The Lessons Learned--Times Four

America's Public Shipyards Deliver Quality Fleet Support

By WILLIAM R. KLEMM

Rear Adm. William R. Klemm is deputy commander of the Logistics, Maintenance, and Industrial Operations Directorate of the Naval Sea Systems Command.

As long as there has been a Navy sending ships to sea, there also has been a need to keep those ships maintained and repaired to stay at sea, ready to answer the call when the nation needs them.

Since the early days of America's Navy, the men and women of the nation's naval shipyards have performed the repairs, maintenance, and modernization necessary to keep U.S. ships and submarines ready to sail into harm's way. Today, the nation's four naval shipyards (NSYs)--Portsmouth in Kittery, Maine; Norfolk in Portsmouth, Va.; Puget Sound in Bremerton, Wash.; and Pearl Harbor in Hawaii--are supporting national defense and the war on terrorism by providing essential ship modernization, maintenance, and repair capabilities.

The Navy's ability to respond to the events of 11 September 2001 with ships, submarines, and aircraft carrier battle groups ready to go to sea on short notice is a direct result of the efforts of those shipyards.

Our naval shipyards are manned by a highly skilled strike-free work force responsive to the needs of the Navy and able to respond directly to our fleet customers. We primarily perform the highest level of maintenance during the full life cycle of a ship, such as dry-docking, the refueling of nuclear-powered submarines, modernization, and major overhaul and repairs of the ships and ship systems. At the end of the life cycle, the naval shipyards inactivate and recycle nuclear-powered ships.

America's naval shipyards went through a major transformation during the 1990s, declining from eight shipyards and more than 70,000 employees to the current size of four shipyards and 23,500 employees. Despite the reduction in size and an increasingly complex and challenging workload, the remaining shipyards have actually reduced their overhead budgets and costs. Through our commitment and initiatives to improve efficiency and effectiveness, naval shipyard costs are generally competitive with private-sector shipyards accomplishing similar work.

Any Ship, Anytime, Anywhere

America's naval shipyards have the flexibility, capability, and capacity to immediately respond to emerging requirements while maintaining focus on delivering quality ship maintenance within acceptable cost and time limitations. When the Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided-missile destroyer USS Cole was attacked by terrorists in Yemen in October 2000, the Norfolk Naval Shipyard mobilized, within 48 hours, the skilled tradesmen and equipment needed to assist in relief and recovery efforts.

The ability to respond directly to the needs of the fleet is an important mission of all of our shipyards. When the Austin-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Denver and the Henry J. Kaiser-class oiler USNS Yukon collided off the coast of Oahu in July 2000, causing extensive damage to the Denver's bow, the Pearl Harbor NSY and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (IMF) immediately responded, repaired the bow, and returned the Denver to sea in two weeks. Pearl Harbor also provided emergent repairs on the Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Greeneville after its at-sea collision in February 2001. The Greeneville entered dry dock on 20 February and undocked on 2 April.

In March 2000, the Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier USS Constellation discovered damage to its starboard rudder 10 days before it was scheduled to deploy. Experts from Puget Sound NSY, along with fleet and Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) divers, worked around the clock to refurbish both rudders, allowing the Constellation to deploy on time.

More recently, Portsmouth NSY sent several technical experts to assist in the assessment of the condition of the research submarine USS Dolphin following flooding that occurred when a hatch would not seal properly. The assessment made by the Portsmouth team--complemented by the shipyard's technical expertise on this unique vessel (which was built by the shipyard)--was instrumental in helping NAVSEA develop safe re-entry procedures.

Our highly skilled work force and industrial capabilities--complemented by our flexibility to respond to new priorities and requirements and handle the unexpected--are trademarks of our ability to provide quality work on any ship, anytime, anywhere.

How Are We Doing?

In fiscal year 2002, the four U.S. naval shipyards completed more than 3.3 million man-days of ship depot repair and modernization work. The Norfolk and Puget Sound shipyards stepped up the pace to keep U.S. aircraft carriers on station during Operation Enduring Freedom. The increased operating tempo of the aircraft carriers required the shipyards both to accelerate previously planned depot availabilities and to shorten the duration of availabilities--a combination previously thought to be unachievable.

To meet the nation's needs, all four shipyards also met the challenge of managing a significant increase in submarine depot maintenance work, estimated to be more than three times what it was in the past decade. While accomplishing--and sometimes exceeding--this massive challenge, the shipyards also provided rapid-response correction of emergent repairs on the Navy's ships.

