DON'T MISS: M-32 RENOVATIONS COMPLETE
SERVICE TO THE FLEET Norfolk Naval Shipyard
We Are America's Shipyard
September 2019
IN WITH THE COLD
Code 930 Equips NNSY with New Cold Spray Facilities
EDP TEAM CREATES NEW DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY HUB
Table of Contents
IN THIS ISSUE Features: 4 FROM THE COMMANDER
Naval Sustainment System- Shipyards
5 WELCOME ABOARD CDR WILLIAM BUTLER
7 WELCOME ABOARD TO NNSY'S NEW OMBUDSMAN
10 ON THE COVER: EYE ON
INNOVATION The 'Coolest' Team Brings Cold Spray to NNSY
12 FIREFIGHTER MUTUAL AID
10
PROGRAM The Burning Bush? Not With This Mutual Aid Program
20
14 NEW FIRE ALARM SYSTEM
Team brings temporary Fire Alarm Announcing System for Dry Dock 8
16 OPW PROJECT TEAM
"We're In This Together": OPW Project Team Makes Debut at NNSY
18
18 SHIPYARD SPOTLIGHT Veronica Outlaw
20 M-32 RENOVATIONS
NNSY dedicates renovated building in continued push of SIOP
22 NNSY OUTREACH
Norfolk Naval Shipyard helps star students shine a little brighter at Starbase Victory Camp
24 C-FRAM FRAUD SCHEME AWARENESS
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VOLUME 82 • NUMBER 9 SHIPYARD COMMANDER Capt. Kai Torkelson EXECUTIVE OFFICER Capt. Daniel Rossler COMMAND MASTER CHIEF CMDCM Gene Garland EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (CODE 1100) Jeff Cunningham PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER Terri Davis SERVICE TO THE FLEET EDITOR Kristi Britt PUBLIC AFFAIRS STAFF Hannah Bondoc, Michael Brayshaw, Jennie Cooper, Floyd Logan, Troy Miller, Jason Scarborough, Curtis Steward EMAIL THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE nfsh_nnsy_pao@navy.mil EMPLOYEE INFORMATION HOTLINE (757) 396-9551 FRAUD, WASTE & ABUSE HOTLINE (757) 396-7971 SHIPYARD RADIO ADVISORY 1630 AM SERVICE TO THE FLEET is a Department of Defense publication and is authorized for members of the DoD. Contents of Service to the Fleet are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the DoD, or Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Service to the Fleet is published monthly. Submissions are due on the 10th of each month. The public affairs staff reserves the right to edit submissions for content and brevity.
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Service to the Fleet
Bringing Leadership Opportunities Directly to the Employees STORY BY KRISTI BRITT • PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST Imagine a one-stop shop for Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) employees where all leadership development opportunities could be featured for easy access and informational awareness. A single place where various codes, shops, and training avenues can get the word out about what’s available. Thanks to the Executive Development Program (EDP) Cadre #8 team, this has become a reality for America’s Shipyard. Each year, a selected group of applicants is welcomed into the EDP, a competitive program where candidates get to travel across the four public shipyards and the Naval Sea Systems Command enterprise to learn from senior leadership the skills needed to be a leader. This year welcomed NNSY’s Jason Rossman, Martrail Parker, and Michael Williams to the team and since they began their journey as Cadre #8, they have been hitting the ground running on what they can do to improve not only themselves but also the shipyard as a whole. “I’ve been at the shipyard for 17 years and I’m very proud to be part of Cadre #8. Once I found out about the EDP, I leapt at the chance to apply,” said Williams. “However, during my time here, I found it very difficult to find what opportunities were available to me to help better myself as an employee." Rossman added, “Information for these programs was scattered in all directions and if you didn’t know exactly what you were looking for, you were at a standstill. It can get overwhelming for folks to search for these items. We wanted to see a hub created that could act as a liaison for all employees to go to and find what’s out there for them.” Williams brought the idea to his team and they launched into what they could do to make it a reality. “We originally came up with an EDP marketing campaign but it’s evolved into something much bigger,” said Rossman. “It’s morphed into a leadership hub that will continue to grow as we continue to
