VIRTUAL AWARDS CEREMONY AUGUST 21, 2020
“Our Models of Excellence are leaders of the extraordinary.” Jennifer Boykin
SEQUENCE OF VIRTUAL EVENTS Virtual Team Receptions
Hosted by Senior Leadership
Remarks and Special Video Presentation Toast in Recognition of Honorees
Jennifer Boykin President, Newport News Shipbuilding
Closing Remarks
2020 HONOREE VIRTUAL TEAM RECEPTIONS TRANSFORM BUSINESS OPERATIONS Agents of Subcontract Negotiation: Transforming NNS Business Dynamics Hosted by Bryan Caccavale Vice President, Supply Chain Management
Pipe Shop Achieves Best-Ever Schedule Performance to Support Launch of John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) Hosted by Julia Jones Vice President, Manufacturing and Facilities
On Time and Under Budget Repairs Keep USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) Mission-Ready Hosted by Gary Fuller Vice President, Fleet Support Programs
Digital Preparedness and Recovery Team: Safeguarding a Mission-Critical Network Hosted by Brian Fields Vice President, Business Transformation and Chief Transformation Officer
Shifting Approach and Embracing Change to Streamline Loose Fill Installation in Complex Structures Hosted by Dave Bolcar Vice President, Virginia-Class Submarine Construction
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) MTG Design and Repair Sets the Tone for Future Complex System Integration Hosted by Charles Southall Vice President, Engineering and Design
Marine Trades Training Pre-Hire Program Reduces Skills Gap Hosted by Susan Jacobs Vice President, Human Resources and Administration
USS George Washington (CVN 73) Paint Team’s Engagement Results in Execution Excellence Hosted by Chris Miner Vice President, In-Service Aircraft Carrier Programs
Out-of-the-Box Build Process Supports John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) Launch Hosted by Lucas Hicks Vice President, New Construction Aircraft Carrier Programs EXECUTE EFFICIENTLY Determination Powers Deadline Success in Nuclear Propulsion Hosted by Mary Cullen Vice President, Nuclear Propulsion Huntington Crew Prevents Potential Crisis Hosted by Xavier Beale Vice President, Trades
VCS Casting Sketch Improvement Team Hosted by Dave Bolcar, Vice President, Virginia-Class Submarine Construction GROW THE BUSINESS BASE Historic VCS Block V Contract Presents a Decade of Opportunity Hosted by Christie Thomas Vice President, Contracts and Pricing
LEAD THE WAY COVID-19 Communications: Building Trust Through Transparency Hosted by Jennifer Dunn Vice President, Communications Making Every Hour Count for Early Delivery of USS George Washington (CVN 73) Repair Materials Hosted by Chris Miner Vice President, In-Service Aircraft Carrier Programs Maurice Harden: Inspiring to Serve Those Who Serve Hosted by Matt Needy Vice President, U.S. Navy Programs Wilton Ferebee: Courage to Make a Difference: COVID-19 Survivor Testimonial Hosted by Jennifer Boykin President, Newport News Shipbuilding 1
STRATEGY OBJECTIVES
The annual Model of Excellence awards ceremony recognizes individuals and teams who have made extraordinary contributions to the achievement of Newport News Shipbuilding’s strategic objectives through their performance and accomplishments in the following award categories:
Enable Our Workforce
Individual or team contributions that demonstrate care and improve the work environment for NNS employees.
Transform Business Operations
Individual or team contributions that demonstrate innovative thinking and/or result in new ideas and solutions that successfully achieve and significantly improve or create new processes or approaches in support of the company’s growth profitability and competitive advantage.
Execute Efficiently
Individual or team contributions that streamline and transform our current business model into a culture that embraces and implements lean thinking and processes.
Grow The Business Base
Individual’s or team’s delivery of quality products or services that far exceed the customer’s expectations or their success at creating company value through new business growth.
Lead The Way
Individual or team contributions that demonstrate courage, leadership, inspiration, teamwork, integrity and other behaviors that positively change company culture or make a difference in our community.