Puget Sound NSY demonstrated its extraordinary flexibility by accomplishing ship maintenance in three different states on three different classes of ships. Responding to the needs of the fleet, Puget Sound is currently executing a planned incremental availability (PIA) on the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CVN) USS Carl Vinson on a compressed schedule of five months vice the originally planned six-month schedule. At the same time, the shipyard was asked to advance, by three months, the start date of the PIA in San Diego for the Nimitz-class CVN USS John C. Stennis, severely compressing the planning process. The John C. Stennis began its availability in July, meeting the accelerated start date requested by the fleet.

The shipyard also provided a significant contribution to the nation's strategic-deterrence program by completing D-5 weapon system backfits on two Ohio-class nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarines (SSBNs), USS Alaska and USS Nevada. Both of these first-time conversions were completed ahead of schedule and under budget. The shipyard further demonstrated its expertise with Ohio-class SSBNs by successfully performing the first East Coast Enterprise Resource Project (ERP) (on USS Pennsylvania) in Kings Bay, Ga.

The Puget Sound NSY also is taking on new challenges by performing maintenance on Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) for the first time. USS Houston is undergoing a planned 24-month refueling overhaul, while USS Asheville is on a 13-month depot maintenance period (DMP).

The Portsmouth NSY has raised the bar this year on the performance of Los Angeles-class DMPs and Extended Refueling Overhauls (EROs). Portsmouth completed USS Miami's DMP earlier than the CNO's 13-month requirement, making it the first submarine in many years to meet the requirement ahead of time. Portsmouth also completed a 24-month ERO on USS City of Corpus Christi ahead of schedule--and two months shorter than the shipyard's previous best.

Portsmouth is again raising the bar by working toward a 22-month ERO of USS Albuquerque and an 11-month DMP of USS Alexandria. The shipyard also is working on the USS Memphis in New London, Conn., in a partnership with Electric Boat Corporation executing a joint Selected Restricted Availability (SRA)/Main Reduction Gear replacement--the first time an SSN reduction gear has been replaced. Portsmouth also took the lead in defining and demonstrating numerous process improvements to share with the other NSYs, an effort that has produced both cost and schedule savings.

Pearl Harbor NSY & IMF performs not only depot availabilities on Los Angeles-class SSNs, but also dozens of shorter fleet maintenance availabilities to keep submarines and surface ships ready to meet the fleet's taskings.

Pearl Harbor recently completed a successful DMP on the USS Topeka in just over 15 months--the shipyard's fastest DMP completion to date. The momentum from Topeka's success carried over to an ERO, which began in June, on the USS Buffalo; this is Pearl Harbor's first Los Angeles-class ERO. Pearl Harbor has thus far beaten all of the defined key events and milestones. The shipyard also is a mainstay for accomplishment of SRAs on fast attack submarines, completing availabilities on the USS Honolulu, USS Los Angeles, and USS Santa Fe.

Norfolk NSY continues to demonstrate its expertise and flexibility by accomplishing depot maintenance on aircraft carriers, submarines, and large-deck amphibious assault ships. The shipyard recently completed its first Los Angeles-class ERO on USS San Francisco, completing the overhaul in just over 23 months. Norfolk is currently on track to complete a 13-month DMP on USS Albany.

Norfolk played a critical role in the U.S.-led war on international terrorism with its successful execution of aircraft carrier depot availabilities. This year, the shipyard completed a planned six-month PIA, under cost and ahead of schedule, on the Nimitz-class CVN USS Harry S. Truman and is currently executing another successful PIA on the Nimitz-class CVN USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Norfolk's outstanding work in completing depot maintenance on large-deck amphibious assault ships continued this year with the completion of planned maintenance availabilities (PMAs) on USS Saipan and USS Kearsarge; the shipyard is currently conducting a PMA on USS Bataan.

The immediate challenge is to work toward the goal of an 11-month DMP and a 20-month ERO, to ensure the fleet can meet current and future operational requirements for submarines while maintaining other commitments.

One Shipyard--Four Locations

The successes of the naval shipyards did not just "happen" but are due, rather, to a number of interrelated factors and initiatives that collectively allowed the NSYs to provide quality fleet support. The Team One process, for example, involves all of the stakeholders of a ship type to prioritize cross-organizational processes for planning and executing availabilities.

The most important initiative that has allowed the NSYs to successfully meet the challenges of increased maintenance requirements has been to standardize maintenance and business practices throughout all four naval shipyards.