build it for the employees’ needs. We are working with Command University’s (CU) Michael Glass, Webmaster from CU’s SharePoint, to build a SharePoint page that will act as the single depository of leadership development opportunities. These opportunities will include the EDP, NAVSEA rotations, tuition assistance, and more. There will be applications, links, and more available at the click of a mouse.” “We have a workforce that is hungry for knowledge and leadership and having this one-stop shop will enable us to feed that hunger and provide them that information instantly,” said Program Manager of Advanced Leadership Programs Shelly Simpson. The database is currently being completed and aims to launch midSeptember at NNSY on Command University’s SharePoint, which can be accessed from NNSY’s WebCentral. The team is currently working with employees to test and ensure the database works best for the needs of the shipyard worker. “It’s important we capture what interests our audience and what benefits them most. Whatever ensures the most bang for the employee’s buck is what we’re aiming to achieve,” said Parker. “With these hands-on previews, we aim to make a product that will continue to grow with the workforce in mind.” Williams added, “We also want to continue to invite other programs out there to become part of this initiative. There’s so many opportunities out there for America’s Shipyard and we want to make sure we provide our employees the most visibility on what is available to them to help improve their skills.” The state of the site will be continually updated and enhanced in phases per user input, continuing to build with all mentoring, coaching, and other development opportunities as they become available.
SEPTEMBER 2019 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • 3
From the Commander, Capt. Kai O. Torkelson:
Naval Sustainment System - Shipyards
September marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 and celebrates the accomplishments of Hispanic Americans. There are over 59,000 active and Reserve Sailors of Hispanic heritage serving in the U.S. Navy, greatly contributing to its diversity and strength. You can find out more about notable Hispanic Americans throughout our naval history on the Navy and History Heritage Command website, to include biographies and histories of namesake ships, at https://www.history.navy.mil/browseby-topic/diversity/hispanic-americans-in-thenavy.html/ On the subject of history, the 130th anniversary of Dry Dock 2 opening will be Sept. 19. Remarkably, this dock was originally made of timber in 1889. The dock was rebuilt of concrete in 1933, then had its entire length deepened and widened between May 1964 and Oct. 1966. Electrical and utility upgrades have been ongoing and will be completed in January 2020 so it can continue its contribution in meeting our mission of maintaining the Navy’s submarines. From first welcoming the wooden-hulled screw gunboat USS Yantic (IX-32) in 1889 to hosting its next boat, the USS Toledo (SSN 769) in Feb. 2021, Dry Dock 2 has been a mighty contributor to our shipyard’s service history. It will continue its service as it gets upgraded as part of the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan (SIOP) to support the Virginia and Columbia submarine classes. As part of the continued push with the SIOP to modernize our facilities and equipment, we cut the ribbon on Aug. 22 for 4 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • SEPTEMBER 2019
the renovated Building M-32 that dates back to 1905. As I shared at the ribboncutting, modernized facilities like this enable us to optimize the opportunities for our workforce to learn, to improve, to innovate, and to teach consistently, better enabling us to increase our productive capacity in repair and modernization of our nation’s ships and submarines. Along with improved workplace functionality, we have a number of life safety and quality of life improvements for our high performing teams residing within this historic facility. Last month, NNSY kicked off our aligned effort with NAVSEA to deliver ship and submarine availabilities on or ahead of schedule. This is the Naval Sustainment System – Shipyards (NSS-S) transformation to deliver 100% on-time availabilities, modeled after work Fleet Readiness Centers have effectively been doing to achieve more mission capable Super Hornets over the past year. This effort pulls in the entire “availability enterprise” to resolve challenges internal as well as external to our public shipyards. There have been real improvements at the shipyards already, and NSS-S builds on many of these things we have been doing. However, challenges remain. The intent of NSS-S will be to cement those wins and accelerate the pace of improvement. The shipyards are of course different from aviation in many ways; however, the core tenets that drove success