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Now more than ever, it is important to celebrate the good in this world and to recognize excellence when we see it. At Newport News Shipbuilding, more than 25,000 women and men come to work each day to do their best and give their all in support of our nation’s defense. Each year, we recognize the best of the best with the President’s Model of Excellence Award. This award is the highest honor presented to NNS employees. It is reserved for shipbuilders who exemplify our company values, raise the bar for excellence, and move our company forward. This year, we honor 273 shipbuilders for their outstanding work that stands as an example for all shipbuilders – including me! A real highlight for me is our annual awards dinner and getting to meet our honorees and family members. I am very sorry we will not be able to celebrate in person due to COVID-19 and the risks to our health and safety. However, I am excited to celebrate our honorees in our first-ever virtual ceremony. As you read about this year’s honorees, I think you will agree: Our Models of Excellence are leaders of the extraordinary. To our 2020 Model of Excellence Award honorees – congratulations on a job well done! And thank you for your commitment to leading NNS, our U.S. Navy and our nation forward. All the best,
Jennifer Boykin President, Newport News Shipbuilding
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AGENTS OF SUBCONTRACT NEGOTIATION: TRANSFORMING NNS BUSINESS DYNAMICS The U.S. Navy faces ongoing funding challenges while working to expand its fleet in support of the National Defense Strategy. In turn, Newport News Shipbuilding faces growing affordability challenges for critical procured material items. In order to meet the growing funding challenges, NNS had to transform the way it negotiates and ultimately contracts with key suppliers. A few key members of the Supply Chain Management team set out to rethink and reinvent the critical process of subcontract negotiation. The team ensured collaboration and communication among all stakeholders, reorganized the division to stand up a strategy and negotiation team, and developed and
Karen Enos K22
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Needham Jones III K22
Dave Kriner O51
executed training on the new process. The result of their efforts is a common sense negotiation strategy that unmasks supplier costs, including opportunities for efficiency; motivates suppliers to deliver affordability; and utilizes the full Huntington Ingalls Industries enterprise. The team also changed the Supply Chain Management culture by facilitating a team-based work environment where opinions count and each team member is invested in the outcome.
Julie Menna O51
Logan Miller O51
Andy Rantanen O19
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DIGITAL PREPAREDNESS AND RECOVERY TEAM: SAFEGUARDING A MISSION-CRITICAL NETWORK Integrated digital resiliency is the planning, strategy, build out and testing of an offsite data center that allows Newport News Shipbuilding to recover all production systems in the event of an extended outage of the shipyard’s onsite data center. For this team of shipbuilders, it took more than buying and installing hardware to achieve integrated digital resiliency for NNS. It took nights and weekends and creative approaches to technical challenges, all while keeping the onsite data center operational and maintaining their day-job workloads. Challenges included extending the network and isolating it
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in the event of a failover, replicating the massive amount of data required to build complex ships, and implementation and testing the technology without disturbing production. Three new technologies were also implemented that provide greater flexibility, improved performance and increased data protection while reducing operational costs. Perhaps the most significant benefit of the team’s hard work is faster recovery time. Thanks to the Digital Preparedness and Recovery Team’s efforts, the recovery time and maximum data loss for production systems has been significantly reduced.
Steve Battalio T54
Mike Bohannon T51
Cliff Carr T54
John Conroy Jr. T54
Tom Dixon T54
Chris Dove T54
Matt Downing T54
Will Ferguson T54
Tim Henness T54
Todd Imbriaco T54
James Johnson T54
Zachary Leatherwood T54
Bob Pelletier T54
Rob Raines T56
Dave Reineri T54
Jeremy Scicchitano T54
Rich Slan T54
Robert Stukes III T54 Not pictured: Robert Mackie Jr., T54; Ryan Tiedemann, T54; Hank Watson, T54; Victoria Ziemba, T54
Rick Vailati T54
Brian Welliver T54
Michael Yelle T54
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MARINE TRADES TRAINING PRE-HIRE PROGRAM REDUCES SKILLS GAP While the Marine Trades Training Pre-Hire Program was established in 2017 to help fill a skills gap, it has grown more recently in size and impact thanks to the hard work and collaboration of a diverse group of shipbuilders. The team has worked to incorporate real-world shipyard experiences into the training, involve former shipyard employees as instructors and use Newport News Shipbuilding-created curriculum. The courses take more than 1,200 hours to develop and pilot, and months of NNS management work has gone into collaborating with outside vendors to design, construct and install practical workspaces and
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mockups, and design and source the tools necessary for each class. The team works closely with instructors to ensure proper teaching techniques that will result in a quality NNS employee. Credentialed by the Virginia Community College System, the program teaches students basic trade skills, as well as the importance of good attendance, NNS safety guidelines, engagement and leadership. Today, about 40% of all hourly NNS’ new hires come from the Marine Trades Training Pre-Hire Program.