One of the most successful ways we have done this was by developing a factory concept to accomplish our submarine work. In order for the submarine force to meet its commitments, the Navy required the refueling and overhauling of its submarine fleet to be carried out without a commensurate increase in the work force, and without affecting maintenance requirements for the surface fleet. The factory concept allowed the NSYs to analyze and reengineer their processes, understand the resource requirements, and quickly share the "lessons learned" across the yards in a combined effort designed both to increase productivity and to deliver the number of overhauled or refueled submarines needed to meet the operational commitments.

The building blocks that the shipyards established in the 1990s were instrumental in building their current ability to share information to incorporate improvements "on the fly." Previously, improvements were incorporated into the planning process for follow-on ships, but not for the next ship of the same class.

The shipyards now can incorporate or "live roll" the new processes or lessons learned into current availabilities. This allows the shipyards to deliver more maintenance with less engineering support. The Portsmouth NSY has developed processes, which reduced maintenance time by six weeks, to better sequence work on tanks. These processes are now being exported to the other yards.

Another initiative that will help us improve efficiencies and quality of service to the fleet is to have trained specialists at one shipyard who can be mobilized to support the other three. The nation's naval shipyards are fortunate to have an exceptionally skilled work force. However, to maintain our capability, these skills must be further developed, and we must constantly train our work force. It takes an average of six to eight years--including a four-year apprenticeship and two to four years of specialized training and work experience--to train a worker to the level of journeyman mechanic.

Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England has designated the four NSYs as Centers of Industrial and Technical Excellence (CITEs), under a Department of Defense initiative to establish public/private partnerships and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of depot-level maintenance operations. These designations will allow us, in partnership with the private sector, to take advantage of critical skills and underutilized facilities. The CITE designation also will allow the Navy to avoid unnecessary duplication of certain skills throughout the four shipyards and to streamline its overall training process. Instead of having four specialists, one in each of four locations, trained in a skill not used every day, it is more efficient and effective to have one specialist who can deploy to any of the four NSYs.

No single shipyard can stand alone. If we are to continue our track record of success, our vision has to be one unified shipyard, operating in four locations but following the same business practices across the board. We must maintain the core skills to cost-effectively provide the depot-level maintenance the fleet requires.

Private-Sector Shipyards: Partners, Not Competitors

The nation's naval shipyards can respond immediately to the needs of the fleet, anywhere at any time, and thus play a key role in national defense. They also offer many unique capabilities, not duplicated in the private sector, to support the Navy's submarines and surface ships.

Our goal is to provide a balance between the public yards and the private sector. To achieve this, we have established partnering efforts with several private-sector shipyards--e.g., the Portsmouth NSY and Electric Boat partnership for reduction-gear replacement, and a partnership among National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego, Northrop Grumman Newport News, and the Puget Sound NSY to maintain aircraft carriers homeported in Coronado, Calif.

One of the most successful partnerships has been the extended dry-docking SRA on the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise; that partnership, between Northrop Grumman Newport News and the Norfolk NSY, used Norfolk's dry dock and augmentation of the work force by all four naval shipyards.

We also partner with other Navy organizations through the Navy's "Team One" concept. An example of a Carrier Team One success was the PIA completed on the John C. Stennis, a highly successful six-month effort that required approximately 200,000 man-days, and was completed on time and under budget. The Stennis availability, conducted at Naval Air Station North Island, involved professionals from the Puget Sound NSY; the Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair San Diego; Newport News Shipbuilding; the Space and Naval Warfare Center San Diego; Naval Air Forces Pacific; the Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activity San Diego; various master ship repair activities; CIS contractors; and the John C. Stennis ship's force.

For amphibious assault ships, the "A" Team using Team One concepts continues to focus on process improvements across both the public and the private sectors. Norfolk now includes the private sector in the "project management college" that establishes the strategies and team for upcoming availabilities.

These alliances and partnerships will continue to deliver quality maintenance to the Navy at the best possible cost.

The NSYs are an important asset to the Navy and the nation, providing the repairs and maintenance needed to keep our aircraft carriers, surface combatants, and submarines in the fight. We provide outstanding support to the fleet--and we are doing it better and better every day--without compromising the environment, personnel safety, or quality of life.

There are still many challenges ahead. By investing in our work force, improving efficiencies, and continuing to standardize the way we do business--operating as one shipyard in four locations--we will meet those challenges and continue to support today's fleet while also preparing to support the Navy after next. *