apply, including a clear objective with a sense of urgency, willingness to challenge the status quo, and ensuring rapid, readily seen change at the worksites. This is about making it easier at the deckplate to execute the work, and ultimately ensuring we have high performing teams delivering all of our availabilities on time or early. The primary effort at present is releasing the constraints to improve performance with our topside work on USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), including catapult systems and jet blast deflectors. We also want to identify the root causes of constraints, so we can apply them to other areas. We have recently implemented a new bicycle and helmet policy at the shipyard for bicyclists to ride with the traffic, in single file, obeying traffic rules. Riders must also wear a bicycle helmet approved by the Consumer Product Safety Commission or Snell Memorial Foundation at all times and brightly colored, fluorescent or reflective clothing between sunset and sunrise. As someone who rides a bicycle to this day, and having personally experienced how a helmet protected me when misfortune struck, I can attest to the importance of this policy. Please ensure you adhere to the new requirements and spread the word to your employees and co-workers who use a bicycle to transit the shipyard. As part of our continued recognition of our high performing team members Continued on Page 6
PHOTO BY DANNY DEANGELIS • NNSY PHOTOGRAPHER
CMDR. WILLIAM BUTLER TAKES NEXT STEP AS NEW PUBLIC WORKS OFFICER STORY BY TROY MILLER • PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST | PHOTO BY SHELBY WEST • NNSY PHOTOGRAPHER An unknown fact is that Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s (NNSY) newest Public Works Officer (PWO), Cmdr. William Butler, knows the words to the Disney’s song You’re Welcome where Maui, a demigod, is bragging about everything he accomplished in the 2016 Disney’s movie, Moana. Williams might know the words by heart, but he is far from being a self-concedited demigod. “My family provided public service in one form or another and when it was time for me to provide service to the greater good, service to our country, I chose joining the Navy,” said Butler. “It seemed like a perfect fit.” Butler, a North Reading, Mass. native, joined the Navy in the summer of 1998 with the idea that he would do his time, earn his engineering license and then go tackle the world as a civilian. As often as it does, life had other plans for him. Twenty-one years later, he finds himself as great as the PWO for America’s Shipyard. With a title and job that he doesn’t take for granted, he’s excited to be a part of a team that provides service to the high performing men and women who supply service to the fleet. “It’s an exciting time here at the shipyard,” said Butler. “With the Shipyard Improvement Optimization Plan (SIOP) we get to give the shipyard better facilities to complete its mission, at the same time ensuring that the mission doesn’t stop in the process.” Butler has a diverse education background with degrees in civil engineering, ocean engineering and strategic studies. His time in the Navy is just as diverse as he completed traditional and expeditionary tours. He plans on using this diversity to strengthen Naval Facilities
Engineering Command's (NAVFAC) mission to the shipyard. “I bring a fresh, new perspective to the table,” said Butler. “I was the PWO for Newport, Rhode Island. Although Newport and NNSY are two completely different commands with different missions, NAVFAC’s mission, my mission stays the same.” NAVFAC’s mission is to manage the planning, design, construction, contingency engineering, real estate, environmental and public works support for U.S. Navy shore facilities around the world. Butler is married and with two kids, a son and a daughter. He enjoys the simpler things in life by spending quality time with his family and going to the gym each day to earn his shower. His work ethic is just as simple. “Deliver on your promises,” said Butler. “In times like today where resources are limited, you still have to make good on your word. If you say it, do it.” One philosophy that Butler believes in is you have to give clear direction and guidelines if you want your team to succeed. “We are in the middle of a transition period, making the shipyard better, and if we don’t make good on our promises or give clear cut direction and guidance, then we could not accomplish our mission which could cause the shipyard not to complete its mission.” Butler is more than ready to lead his team to the challenges that lie ahead, he feels that he and his team are ready to face them. Working together and establishing and maintaining relationships around the shipyard, Butler is ready and willing to lead the charge.
SEPTEMBER 2019 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • 5
From the Deckplate: Command Master Chief Gene Garland
Suicide Prevention Month and More in Sept.
