RHODE TO SUCCESS: Deckplate Mentor Selected as Employee of the Month BY ANNA TAYLOR • PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST PHOTO BY LUKE BEASLEY • NNSY PHOTOGRAPHER
“I love working as a team and blending all trades and codes... if we don’t all work together, we will not be successful.” - Vinny Nichols
Nichols (left) with Project Superintendent Mark Cook after receiving his Employee of the Month award. According to coworkers, Vinny Nichols’ dedication to the shipyard exceeds all standards. Nichols, the reactor compartment zone manager on USS Rhode Island’s (SSBN 740) Engineered Refueling Overhaul, was recognized as the project’s March employee of the month. Nichols completed his apprenticeship at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding. He spent eight years at Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation (NORSHIPCO), before coming to Norfolk Naval Shipyard in search of a better career.
As a zone manager, Nichols supervises Structural Group (Code 920), Pipe Shop (Code 960), and Temporary Services Group (Code 970) employees from Shops 11, 17, 57, and 71 during work in the submarine’s reactor compartment. “I am motivated by challenges. I want to be one of the people who can say we finished an SSBN ERO in 27 months,” he said. “It’s the number one priority of the Chief of Naval Operations to get this platform back out to sea.” Before the Rhode Island project, Nichols worked on the USS Georgia (SSGN 729), USS Alaska (SSBN 732), USS Tennessee (SSBN 734), USS Florida (SSGN 728), USS West Virginia (SSBN 736), USS Maryland (SSBN 738), USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), USS George Washington (CVN 73), and USS Harry S Truman (CVN 75) availabilities. “I was a Shop 11 supervisor for six years and felt the time was right to move up to mentor less experienced supervisors,” he said. “Always do your very best and follow a problem out to the end. Don’t leave the problem with someone else to figure out. At the end of the day, it’s your responsibility.” Nichols said the Rhode Island team is the best he’s worked with during his time at NNSY and he enjoys witnessing the hard work from a variety of people as it leads to a successful availability. “He has spent a lot of time on the deckplates mentoring new supervisors and mechanics in the reactor compartment,” said Justin Vought, who nominated Nichols for the award. “If problems are brought to his attention, they are immediately corrected. His commitment to safely and efficiently producing firsttime quality products deserves recognition.” Nichols was presented his award April 15 during a project leadership meeting. “I love working as a team and blending all trades and codes into a one team concept,” said Nichols. “If we don’t all work together, we will not be successful.”
MAY 2016 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • 25