Marshall Ayres O26
Lisa Baptiste O36
Michael Cook O26
Kelly Fischer K21
Larry Horne K28
Brittany Izzo O20
Anne Lewis K21
Christina Neale O36
Devin Neighbors O26
Cilinte Potter X70
Steven Smith O36
Susan Swanson O36
Micah Van Ness X18
Jim Wallis O36 Not pictured: Kori Searles, O68; Christina Simmons, K21; Jan Stark, K21; Landon Symons, X32
Stephanie White K21
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OUT-OF-THE-BOX BUILD PROCESS SUPPORTS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CVN 79) LAUNCH John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) was nearing launch, and the elevator build process was behind schedule due to late material delivery. A diverse team of trades and engineers were faced with building three elevators at the same time to meet launch requirements. The team recognized the traditional assembly process would not support the build plan. The group went to work to develop and implement a new process to build the elevator platform and operate it on its own power. The team worked long days and many weekends to
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successfully achieve the desired outcome. Not only did the team meet the ship’s launch deadline, their out-of-the-box method streamlined how the aircraft elevator platform is installed and operated. The changed method, improved efficiency by eliminating the need for redundant work that occurred using the old method, ultimately saving the customer and the company money while reducing complex risk associated with installing the elevator platform after launching the ship.
Stephen Ashworth X43
Scott Baker X43
Dominic Barnes X43
Gary Carter K47
Timothy Curle X43
Joshua Ferguson Sr. X36
Daniel Forbes X43
Barry Freeman Jr. X43
Travis Gault X43
Shavenn Hawkins X36
Adam Horrell X43
Jimmy Key X36
Denise Labo X43
Brandon Livingston X36
Joshua Mustard X36
Mark Neal X43
Randall Nelson E24 Not pictured: David McBride, X36; Kevin Parker, X01; Joshua Taylor, X18
Nolan Rudisill X18
David Swain E24
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DETERMINATION POWERS DEADLINE SUCCESS IN NUCLEAR PROPULSION Loading power units onto U.S. Navy ships is a complex task that requires around-the-clock attention. Due to a slip in the Virginia-Class Submarine Build Schedule for Montana (SSN 794), and an acceleration of the John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) aircraft carrier schedule, the Reactor Servicing Team found itself charged with loading multiple power units into both ships – all within a one month period. Both assignments were equally critical, and both needed to be completed in one month. Kennedy faced an early
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launch deadline due to tidal schedules. For the VCS program, power unit loading is critical to the program starting the test program, which must be done to support delivery to the U.S. Navy. Despite the tight deadlines and several obstacles, including weather delays and crane issues, the Reactor Servicing Team did an outstanding job, accomplishing the historic feat of loading three power units into two ships in one month.
Colin Coke X43
Ryan Everett X36
Dillon Figurelle E82
Eric Johnson X73
Wayne Laustsen E82
Maggie Lewis E82
Wade McLawhorn X43
Desmond Pierce X43
Quest Ray X43
Bryce Rilee X43
Josh Sterling E82
Brad Sullivan X36
DW Williams X73
Mike Williams X36
Not pictured: Donta Britt, X36; Cody Connell, X36; Andy Hammonds, X73; Kevin Hefner, O39; Nick McFatter, X43; Jason Miller, X43; Joseph Moore, X36 Gregory Schafran, E82; Jim Wright, E85
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HUNTINGTON CREW PREVENTS POTENTIAL CRISIS What is normally a routine activity could have turned serious had it not been for the heroic response of the Huntington tugboat crew. On September 21, 2019, the tugboat crew was positioned alongside Virginia-class submarine USS Delaware (SSN 791) during the submarine’s last sea trial before delivery. During main engine warmups, the crew recognized that the submarine was experiencing an unplanned movement. They quickly took action, applied the
Norman Alligood X36
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Jason Batcha X36
Cedric Moore X36
tugboat’s full throttle ahead with both main engines, and stabilized Delaware until the unplanned movement was stopped and the ship was re-positioned pierside. The Huntington crew was prepared, understood their role and worked as a team to respond to the emergency, mitigating a potential catastrophic event that could have led to major damages and life-threatening injuries.