Hello, Norfolk Naval Shipyard! While the days and seasons are changing, I first want to say a congratulations to following First Class Petty Officers who were selected for the rank of Chief Petty Officer: FCAC(Sel) Lauren Cagle (FMB), STGC(Sel) Claudi Casey (FMB), ETNC(Sel) Auston Christopher (NRMD), EMC(Sel) Melissa Garrison (FMB), MMNC(Sel) John Matte (NRMD), EMC(Sel) Deshawn Oliver (FMB), ETVC(Sel) Nathaniel Pulcare (FMB), ENC(Sel) Ethan Reifer (Port Ops), ETC(Sel) Charles Teuscher (Cal Lab), MMC (Sel) Robert Bender (PG for FMS) and MMNC (Sel ) Timothy Howard (student at RCTQS). Chief Select Casey has had some other major events happen in her life; she gave birth to a baby boy Aug. 8 - Hector Lysander Branley. Both mother and baby are doing great. NNSY is happy to welcome onboard its new command ombudsman, Mrs. Ariana Reid. She is the Navy spouse of MMN1 Reid. She is excited to serve our command. As we prepare for the opening of the school season, please give yourself extra time for the car lines for pick-up and dropoff. Also, be extra cautious and obey the speed limits in school zones before and after school to keep our walkers, bike riders, and students standing at bus stops safe! If
6 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • SEPTEMBER 2019
you're the parent of a new kindergartener or elementary-aged student who will be riding the bus for the first-time, please be extra vigilant the first week of school to ensure your child gets on the correct bus and off the correct stop. National Prostrate Cancer Awareness Month is observed every September in North America by health experts, health advocates, and individuals concerned with men’s health and prostate cancer. Designating a month for the issue serves the purpose of increasing public awareness of the importance of prostate health and cancer awareness, providing easily accessible health and cancer screenings. There is also educating about risk factors and symptoms of prostate cancer. Please get yourself checked out if you are at risk. September is National Suicide Prevention Month. All month, mental health advocates, prevention organizations, survivors, allies, and community members unite to promote suicide prevention awareness. Remember: 1 Small Act - it's about being there for Every Sailor, Every Day. For more information, visit www.facebook. com/navstress. Labor Day traditionally marks the end of summer; thank you for all who made sure a safe and fruitful environment was set! This falls in line with our C.O.R.E. philosophy. Enjoy your well-deserved time off and recharge your batteries, for NNSY’s mission never stops. Whether if you are a new hire, fresh out of recruit training or a well-seasoned Sailor or civilian, it is each and every one of you that makes us who we are, America’s Shipyard. -CMC OUT!
Gene Garland Command Master Chief
Commander's Comments Continued from Page 4 modeling our organizational values, we have implemented Force Multiplier Awards. This award recognizes employees who embody citizenship (personal character), leadership (developing others), proper motive/thinking (being selfless and solution-centric) and workmanship (providing first time quality and/or contributing to team goals). Anyone in our shipyard shops or departments can nominate someone. Force Multiplier Award recognitions will consist of a C.O.R.E. Coin, award certificate, and a $100 C.O.R.E. Store Award. We plan to begin recognizing these Force Multipliers at our next Building 163 All Hands this fall, so send those nominations to Antonne Smalls at antonne.smalls@navy.mil with “FMA nomination” in the subject line. At the end of the month, we will be having a NNSY Night at Old Dominion University for the Monarchs football game Sept. 28. I’ll be there on the field to watch the coin toss and show my support to America’s Shipyard, and hope to see you as well. You can either buy a ticket for $20 or get a ticket and meal combo for $30 by visiting YNotTix. com or calling (757) 638-7087. Use promo code “NNSY19” to get your discount. Let’s show our pride in America’s Shipyard out in the community! Later in the fall, we’ll be holding our 2019 NNSY Family Day on Saturday, November 2 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. NNSY Family Day Coordinator John Satcher and the entire Family Day committee have planned a fun day of activities including shop tours, innovation demos, live music, face painting and a bounce house for employees, family members and friends. For guests 12 and older, Bush will be open for flight deck tours. Every attendee must be registered in advance. Forms are available on WebCentral at https:// webcentral.nnsy.navy.mil/departments/ C1100/C1160/FamilyDay/ Norfolk Naval Shipyard, committed to our C.O.R.E.!
