12 minute read
FROM THE COMMANDER
From the Commander, Capt. Kai O. Torkelson: Shared Ownership in America's Shipyard
June is upon us, and what’s normally a month of great celebrations—graduations, weddings, Father’s Day and the like—is much more muted this year because of the continued challenges with COVID-19. Some of you may be parents who are unable to see your child walk across the stage and pick up their diploma; some of you may be postponing or downsizing your wedding plans. COVID-19 has had a way of both putting a damper on celebrations, and making painful experiences that much more difficult. While our country and Commonwealth have made progress in recent weeks in opening back up many services and establishments, many challenges remain in the current climate, and we’re all personally affected to some extent—some of us, to a great extent. I know many of you were unable to see your children or mom during Mother’s Day, and now will be in the same situation with Father’s Day. I just experienced my first Mother’s Day since my mom’s passing and my wife Beth will be experiencing her first Father’s Day without her dad—it’s that much harder experiencing some of these things with added stressors and physical distancing measures in place. I’m reminded of words from Admiral Chester Nimitz who provided a Mother’s Day message in 1942, during the thick of World War II: “This Mother’s Day finds your sons fighting for freedom on worldwide battlefields. There will be long periods of silence when your boys will be active at stations in far places from which no word can come . . . there will be losses along the road to victory. If it is God’s will that your son or mine be called to make the supreme
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sacrifice, I know that we will face this stern reality as bravely as they do themselves.” While we aren’t actively at war, we are all in this battle against COVID-19 together fighting for the future health, prosperity, and even security of our nation, and it takes all our individual commitments to successfully navigate this challenging period in our national history.
Thanks to our shared ownership in working to minimize the spread across America’s Shipyard, we’re starting to return to some semblance of normalcy here as well, or at least establishing a “new normal.” Progress made in the last month included holding our first major command event in 2 ½ months with our annual Memorial Day observance, resuming many of our regularly scheduled trainings, and getting back to more of our usual activities within our work groups while still practicing prudent physical distancing and wearing face masks.
A lot of our collective energy since March has been in informing, safeguarding and checking in with our employees. Now that many measures are well in place, and quite successfully in many instances, we can begin to shift more of our thoughts and efforts to maximizing the mission of ensuring superior quality and reliable delivery back to the Fleet. Among the positive outcomes I’ve seen in our response to COVID-19 include working as a high-performing team to quickly determine innovative solutions—some of these are in widespread response to conducting our work, like expanding shift options and enhancing teleworking capabilities. Others are smaller high-performing teams taking on a specific project, such as our cold spray team performing the first organically developed and executed cold spray repair in the history of the four public shipyards, or our team performing maintenance on USS Georgia (SSGN 729) and engaging our pipefitters to build and transport a mockup station so members could effectively prepare to execute the work onboard.
As I shared in my February 2020 Commander’s Comments, my resolutions for the year “centered on thinking differently, challenging assumptions, taking targeted risk and no longer doing things that add no value.” While I didn’t plan those resolutions with COVID-19 in mind, they all apply directly to our current environment. I’ve seen some great examples of our C.O.R.E. value of Ownership with you, our shipyard employees, seeing every problem as an opportunity to learn, improve, innovate and teach. In addition to our great innovations, I’ve seen us curtail or eliminate some functions across the shipyard that were of uncertain value. As an organization, we should take a long look and ask ourselves some key questions before reinstituting some of those after we get through this pandemic. Are each of these a requirement? Do they directly support achieving excellence in repair and modernization of ships and submarines? Is our conservatism to certain processes holding us back from challenging assumptions and taking targeted risk?