Alex Rogers X36
Allen Sutton X36
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PIPE SHOP ACHIEVES BEST-EVER SCHEDULE PERFORMANCE TO SUPPORT LAUNCH OF JOHN F. KENNEDY (CVN 79) To support early flooding of the dry dock for launch of John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), the Pipe Shop team was tasked with making four main seawater inlet assemblies. Major design changes to CVN 79 required additional fabrication, machining and welding, and the Pipe Shop team determined that additional photogrammetry fixtures were also needed to meet the ship’s deadline. In addition, the team had to start the assembly work without all of the material to mitigate some of the schedule pressure. They met with engineering before beginning the work to understand the new requirements and ensure needed resources were available. They developed weld
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fixtures to allow some of the work to be mechanized, which had not been done in the past, that led to faster turnaround, better quality and improved ergonomics for the welding team. They also researched and purchased additional tooling to allow for the work to be machined as efficiently as possible. Without the dedication of the Pipe Shop team and their partners across the value stream, the work would not have been completed in time. In fact, the team reduced the build sequence time by nine months over previous best performance with no injuries or quality issues, not only meeting CVN 79’s deadline, but allowing the aircraft carrier to launch ahead of schedule.
Trent Alcorn X18
James Boyce Jr. X18
Adam Butler X18
Dean Drewry M30
M. Edwards M30
Alton Harris M30
James Hopkins X42
Ted Lacey X18
Maurice Marshall X42
Russell Moore M30
David Nemo Jr. X18
Daniel O’Donnell X42
Matthew O’Quinn M30
Chaz Orlena E86
Willie Powell X18
Charlie Pyle X42
Daniel Stevanoff X42 Not pictured: Michael Lambiase, M30
Robert Teel M30
Frank Wanderer M30 17
SHIFTING APPROACH AND EMBRACING CHANGE TO STREAMLINE LOOSE FILL INSTALLATION IN COMPLEX STRUCTURES Modular ship construction takes on many shapes, materials and processes. The support structure for habitability modules, which serves as sailors’ living quarters, is comprised of multiple decks that are connected by a complex matrix structure. Structural components within the habitability model are sometimes filled with materials. The filling process has always been tedious and time consuming, inefficient and had a high risk of ergonomic injury.
Thanks to an innovative team of shipbuilders, this process has transitioned from using a handmade funnel system to a forced air feed system utilizing a venture educator. The team’s out-of-the-box thinking reduced fill time and cost by 93%, and minimized ergonomic stress on shipbuilders. The new process for installing the material will be implemented in future ships produced by Newport News Shipbuilding.
Not pictured: Amani Gillis, X33; Reginald Moore, X33
Lysha Anthony X33
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William Halverson X51
George Robinson X33
Scott Satterfield X36
Joseph Traynham K46
Heinz Trulley K46
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USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73) PAINT TEAM’S ENGAGEMENT RESULTS IN EXECUTION EXCELLENCE From the outside, painting may seem like one of the easier tasks in the shipyard, but when a paint job requires crawling around in four tanks half of a football field in size, “easy” couldn’t be further from the truth. The USS George Washington (CVN 73) paint team was tasked with applying paint to four tanks, which encompassed over 100 total bays. And because the project was late to start, the goal was to save lost schedule time during the paint process.