Capt. Kai Torkelson Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s 108th Commander
Welcome Aboard to NNSY's New Ombudsman BY TROY MILLER • PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST | PHOTO COURTESY OF NNSY DEPUTY SHIPYARD COMMANDER Whether a Sailor is deployed or stationed on shore duty, there is the proverbial individual behind the curtain taking care of Sailors and their families by providing them with the resources they need to help overcome any obstacle in their way. “A Navy ombudsman is someone who is the liaison between the command and their families,” said Arianna Reid, Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s (NNSY) newly appointed ombudsman. “I am the point of contact for families. If they have an issue that arises, they can come to me and I will give them the resources they need to overcome that issue.” Reid was appointed to the ombudsman position by NNSY’s Shipyard Commander, Capt. Kai Torkeleson. In August, she gave her first presentation during command indoctrination to shipyard Sailors. “It’s a chance for me to talk to the Sailors and get contact information for their spouses so if the need arises, they know where and who to turn to,” said Reid. Approximately five years ago, Reid’s husband Machinist Mate Nuclear First Class Matthew Reid was on deployment. Reid had a crisis occur and she needed help. She had no idea where to turn to because she was unaware of the ombudsman program. “It is a terrible feeling of being alone,” said Reid. “I want to make sure that another Navy spouse doesn’t have to go through that feeling of helplessness and unable to contact their spouse like I did.”
If Reid would’ve known about the ombudsman program, she would’ve found out that that spouses have direct contact with the ship in the event of an emergency on the homefront. “I first became an ombudsman when my husband was attached to USS Harry S Truman (CVN 75). This is my way of serving those who serve our country,” said Reid. “Ensuring that their families are taken care of while they focus on their mission of protecting our country.” Being an ombudsman provides that connection where a Navy spouse can find care through compassion, empathy and a listening ear in times of need. “As NNSY’s ombudsman, I will take ownership of the program, doing endless research and ensuring that all of my resources are up to date and valid, so that I can give the best information available to the spouses,” said Reid. An Ombudsman gives the same attention and respect to all Sailors whether they are married or single, enlisted or an officer. Reid stated that just because a problem doesn’t seem to be a big deal to you, doesn’t mean the problem isn’t a big deal to the other person. Reid said, “We have the people and the resources we need to make this program a success. We are here for our Sailors and I am proud to be a part of this shipyard family.”
SEPTEMBER 2019 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • 7
Shipyard Insider: BUZZ & BYTES
CONGRATS TO SHOP 41- WINNNER OF THE MAY 2019 SAFETY FLAG This is how 41 gets safety done! Congratulations to Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s (NNSY) Boilermaker Shop (Shop 41), winner of the May 2019 Safety Flag, presented July 24. This marks the shop’s third safety flag out of five presented at NNSY so far in 2019! For the month, Shop 41 had no injuries or lost work days. Shipyard Commander Captain Kai Torkelson presented the award and commended shop members on safety meeting attendance, practicing Operational Risk Management and implementing lessons learned in working safely. The shop has also set the corporate standard in safely conducting hydrolancing work, assisting Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility in aligning its process to NNSY’s. “We continue to find opportunities to meet the Navy’s challenge of effectively leveraging high-velocity learning,” said Torkelson. “Great job to NNSY’s Code 930 and Shop 41!
