Norfolk Naval Shipyard workers prepare to install a 2400-pound pilgrim nut on a propeller of the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) on Feb. 12, 2020. George H.W. Bush is currently in Norfolk Naval Shipyard for its Docking Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA). US Navy photo.
While capacity at the Navy’s shipyards has nearly returned to pre-COVID-19 rates, the service does not expect to have widespread testing available for workers until later this year. Read More
The following is the March 24, 2020, Government Accountability Office report, Navy Shipbuilding: Increasing Focus on Sustainment Early in the Acquisition Process Could Save Billions. Read More
USS Somerset (LPD-25) arrives at General Dynamic’s NASSCO shipyard in San Diego for a planned Chief of Naval Operations maintenance availability in 2017. U.S. Navy Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Changing how the Navy awards ship maintenance contracts could improve how private shipyards finish work on time, said the commander of Naval Sea Systems.
The following is the Navy’s Report to Congress on the Lon-Range Plan for Maintenance and Modernization of Naval Vessels for Fiscal Year 2020 that was released on March 21, 2019. Read More
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) transits the Elizabeth river from its homeport at Naval Station Norfolk to Norfolk Naval Shipyard in 2016. US Navy Photo
Carrier USS Harry Truman (CVN-75) is back at sea after ten months in the yard for a planned maintenance availability, the Norfolk Naval Shipyard announced on Friday. Read More
Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. William Moran delivers remarks at the 2016 Future Strategy Forum at the Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C. US Navy Photo
The message Navy leaders are sending to President-elect Donald Trump’s team is: We need money to keep the current 274 ships in the fleet maintained and modernized first and then give us the money to buy more ships. Read More
Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) transits the Elizabeth river from its homeport at Naval Station Norfolk to Norfolk Naval Shipyard on Aug. 25, 2016. US Navy photo.
Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman’s (CVN-75) 10-month maintenance availability is progressing on schedule despite its last maintenance period being greatly curtailed to accommodate an unexpected deployment swap. Read More
More than a decade ago, Navy leaders decided to abandon historic standards for ship-manning levels and for shipboard maintenance, supposedly to make the Navy more “business-like” and “efficient” and to make more money available to buy a new generation of ships and weapons.
But the result instead was a sharp drop in the material readiness of the surface ships and a continued decline in fleet size, which forced the leadership to work the remaining operational ships and their smaller crews harder, thus aggravating the problems.
With congressional committees, Navy inspectors and a high-level outside panel issuing increasingly shrill alarms, the leadership finally is acting to correct those mistakes.
A sailor removes deteriorated paint and rust with a disc sander on a weather deck aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan on Sept. 6, 2012. U.S. Navy Photo
This week, as he prepares to retire and turn over Fleet Forces Command on Friday, Adm. John C. Harvey has fired off a lengthy message to the surface warfare community and its supporting organizations warning that “the cumulative impact of individual decisions made over long periods of time had put the future readiness of our surface force at risk.”
And he charged those who will remain on watch to adhere to the old proven standards and procedures to restore the surface fleet to its historic state of combat readiness.
It was a strong message from Harvey, who had remained surprisingly quiet about the growing readiness crisis earlier in his tour at FFC.