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The team’s commitment, drive, leadership and determination reduced a 50-day job to 25 days, completed the job under budget with no injuries, and resulted in only three wet paint issues throughout the entire process – generally unheard of in painting. The crew’s extraordinary results not only allowed Newport News Shipbuilding to regain its schedule, it reinvigorated the U.S. Navy’s confidence in the shipyard.
T. Banks X33
Michael Baymon X33
Bryant Davis X33
Desmond Franklin X33
Clyde Green II X33
John Gregory X71
Wayne Hedgepeth X33
Dwayne Hickenbotham X33
David Labuda X33
Brandon Smith X33
Larry Trueheart Jr. K45
Damian Turner II X33
Ricky Wilder X33
Leonce Wilkerson X33
Tykinsten Wood X33 Not pictured: Ronald Dillard, X33; Thomas Evans, X33; Nikki Harvey, K45
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VCS CASTING SKETCH IMPROVEMENT TEAM To resolve dimensional and tolerance issues, the Virginia-Class Submarine Casting Sketch Improvement Team developed improved technical instructions in the form of castings sketches for the VCS program. To do it, the team had to review final machined part drawings, investigate historic vendor and Foundry issues, analyze as-built casting conditions and production capabilities, clarify requirements for final part machining and dimensions and interact with Lead Design Yard engineers to incorporate the changes. They developed an
in-depth dimensional history for each component and submitted new technical proposals to the Design Yard that included critical dimensions, tolerances and alternative measuring techniques, and they did it all on an aggressive schedule, completing the project on time and under budget. The team’s efforts led to authorized designs that accurately represent the technical intent while also applying Newport News Shipbuilding Foundry expertise to 123 unique casting designs.
Not pictured: Matt Esher, E47; Nathan Singleton, X57; Larry Yavoski, E47
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Jason Binns A572
Brandon Cash A572
Dara Emami E32
Vincent Lau E47
Casey Morrison II X80
Jim Noffsinger E47
Charles Norford E06
John Reed II E47
Darryl Trautner A572
Bradley Welliver E47
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HISTORIC VCS BLOCK V CONTRACT PRESENTS A DECADE OF OPPORTUNITY After more than two years of proposal pricing, communications and strategic negotiations, the Contracts and Pricing team positioned Newport News Shipbuilding to win the largest-ever shipbuilding contract awarded in history. The team developed an innovative pricing methodology and messaging; creative solutions to align multiple variations of fiscal year funding with a realistic construction schedule; and unique terms and conditions to enable appropriate sharing of risks between all parties. They also negotiated favorable
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changes to the fee sharing arrangement, lowered NNS’ financial risk and devised a contracting process that reflects tangible, significant and lasting benefits to the company, community and the U.S. Navy. The resulting award, split between NNS and General Dynamics Electric Boat, is worth a total $22 billion for nine submarines with an option for a tenth boat. More importantly, it will provide employment for thousands of shipbuilders and provide backlog for the company through 2029.
Carol Barnes O51
Kenneth Callaway O19
Katherine Cannon O19
Rob Check O62
Elizabeth Emmett-Smith O59
Christopher Hoehn X47
Garland Jennings Jr. O19
Roger Kelly O19
John Kuster O19
Casey Morrison II X80
Andy Rantanen O19
John Rice O19
Les Smith K79
Paul Tuzzolo O50
Sarah Walton O19
Brian Warthan O19
Ashley WeymouthGerman O78
Travis Williams O70
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ON TIME AND UNDER BUDGET REPAIRS KEEP USS RONALD REAGAN (CVN 76) MISSION-READY A hitch girder is vital to an aircraft carrier elevator’s ability to lift the full stress of 150,000 pounds it is certified to lift, making the weld bond between the hitch girder and the elevator platform critically important. An elevator on USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) was experiencing technical issues that required a hitch girder replacement, and the replacement was critical to maintain the carrier’s mission readiness. The repairs required precise planning, mock-up training and prefabrication, especially given CVN 76’s location in Japan. In addition to the team’s technical and deadline challenges, they faced the logistical challenges of ensuring they had all of the necessary tools and materials considering the
Roy Ball X36
Gary Carter K47
Larry Earley K48
job site was 7,000 miles away, and personal challenges like language barriers and being away from loved ones for more than four months in a culture very different from their own. Despite it all, the team successfully replaced four hitch girders on a CVN 76 elevator ahead of schedule, under budget and with a 99.49 percent inspection rate with no injuries. When the government awards new contracts, past performance is key to consideration. Newport News Shipbuilding’s ability to perform this complex task in a time-compressed environment was recognized by the customer, placing the company in an optimal position for future contract awards.