» GOOD-TO-KNOW 2019 Training Opportunities In an effort to provide NNSY employees information and education on beneficial Human Resources topics, FLTHRO will host informal Lunch and Learn training sessions throughout the year. Bring your lunch, FLTHRO will provide the education! All NNSY employees are welcome and encouraged to attend these informal sessions. FLTHRO has seating for 33 employees, and attendance is on a first-come, first-served basis.
authorities, and more. These training sessions will be open to all NNSY Federal employees and geared towards military veterans. Located in Bldg. 15, 2nd Floor Training Center, from 11:20 a.m. to noon on the following dates: 2019 • Oct. 4 , Nov. 8, Dec. 6 2020 • Jan. 22, Mar. 25, May 27, July 22, Sept. 16
Sept. 12 • Navigating USAJobs, 11:20 a.m. to noon
To register, send an email to FLTHRO_Training@navy.mil or call 757-396-2100 to request a seat in the course.
Veterans 101 Sessions An exciting new course will be offered by the FLTHRO Recruitment and Compensation Team called Veterans 101, which will discuss buying back military time, crediting military service towards annual leave accrual and veteran appointing
Service Only Weekends In accordance with the NNSY Overtime Management Policy, several weekends in 2019 will be designated as services only weekends in order to give our combined workforce (including our Ship's Force teammates) a chance to rest and revitalize.
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These weekends are "chargeyour-battery" weekends: take time to be with your family and friends, and reflect on what we can do to take care of each other, improve communications within our teams and think about the work we are doing with a focus on safety. Thank you for everything you are doing every day. Upcoming services only weekends: Sept. 21-22 CMWR Mobile Sales Trucks CMWR mobile sales trucks will be going cashless starting Sept. 3. Please plan accordingly. Stop the Bleed Training The Norfolk Naval Shipyard Emergency Management Team and the Central Virginia Coalition will host two free twohour training session in Bldg. 1575, Briefing Room 258B, from 1 to 3 p.m. Sept. 16 and
17. Pre-register today at http:// bit.ly/2JX069S (Sept. 16) and http://bit.ly/2OhrK5A (Sept. 17) with access code ems19. For more information, visit www.bleedingcontrol.org or email Greg Neiman at gregory. neiman@vcuhealth.org. Tutorial/Mentorship Program Norfolk Naval Shipyard is looking for volunteers to provide tutoring to students in the Hampton Roads community for the 2019-2020 school year. All interested volunteers for the tutorial program can access applications on the Diversity & Inclusion (Code 1103) page on Webcentral. There will be two training sessions held Sept. 5 and Sept. 26 for all interested applicants. For more information, contact Valerie Fulwood at Valerie.fulwood@ navy.mil.
Tuition Assistance Program For those interested in more information regarding the Tuition Assistance (TA) Program, contact one of the following adminstrators: James D. Jones • 967-2931 • james.d.jones7@navy.mil; Courtney Watkins • 396-0557 • Courtney.watkins@navy.mil Bike and Helmet Policy All civilian employees, military personnel, and contractors shall wear an approved bicycle helmet while operating a bicycle on the installation both inside and outside of the Controlled Industrial Area (CIA). Joggers, fitness walkers, and bicyclists are required to wear high visibility belts or reflective vests during time of darkness or reduced visibility. Under OPNAVINST 5100.12J and NAVSUPPACTNNSYINST 5100.2, bicycle operators riding on Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Annex roadways shall ride on the shoulders or designated bike paths of roadways with the traffic and in single file, obeying traffic rules. Riders are required to wear brightly colored, fluorescent or reflective clothing between sunset and sunrise and a bicycle helmet, approved by the Consumer Product Safety Commission or Snell Memorial Foundation, at all times.
Hispanic Heritage Month Learn WORKFORCE WARRIOR AWARD CONGRATS TO NCMA'SLunch THIRDand QUARTER The Hispanic Employee WINNERS Resource Group (ERG) will be hosting a Lunch and Learn in Congratulations to Code 268’s Jason Ewick and Code 2340’s Joey Hoellerich, presented celebration of Hispanic Heritage NNSY’s Naval Civilian Managers Association (NCMA) Third Quarter Workforce Month Sept. 25 from 11 a.m. Warrior Award for their outstanding work with the NNSY Technology and Innovation to noon in the Bldg. 1500 Lab. Ewick and Hoellerich were recognized for new technological approaches to Command Briefing Room. All ensure timely and within budget delivery of ships back to the Fleet, assisting in the shipyard employees, tenants, and areas of heavy equipment repair and interference removal. Candidates for the NCMA Sailors are welcome to attend. Workforce Warrior Award are nominated by their leadership or peers, and chosen based on outstanding service to NNSY and demonstration of effort above and beyond normal duties.
