Rhode to Success: Shop 38 Shafting Team
Just like the submarine in Dry Dock 4, it takes a lot of moving parts to make a project team successful. One of those moving parts is the USS Rhode Island (SSBN 740) Project Shafting Team, a dedicated group of mechanics who spend the entire availability repairing, refurbishing, and replacing parts of the boat’s shaft. The Rhode Island Project Shafting Team is composed of machinists and boilermakers whose job it is, in layman’s terms, to pull off the propeller, pull out the shaft, inspect it, test it, and then put it all back together again. “We do whatever it takes to fix it back up,” said Marshall Moore, Mechanical Group (Code 930) Marine Machinist Shop (Shop 38) supervisor. Rhode Island arrived at Norfolk Naval Shipyard last December for its 27-month Engineered Refueling Overhaul (ERO), a major availability during which the submarine is being refueled and upgraded before returning to support the country’s nuclear deterrence strategy. The shafting team’s job requires constant coordination with the Rigging and Equipment Operations Division (Code 740) Steering and Diving Group from Shop 72. “We can’t do it alone,” said Tim Mays, a Shop 38 mechanic on the project. “Even if we get the housings torn apart, we need Shop 72’s expertise to finish the job. A lot of times while we’re doing something, they’re doing something right beside us to make sure nothing falls apart.” Shane Hartless, a Shop 38 work leader, said Shop 38 and Shop 72 are like a big family. “We work hand in hand because a lot of times we’re in each other’s way working in the same space, so a lot of coordination goes into it. We all work together.”
The group embraced the goal of setting new standards on the project in terms of safety, quality, and efficiency. Moore said it was easy to do because his team is made up of good leaders. Mays and Hartless, for example, completed the apprenticeship early, but haven’t even walked across the graduation stage yet and are already leaders on the project. Moore said many of the other mechanics on the shafting team are still new to the job themselves, but they are quick to offer help and mentorship when needed. “That kind of dedication and ability is really helping the project. These guys are helping train the new mechanics who have no experience, and we’ve really been able to accomplish great things.” The pressure of being NNSY’s highest priority project is not lost on Mays. “If I’m being honest, nobody likes being put under pressure to accomplish a big task that seems impossible,” he said. “But when you push your limits and persevere and you have days that are big wins and you get your crew to look at each other and realize that you as a group were able to do it, it doesn’t get any better than that.” Mays acknowledged there have been some setbacks, “but each time my trade manager, Genaro Bell, my supervisor, Marshall Moore, and my work leader, Shane Hartless, were there to make sure progress was still attainable,” he said. “Everyone has given it their best, and that dedication says everything about our team.” The project still has more almost two years to go before it’s completed, but Moore is looking forward to a promising future at the shipyard. “Development is going in the right direction and I think if these guys keep doing what they’re doing and developing the young people with the same kind of work ethic, we’re going to have a strong workforce. I hope we can keep using that attitude.”
Story By Anna Taylor • Public Affairs Specialist | Photo by Tony Anderson • NNSY Photographer SEPTEMBER 2016 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • 5