April 9, 2018

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CFA Recognizes "Top Gun" Welders 4 l 9 l 2018

Component Fabrication and Assembly (CFA) honored 25 “Top Gun” welders for their quality work last year on welds requiring radiographic testing (RT) inspection during an annual luncheon Friday, April 6.

A weekly publication of Newport News Shipbuilding

“We owe our sailors – the men and women out there protecting our freedom – a quality product. This celebration epitomizes the fact that this team continually gives them a quality product that keeps them safe and allows them to go do what they do for us every day,” said Pipe Shop Superintendent Rob Lane. Each of the honorees welded at least 25 joints in 2017 with a rejection rate of less than 2 percent – a higher bar than in years... CONTINUED ON PG 3

Culinary Specialist Kevin Vandinter, right, serves Logistics Specialist Alonzo Smallwood aboard Indiana (SSN 789). Photo by John Whalen

Indiana Crew and Sponsor Share in Submarine's First Meal Sailors celebrated the first meal prepared in the galley of the newest Virginia-class submarine, Indiana (SSN 789), on Tuesday, April 3, at Newport News Shipbuilding. The 142-member crew welcomed Ship’s Sponsor Diane Donald, the wife of Adm. Kirkland Donald (U.S. Navy, Ret.). Adm. Donald is former director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion, and a member of Huntington Ingalls Industries' Board of Directors. The main course consisted of New York strip steak, butterflied lobster with bacon-wrapped scallops, baked potatoes and broccoli. “It was a privilege to join the Indiana crew for the first meal,” Diane Donald said. “Building a submarine is a long journey with a lot of hard work required from the entire team of shipbuilders and crew, and sometimes it’s hard to see the progress. “Today, I could see and feel Indiana coming to life. I’m so proud of Team Indiana and look forward to getting ‘our ship’ to sea and to the fleet.” The nuclear-powered fast attack submarine is in the final stages of construction at NNS. The submarine's next significant construction milestone is initial sea trials. “Of all of the milestones we celebrate in the construction of a submarine, the first meal is one of the most special because it symbolizes the first of what will be thousands of meals served to the crew during the ship’s operational life,” said Dave Bolcar, NNS' vice president of... CONTINUED ON PG 5

Shipbuilders watch a demonstration at the Metrology and Technology Expo. Photo by Ashley Cowan

Dimensional Control Hosts Expo The Dimensional Control (O68) team and its digital tools support shipbuilders and work across Newport News Shipbuilding. On March 22, the team hosted the Metrology and Technology Expo to demonstrate some of those tools and to solicit ideas for new tools and capabilities. “The goal is to walk out of here with a better understanding of the digital measurement capabilities in the yard and some solid ideas that we can go work on tomorrow,” Metrology Supervisor Justin Novak said during the event. CONTINUED ON PG 4


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