SurgeMain Sailors support critical need on San Francisco project

A SurgeMain Sailor works aboard USS San Francisco (SSN 711) during its conversion at NNSY

SurgeMain Sailors support critical need on San Francisco conversion

By Anna Taylor • Public Affairs Specialist Photos by Tony Anderson • NNSY Photographer

10 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • AUGUST 2017

ET2 Alain Lander and ET2 Zebon Walker remove wall paneling aboard San Francisco.

Wherever the important work of the Navy is being conducted in the world today, America’s Navy Reservists are there—because delivering strategic depth and operational capability is the mission of the Navy Reserve.

Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) Surge Maintenance (SurgeMain) Sailors were asked to fulfill that mission for the USS San Francisco (SSN 711) project when the project team needed to fill a critical gap on its moored training ship conversion.

In the process of planning for the Workload and Resource Report, the Production Resources Department (Code 900) determined the Shipfitter Shop (Shop 11) was undermanned in June, July and August. As a result, resources had to be pulled from the San Francisco project to fill urgent needs elsewhere on the waterfront.

“The SurgeMain program was designed to leverage some of the talents that exist in the reserve force that are underutilized by the NAVSEA enterprise,” said SurgeMain Program Manager Lt. Cmdr. Mike Sullivan.

“We find out what the resource demands

in the shipyard are with respect to skilled trades, and we address those gaps using reservists, who are here to do their annual training.”

SurgeMain Sailors generally spend two weeks at the shipyard fulfilling their annual training requirements, but three groups of reservists volunteered to train for Shop 11 tasking and stay for a full month, working hard to ensure the San Francisco project stayed on schedule and providing support through the end of August.

“When the shipyard doesn’t have enough labor to support projects, jobs don’t get accomplished and the timeline for these massive projects can shift to the right,” explained Sullivan. “The true concern is when it’s not just one job, it’s a whole downstream set of jobs that depend on the completion of that first job. So in order not to negatively impact the entire schedule, we can help tackle these early jobs and prioritize labor to support the project schedule.”

Sullivan said SurgeMain Sailors come for Annual Training to the America’s

Shipyard with an eagerness to learn, and they also bring fresh perspectives, which can help motivate the civilians who work on the waterfront day-in and day-out.

“I think in general trying to stay active within the Navy is important, and the shipyard has a lot of big projects, so it’s always good to come and help out wherever we can support,” said Boatswain's Mate First Class Ernesto Loa. “I’m happy to be here. Everybody at the shipyard is very helpful and very knowledgeable.

We don’t work here every day, so it’s great that they provide back up when we need it.”

“Pretty much wherever they need us, that’s where we are,” added Electronics Technician Second Class Alain Lander. “It’s a pretty cool project and a few years down the line I can say I helped.”

The SurgeMain program requires Reservists to work closely with the civilians in their shops.

“The shipyard commander has emphasized he wants the shipyard to be a learning organization," said Sullivan. "What you inject into the shops with these Reservists are people who not only have active duty experience, but also civilian skills they can bring into the shop.”

Many of the Reservists work full time civilian jobs when they’re not in uniform, but they depend on the U.S. Navy Reserve to “keep a little military flavor in their lives,” according to Sullivan.

“SurgeMain has a very specific mission, and these Sailors can usually look back during their time in the yard while they were training,” he said. “They’re excited about contributing something. When a ship goes back out to the fleet, they can say ‘I worked on Truman’ or ‘I worked on San Francisco.’”

Reserve service members amplify the Navy’s core capabilities, serving as a go-to force and a resource for roles that cover the full spectrum of Navy needs.

“The support for the San Francisco project really highlighted how the shipyards are resource-constrained in executing work, and how SurgeMain was able to address a specific deficit for a specific shop on a specific project,” said Sullivan. “When other projects hear how this worked for San Francisco, they’ll know if they have a need, our Reservists can bring them the right skills at the right time.”

AUGUST 2017 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • 11