Annual Enrollment Ends Friday 4 l 30 l 2018
Annual enrollment ends Friday, May 4. Employees should take this once-a-year opportunity to review their benefits and visit myalex.com/hii/2018 to learn about Huntington Ingalls Industries’ benefits plans.
A weekly publication of Newport News Shipbuilding
Nonrepresented employees should be sure to update their tobacco-use status before annual enrollment ends. This year, all nonrepresented employees’ tobacco-use statuses will be reset to “tobacco user.” In order to receive the preferred “tobaccofree” insurance rate (saving $660 a year), employees must update their tobacco-use status under the medical section of the enrollment hub online, or call the Huntington Ingalls Benefits Center (HIBC). Employees who do not update their tobacco-use status will be defaulted to “tobacco user” and... CONTINUED ON PG 5
Shipbuilders install a 750-metric-ton forward section of Kennedy's main deck. Photo by John Whalen
John F. Kennedy 75 Percent Structurally Complete Earlier this month, John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) shipbuilders completed a superlift of the forward area of the ship’s main deck, making the aircraft carrier 75 percent structurally complete. “Thus far, this is the largest and most outfitted unit that I’ve been responsible for,” said Construction Supervisor Council Pickett (X91). “As with any component or section of the ship, it takes a team of dedicated shipbuilders working around the clock, and I’m very proud of what the team was able to accomplish.” Kennedy, the second ship in the Gerald R. Ford class of carriers, has been taking shape at NNS since the ship’s keel was laid in August 2015. The ship is being built using modular construction, a process where smaller sections of the ship are welded together to form a structural unit, known as a superlift. The superlift is then outfitted with piping, electrical equipment, cable, ventilation and joiner work and is lifted from the assembly area into the dry dock. The 750-metric ton forward section of the main deck includes the machinery spaces located over the ship’s forward diesel generators. Also installed was the first piece of the aircraft carrier flight deck, which includes command and control, pilot ready rooms and additional support spaces, a jet blast deflector and components of the advanced arresting gear system. With the recent superlifts, 341 of the total 447 sections are currently in place. Kennedy stands about 100 feet in height in the dry dock with only the island and main mast remaining to bring the ship to its full height of 252 feet. CONTINUED ON PG 3
A longleaf pine planted at The Mariners' Museum is named for Dorothy, Newport News Shipbuilding's first hull. Photo by Ashley Cowan
NNS Dedicates Longleaf Pine Grove Newport News Shipbuilding dedicated a longleaf pine grove with The Mariners’ Museum and Park and The Nature Conservancy on April 27. The trees – the same type that were used in early shipbuilding – commemorate NNS-built ships. The trees are named Dorothy, SS United States, USS Enterprise (CVN 65), USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) and USS Washington (SSN 787). Locke Ogens, Virginia state director of The Nature Conservancy, said there used to be 1.5 million acres of longleaf pine habitat in... CONTINUED ON PG 4