I wanted to extend a thank you to everyone who supported the Navy’s annual Hurricane Exercise (HURREX) last month! We must all remember that hurricane season is upon us and it won’t be on hiatus just because we’re dealing with COVID-19. If anything, facing these dual threats emphasizes the importance of having ample supplies on hand and being prepared for a variety of emergency scenarios, even the potential of dealing with them concurrently. Great job to our Code 1130 all-hazards team and Code 800 emergency management staff for helping to get us ready for hurricane season. Now that the standard has been set across the installation, we must practice the continuous ownership in maintaining it and caring for our cleanliness zones. We’ve seen the dangers of what may happen when we don’t, with one of our teammates being injured in April due to flying debris in a severe storm shattering his office window.
Given my passion for history, there are two key anniversaries in June that I wanted to mention, both in relation to World War II. June 26 will mark the 80th anniversary of the $17 million contract for building Dry Dock 8 on a cost-plus basis was announced.
Co's Comments Continued on Page 23
Left to Right: The Honorable Mayor John Rowe, City of Portsmouth, and Norfolk Naval Shipyard Commander Capt. Kai Torkelson lay a wreath for the fallen at High Street Landing Flagpole Stage as part of the City of Portsmouth's Memorial Day Observance; Veteran Employee Readiness Group Member Ricky Burroughs places a flag on the grave of a fallen service member at the Captain Ted Conaway Memorial Naval Cemetery; Mayor Rowe and Capt. Torkelson march in the procession as part of the City of Portsmouth's Memorial Day Observance.
NNSY Participates in Portsmouth Memorial Day Events
STORY BY KRISTI BRITT • PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST I PHOTOS BY DANNY DEANGELIS • NNSY PHOTOGRAPHER
Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) collaborated with the City of Portsmouth and Naval Support Activity (NSA) Hampton Roads Portsmouth to observe Memorial Day in honor of the fallen May 25. Physical distancing was practiced as part of the precautions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, this did not stop NNSY from showing support for those that paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to the nation.
This year was meant to host a full-fledged 136th Annual Portsmouth Memorial Day Parade, one of the oldest Memorial Day parades in the country. However, with COVID-19 precautions still in effect, the city had to downsize the highly anticipated event to ensure the safety of those in attendance. This consisted of a small procession featuring the City of Portsmouth’s Honorable Mayor John Rowe, NNSY Shipyard Commander Capt. Kai Torkelson as the grand marshal, a color guard, and police and firefighter responders making their way to the High Street Landing Flagpole Stage to lay a wreath for the fallen.
“Throughout our nation, citizens are celebrating this special day where we remember those brave men and women who gave their life in service of our country while serving in the armed forces,” said Mayor Rowe. “As President Abraham Lincoln said in his famous speech at Gettysburg, we’re here to honor those who ‘gave the last full measure of devotion’ to our country. And although COVID-19 limits citizens across the nation, in the Commonwealth and in Portsmouth to gather in large commune to honor those who died while serving, we are here today to honor those brave men and women in any way we can. I urge all citizens in the City of Portsmouth to remember these brave women and men in their own small way.”
Capt. Torkelson said, “Thank you to the City of Portsmouth for allowing us to participate in this time-honored tradition on this solemn day. I thank you for honoring those who gave their lives for this country and our freedom. If you look back in history at some of the great battles that were fought, one of the first things to occur at the conclusion of those battles was honoring those who gave their lives. They would come together in divine services to honor those who were killed, honoring those who gave their lives for our freedom.”
He added, “This day touches each of our hearts in some way, remembering those we’ve lost – whether it be family or friends who are no longer with us. I want us all to take a moment and remember them, honor them, cherish them. They paid the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our freedom and we will never forget them.”
In addition, the NNSY Veteran Employee Readiness Group (VET-ERG) attended the Memorial Day Flag Placement Ceremony at the Captain Ted Conaway Memorial Naval Cemetery in Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, teaming with NSA Hampton Roads Portsmouth to place flags at more than 880 graves of fallen service members from eight countries.
“We’ve been doing this for about eight years and it’s wonderful to see members of our base and those with the NNSY VET-ERG come together to show our support for our fallen service members,” said NSA Hampton Roads Portsmouth Site Director Kenneth Pugh. “We’re able to safely pay our respects for those who gave their all in defense of our nation and I am very proud of all of those who came out today and each day to honor these brave men and women.”
