BREMERTON, Wash. –
First in its class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) was commissioned May 3, 1975, before many of the workers at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility were born. Nimitz is currently the oldest American aircraft carrier in active service.
The ship changed homeport from Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, to then-Naval Station Bremerton, Washington, in 1987. Since then, the ship’s homeport moved from Bremerton to San Diego in 2001, and then to Everett, Washington, in 2012, before coming back to Bremerton in 2015. Throughout its 37 years as part of U.S. Pacific Fleet, PSNS & IMF workers have lead the effort to keep the warship combat ready.
In all that time, thousands of PSNS & IMF workers, Ship’s Force Sailors and civilian contractors have come together as part of the Nimitz Project Team. Team Nimitz has faced many challenges, completing major technological upgrades, and working through challenging times such as the COVID 19 pandemic.
According to Steven Pugh, project superintendent, Code 300/312, who has supported Nimitz about 15 of his 22 years with PSNS & IMF, the importance of the work and the comradery with Ship’s Force are what drove him and project team members throughout every maintenance availability.
“Capt. Douglas Graber, a former Nimitz commanding officer, once told me that the PSNS & IMF team was as integral to the Nimitz team as his Sailors,” Pugh said. “The Nimitz motto is ‘Teamwork, a Tradition,’ and the culture of the Sailors reflected that. Every person who has worked on Team Nimitz directly contributed to national security. It is through their efforts we have the freedom and liberty that we enjoy today.”
“It is through the quality work that PSNS & IMD did, that enabled the U.S. Navy to issue a service life extension to Nimitz beyond its 50-year span,” Pugh said.
According to Cdr. Alan Young, who has served eight years aboard Nimitz through two separate tours, the strength and professionalism of Team Nimitz are the drivers of success.
“The teamwork is important across the many maintenance providers,” Young explained. “Through teaming we can ensure the mission-ready assets are returned to the fleet ready to support the nation’s needs. Nimitz would not have been able to support its mission without the tireless efforts of the combined maintenance team, which includes PSNS & IMF, Ship’s Force, and contractors.”
“The Nimitz Project Team has set the standard for mission readiness and teaming throughout Nimitz’s time in the Pacific Northwest,” he said.
Chris Krueger, topside assistant production superintendent, Nimitz Project Team, whose father served aboard Nimitz in the late 1980s, has been helping maintain, repair and modernize Nimitz since 2006. He said it’s important to think about what the vessel and its crew accomplish while on patrol to fully appreciate how the Nimitz team members’ work contributes to U.S. Navy’s mission.
“It’s difficult to see the fruits of your labor when the ship is undergoing maintenance,” Krueger said. “The sense of duty during maintenance periods is completely focused on executing your task with first-time quality, without always having the time to think about why you are doing the job.”
“When you see videos of the ship during deployment, or have the privilege to board the ship while it is out to sea, you gain a new perspective as to why Nimitz team members are an integral part of combat preparedness,” he continued. “Then you understand the importance of each person on the maintenance team how the jobs they do matter to keeping Nimitz in the fight.”
While every Drydocking Planned Incremental Availability, Planned Incremental Availability and pier-side upkeep period is unique, they each bring challenges the team must overcome through planning and innovative thinking.
“You’ve got to stay ahead as much as possible during DPIAs, PIAs and upkeeps," Krueger said. “You always have to maximize repair efforts as to not compound problems as the ship ages, and to maximize efforts to utilize new technology and processes to maximize throughput on maintenance.”
Brian Fazio, now-retired Nimitz project superintendent from 2014 to 2021, who supported work on Nimitz for 11 years of his career, said he was inspired by how the team met the challenges throughout every availability and maintenance period.
“Engineering propulsion plant inspections; hull and underwater body inspections; routine periodical maintenance; tank and void inspections; preservation-related work; routine and planned shafting and rudder overhauls — each item certainly carries risk,” Fazio said. “Each item may or may not end up determining the length of an availability. Each item could determine the amount of time in dock. Each item requires extremely detailed planning regarding material procurement, manpower needs, tooling needs, temporary service needs, anticipated growth and corrective maintenance considerations, etc.
“Few things on a project are more humbling or inspiring," Fazio added. "Watching teams within a project assemble to accomplish these work items, build plans and strategies to accomplish, execute the assembled plans and strategies, and then complete the work items as a team.”
Pugh recalled some recent availabilities that challenged the Nimitz Project Team.
“The Fiscal Year 2014 Extended Planned Incremental Availability had a very challenging work package,” Pugh said. “Nimitz was undergoing a Continuous Maintenance Availability when COVID hit. We were forced to work through the challenges with a reduced workforce, all while figuring out COVID restrictions. During the Fiscal Year 2024 Planned Incremental Availability, we performed a main engine replacement. That was a huge endeavor.”
According to Young, the end of every availability proves challenging as all the systems are brought back online and tested. No matter how well the work was performed, there are always issues the Nimitz Project Team must overcome, he said.
“Nimitz was commissioned in 1975 and is the cornerstone for first-in-class maintenance, corrective maintenance and modernization,” Fazio said. “PSNS & IMF has accomplished a significant amount of first-time and first-in-class maintenance aboard Nimitz. PSNS & IMF has shared the results of this long-standing, high-velocity learning across Naval Sea Systems Command. Further, the ‘ownership’ that PSNS & IMF has fostered, specifically with Nimitz, is best summed up as, ‘Nimitz is our ship too.’”
After years of working on Nimitz, team members are deeply invested in the ship and its legacy.
“I anticipate feeling a mixture of sadness and pride when she sails away,” Pugh said. “It will be the closing of an incredible chapter for PSNS & IMF. Nimitz' operational successes are the direct result of the teamwork of PSNS & IMF, Ship’s Force and our contracted partners.”
Krueger said he feels proud of what he and the Nimitz Project Team have accomplished.
“The ship has been a big part of my career, and to see her sail away for the last time will be tough," Krueger said. "You feel a sense of ownership when you've spent as much time onboard as I have. I have lots of great memories with Sailors, contractors and team members, centered on the major availabilities we’ve performed. It’s hard to comprehend those are the last memories I will make onboard Nimitz.”