Douglas Epstein X36
Robert Hoover X18
Not pictured: Casey Coates, X18; Ronnie Delk, X11; Kevin Eure, O38; Tyrone Gayles, X36; Donald Gilman III, X43; James Nixon II X43 26
Joshua Pryor X36
David Walton X31
Adam Horrell X43
Ryan Harrell, X18; John Houston, X18; Keith Jones, O43; Jerry Person, X11; Ivan Robinson, X36;
Jimmy Key X36
Fabian Sanchez, X18; George Smith, X11; Seth Thayer, X11; Richard William, O38; Derek Wilson, X11
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USS GERALD R. FORD (CVN 78) MTG DESIGN AND REPAIR SETS THE TONE FOR FUTURE COMPLEX SYSTEM INTEGRATION
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When you bring smart people together, amazing things happen. During USS Gerald R. Ford’s (CVN 78) pierside testing, a team comprising trades, foremen, field services and engineering was called on to assist with a main turbine generator (MTG) that experienced an overvoltage event, impacting completion of the test program and rendering it mission incapable. Through extensive research and modeling, the team identified the damage and devised a repair plan. The repairs would be challenging because they would need to be completed onboard the ship and in a tight space with limited lifting and handling capabilities. Their plan also included the design and manufacture
of specific tooling for the shipboard environment, and special testing to confirm the success of the repair and the MTG’s mission capability. The team overcame strict cost, schedule and repair challenges, and their perseverance enabled them to work effectively from initial repair concept through prototype testing to implementation and test of the repairs. The team’s around-the-clock support resulted in the project no longer being critical path for the CVN 78 Post Shakedown Availability completion.
Clyde Barden IV K47
Donnelle Brumback E86
Christopher Ferguson E70
James Foshee III E84
Anthony Gorgone E70
Johnny Keller K47
James Kwasny X36
Ray Lutz E70
Christina Wong Negron E70
Wesley Newman E70
Leif Romberg E70
Kenric Scarbrough E86
Lansana Thullah Sr. K47
Spencer Trevisan E25
Tyre Watkins X36
Not pictured: Curtis Ballard Jr., X09; Paul Beverly, X43; Juan Colón, O05; Richard Cortista, X43; Arynn Easom, K47; Thomas Smith, X43; Brian Timm, E86; Da’Shawn Turner, X36; Johnny Watts K47
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COVID-19 COMMUNICATIONS: BUILDING TRUST THROUGH TRANSPARENCY The need for clear, timely, consistent and transparent communications quickly became a top priority when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Hampton Roads area. Newport News Shipbuilding’s Communications team developed a strategy, adapted their crisis communications plan to the global health crisis and went to work. Although this work is ongoing, and continues today, the work that was done in the first month of the pandemic led the way for much of what was to follow, and communications in the very early days helped establish the policies and changes NNS made as an organization. Given the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and government
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mandates are constantly changing, the team felt a personal obligation to ensure communications were timely, relevant and fact-based. They understood crisis response can have a direct impact on an organization’s reputation, as well as employee engagement and trust, and they worked with leadership across the shipyard to craft messaging, design graphics, document response efforts with photos and video and increase communications across all of the shipyard’s communications platforms to keep all shipbuilders informed. Their efforts have helped educate employees and empower them to make the best decisions for themselves and their families.