VET-ERG President Nicholas Boyle said, “We’re very happy to be here to support this great cause in honor of our fallen. It’s a tradition that our team holds dear to our hearts.”
VET-ERG Founding Member Jonathan Echols has come out to the cemetery for six years to place flags on the graves of the fallen. Even in a pandemic, he worked hard to ensure the event continued stronger than ever. “We come out here diligently every year to place these flags on these honorable grave sites,” he said. “It’s an honor to be able to participate and assist our brothers and sisters here at NMCP to ensure these brave men and women are honored for their sacrifices. Being a veteran myself, this is a tremendous opportunity and we’re doing our part to ensure our safety while honoring our fallen brothers and sisters. Even though COVID-19 is still a looming presence for our country, we still have the ability to show respect and honor the fallen this Memorial Day. I encourage others to do their part in remembrance of the fallen.”
From Left to Right: Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) Commander, Capt. Kai Torkelson, speaks at the Memorial Day Fall-In for Colors. "We stand here today in solidarity both as dedicated members of Norfolk Naval Shipyard and as proud Americans," said Torkelson; NNSY Veteran Employee Readiness Group (VET-ERG) Information and Awareness Officer Nate Benton stands ready with the VET-ERG flag; The NNSY VET-ERG displays a Battlefield Cross during the Memorial Day Fall-In for Colors made out of the personal effects of shipyard veterans to represent their fallen brothers and sisters.
NNSY Honors the Fallen with Memorial Day Ceremony
Each year in May, Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) members come together to observe Memorial Day in remembrance of the service members who sacrificed their lives in service to the United States Armed Forces. The NNSY Veteran Employee Group (VETERG) aimed to continue their annual celebration of life for the fallen heroes despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The group did so by putting precautions in place to effectively provide physical distancing while still honoring those who are “Gone, But Never Forgotten.”
The NNSY VET-ERG held the Memorial Day Fall-In for Colors May 19, inviting the civilian workforce, Sailors, and tenant command employees to come together to pay respects to those who have passed.
“We observe Memorial Day to honor the service members who sacrificed their lives in service of the United States Armed Forces,” said Shipyard Commander Capt. Kai Torkelson at the ceremony. “Today is a day of remembrance and reflection honoring the many lives lost, many perishing in the prime of their lives and leaving so many loved ones behind to treasure their memories and honor their legacies. We stand here today in solidarity both as dedicated members of Norfolk Naval Shipyard and as proud Americans.”
The VET-ERG team held a wreath dedication during the ceremony and crafted a symbolic Battlefield Cross out of personal effects of shipyard veterans to represent their fallen brothers and sisters. In addition, NNSY’s Nuclear Engineering and Planning Department (Code 2340) Assistant Shift Test Engineer (ASTE) William Silke returned to play a rendition of Amazing Grace on the bagpipes for the second year in a row – a skill he took up 14 years ago in honor and celebration of his uncle, New York Police Department Officer Stephen P. Driscoll who passed away Sept. 11, 2001. Lastly, Ret. MSgt. Tom Draper provided his service as a bugler for the event, playing “Taps” in honor of the fallen.
“The observance of Memorial Day is one of the biggest events conducted by the VET-ERG and in spite of current restrictions, we wanted to ensure that it happened to help boost the morale of our NNSY family,” said VET-ERG President Nicholas Boyle. “The requirement of physical distancing prevented the larger scale contribution of past years, but we didn’t want to lose the key elements, so with the necessity to scale down the event, we ensured that the major components of the program were kept. This was all coordinated by members of the group, on short notice, due in part from the evolving policy enacted as a response to help minimize the spread of COVID-19. It once again shows how well our veterans can answer the call when requested.”
For more information regarding the VET-ERG, contact Boyle at Nicholas.boyle@navy.mil.
