The Rhode to Success: Chief Test Engineer

THE RHODE TO SUCCESS STORY BY ANNA TAYLOR • PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST PHOTOS BY SHAYNE HENSLEY • NNSY PHOTOGRAPHER USS Rhode Island (SSBN-740) is due to arrive at Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) in December for its 27-month Engineered Refueling Overhaul (ERO), a major availability during which the submarine will be refueled and upgraded before returning to support the country’s nuclear deterrence strategy. During the months leading up to its arrival, Service to the Fleet is featuring “The Rhode to Success,” an installment focusing on some of the key project team members for the Rhode Island’s availability.

The project, which was originally scheduled to take 32 months, was shortened to only 27, which means the project team has been working hard during the planning phase to keep the calendar on track to meet strategic deterrence mission requirements.

“We’ve been looking at the amount of work it’s going to take, and we’ve got to do it in a compressed amount of time, so we’re thinking of things outside the box,” said Casey Schiffer, the project’s Assistant Chief Test Engineer. “It’s a massive amount of work to coordinate. We’re going to be looking upfront for anything that may delay us because if we get delayed at the start, it will affect the whole schedule.”

14 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016

Code 246, Test Engineering Division, develops isolations for safe work release, ensures danger tags are hung correctly on the right components, and coordinates the testing involved after work completion. This work requires close coordination with ship’s force, production resources department personnel, and the shipyard engineering department, and when the [submarine] arrives, that coordination will become even more vital.

“We’re not only responsible for getting the guys to work, our ultimate responsibility is getting them to work safely,” said Mike Bradley, the Rhode Island Project’s Chief Test Engineer. “So that’s probably one of the more important things we do is isolate the work so they can go work with energized and pressurized

systems all around them.”

Rhode Island will be the highest priority availability in the shipyard when it arrives, which presents unique challenges and opportunities for NNSY to execute quality work despite the condensed schedule.

“We always aim to get it done on time, but with this massive amount of work, we’ve got to make sure we don’t let it slide,” explained Bradley. “We’ve got to make sure people do what they say they’re going to do and when.”

The high priority and compressed schedule required Schiffer and Bradley to re-think the way their code’s work has been performed in the past.

“A lot of times, we might roll the work we do on one submarine over into the next. We’ve had to re-think our process entirely,” said Schiffer. “Our strategy with how we’re opening work sites and the sequence in which we get everything tagged out and given to production is rethought entirely.”

For Code 246, the primary goal is releasing work to the shops sooner, which requires scrutinizing the calendar and moving system transfers to the left.

“It’s vital because we’re the ones who get the production workers to work,” said Schiffer. “They need our signature to start work. We’re the ones who certify the ship to go back to sea.”

Bradley and Schiffer consider themselves “another link in the chain” when it comes to the importance of their work.

“Ultimately, we depend on production,” said Bradley.

“They turn the wrenches and get the work done. It takes the whole shipyard to make it happen; we’re just a portion of it.”

▲ Above: Mike Bradley and Casey Schiffer, the Chief Test Engineer and Assistant Chief Test Engineering on the Rhode Island Project.

DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • 15