Planning Team is already busy preparing for the first availability.
“This is an exciting time as the shipyards step firmly into 21st century technology, taking advantage of the digital shipbuilding environment,” said Ford-class team leader Alysha Pickard. “When fully implemented, this puts real digital tools and information in the mechanic’s hands, eliminating much of the difficulty and frustration of our current work system.”
She noted how during a team visit to HII shipbuilding, mechanics working on USS Enterprise (CVN 80) had never handled 2D drawings or paperwork. Everything was done through their hand-held tablets in 3D—a very exciting sign of how technology is advancing in the field.
The coming Ford-class carriers have eliminated many steam components and brought in more electrical and electronic components. This can be expected to change the workload balance between some of our largest trades—Shop 38, Marine Machinery Mechanics; Shop 56, Pipefitters; Shop 57, Piping Insulators; Shop 51, Electricians; and Shop 67, Electronics. The associated infrastructure changes will range from upgraded high voltage shore power systems to a larger, more modern Multi-Mission Dry Dock.
Our workforce will evolve and grow just as much as our fleet. There is much to be excited about as we look forward to the new work we’ll begin to take on at PSNS & IMF with Ford-class carriers. 2022 was a banner year for carriers, and if it’s any indication of the future, this year will be just as bright.