Stephanie Cherry O29
Ashley Cowan O29
Matt Hildreth O29
Sarah Hughey O29
Heather Land O29
Nicholas Langhorne O29
Hugh Lessig O29
Matt Mazzoni O29
Christie Miller O29
Bryan Moore O29
Lisa Niebuonrit O29
Laurel Nopper O29
Jeannine Owens O29
Eugene Phillips Jr. O29
Aaron Pritchett O29
Lauren Shuck O29
LaMar Smith O29
Kelli Tatum O29
Lena Wallace O29
Kimberly Zayakosky O29 31
MAKING EVERY HOUR COUNT FOR EARLY DELIVERY OF USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73) REPAIR MATERIALS In August 2019, Ship’s Force on USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) discovered an issue that required replacement of 525 pieces of material. The replacement material was needed for the ship to meet urgent underway operational commitments. The material would need to be removed from USS George Washington (CVN 73) which would require ship checks aboard CVN 75 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard to determine repair requirements. Shipbuilders had to work in extremely tight spaces that required precautions to prevent damaging the material while the team carefully disassembled 228 connections. The transfer of material required intense documentation, coordination, and communication between numerous Newport News Shipbuilding,
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U.S. Navy, and government personnel. The shipbuilding team discussed lessons learned with Norfolk Naval Shipyard to prepare for the removals and develop required inspection reports. Because they didn’t have individual part numbers or drawings to refer to for the removals, the team created individual SAP numbers to track each piece of material being removed. Thanks to their willingness to lean in, preparation, and determination, the task which was estimated to take 18 days, was completed in three days with no defects or injuries. This team led the way by working to make every hour count. Their efforts allowed the U.S. Navy to meet its operational commitments and highlighted the critical role shipbuilders play in national defense.
Ed Armstrong X71
Anastasia Baldwin X31
Jeff Beck E63
Jay Clark O53
Josh Flint K45
Nathan Greene X70
Kimberli HarrisMcBride O59
Jason Harry X71
Jimmy Holt X31
Christopher Jones X31
Eric Jordan O53
Joseph Lassiter K45
David Marsh Jr. X31
Joshua Maskerines E63
Cory Mitchell O53
Teresa Mullen X10
Thomas Norris X74
Christopher Ott X31
Jeffrey Thompson O53 Not pictured: Ryan Hayes, E25; Kiminey Reid, X31
Antonio Wiggins K45
Shelita Wilson O53
Richard Woodley E63
Travis Wyatt X31
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MAURICE HARDEN: INSPIRING TO SERVE THOSE WHO SERVE Paint Foreman Maurice Harden is proof that teamwork and accountability lead to success. The retired U.S. Navy senior chief reports to work by 4:30 a.m. every morning to prepare for the day, which includes communicating clear expectations to his crew of 21, collaborating with fellow foremen and providing a constant presence on the deckplate. He understands his targets and evaluates the risk and opportunities in every job to ensure his team can execute efficiently, and he is known to engage other teams to resolve and clear barriers. Harden seeks opportunities to coach new shipbuilders, and his belief in building teams and the power of recognition and mentorship has resulted in a high-performing team often called upon for jobs outside of its area of responsibility. His passionate leadership has led to superior results on John F. Kennedy (CVN 79); his team has performed under budget and on point in terms of quality with only one injury since 2019, and the team’s Gallup scores have ranked among the highest for the last two years. More importantly, Harden inspires others to understand what it means to serve those who serve.
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WILTON FEREBEE: COURAGE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE: COVID-19 SURVIVAL TESTIMONIAL In mid-July, in the midst of a heightened number of COVID-19 cases at Newport News Shipbuilding, Deck Electrician Specialist and Master Shipbuilder Wilton Ferebee was asked to share his COVID-19 survivor story in a video testimonial. He led the way as the first shipbuilder to publically share his battle with the deadly virus. In doing so, he welcomed us on his very personal journey, demonstrating strong character, conviction and courage. Ferebee’s story has resonated with countless shipbuilders and their families, and with thousands of people across our community and beyond. His story has made COVID-19 a reality and has encouraged others to be more vigilant in stopping the spread of the virus. His testimony is making a difference and helping to save lives. Although Ferebee’s story was published after the nomination deadline, his leadership example is too significant to leave unrecognized. Because of this, NNS President Jennifer Boykin recognized Ferebee as a special Model of Excellence “Courage to Make a Difference” honoree.
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Some photos in this program were taken before Newport News Shipbuilding implemented guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Photos taken after these guidelines were put in place were taken in a safe, socially distanced setting. 36