NOBODY GETS HURT TODAY! Safety starts with YOU. YOU are NNSY's most vital asset.
SEPTEMBER 2019 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • 9
NNOVATIO EYE ON INNOVATION
THE 'COOLEST' TEAM BRINGS COLD SPRAY TO NNSY STORY BY KRISTI BRITT • PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST PHOTOS BY SHELBY WEST • NNSY PHOTOGRAPHER
The number one priority for innovative technologies for Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is bringing cold spray technology to the fleet. With a team effort from Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) employees and a partnership with Penn State Applied Research Laboratory (ARL), Cold Spray has officially surfaced at America’s Shipyard. Cold spray is an additive repair process where powdered metal is mechanically bonded to a base material after passing thru a nozzle at supersonic speed via a heated carrier gas. The cold spray process occurs at significantly lower temperatures
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than traditional repair methods such as welding and thermal spray. In respect to shipyard applications, cold spray has the potential to repair components previously deemed beyond capable repair as well as provide more durable repairs for those items previously epoxy/electroplate repaired. As a lead in to establishing organic cold spray capabilities here at America’s Shipyard, NNSY collaborated with Penn State ARL to repair a hydraulic actuator for the USS Wyoming. This is the first time NNSY repaired a component for shipboard use via cold spray. “I was approached by the USS Wyoming project team with this particular project as they were familiar with my efforts to bring Cold Spray to NNSY. The hydraulic actuator was unable to be repaired by traditional methods and the lead-time for a replacement was in excess of 10 months from the vendor.” said Code 265 Submarine Mechanical/Piping Branch Head Daniel Stanley, the Cold Spray Sub-Committee Lead for the NNSY Technology and Innovation (T&I) Lab. As part of the repair process, two separate trips to Penn State ARL were conducted by NNSY to qualify the process and repair the component. Shipyard employees were rewarded both with an end product of a repaired part for USS Wyoming as well as a wealth of knowledge to support future cold spray repairs at NNSY. “During execution of the repair, we learned that the cold spray
Code 930 Machinist Apprentice Tim Holland fits the actuator body component in the new Cold Spray booth at NNSY.
LEFT: Code 930 Trades Manager Nicolas Allen, Code 265 Branch Head Submarine Mechanical/Piping Branch Head Daniel Stanley, Code 930 Machinist Apprentice Tim Holland, and Facilities Engineer Chuck Callahan with the new cold spray booth at NNSY. RIGHT: The actuator body component was repaired via cold spray at Penn State Applied Research Laboratory by shipyard machinists.
repair process itself is relatively fast. However you spend a lot of time/planning to get a component ready to spray. The team spent 2 days getting the part ready, fabricating blanks and programming a robot for what amounted to less than 1 hour of actual cold spray time. In working with Penn State at their facilities, it gives our team the experience they need and we continue to build upon established relationships.” Said Stanley. Stanley was introduced to cold spray in 2016 and has been actively involved within the technical community established to bring cold spray technology to the fleet. A cold spray repair instruction has been approved by NAVSEA allowing each of the public shipyards to implement this technology for repair of shipboard components. In Jan. 2019, NNSY started the retrofit of an existing thermal spray booth in Bldg. 163 to support cold spray operations. NNSY Mechanical Group (Code 930) took ownership of the cold spray process as well as the existing NNSY thermal spray process. The group's goal is to have five employees trained to use the cold spray and thermal spray machines. “We’re aiming to be fully manned and ready to take on the workflow that would be coming in with this new technology up and running at the shipyard,” said Code 930 Trades Manager Nicholas Allen.
The NNSY cold spray booth is tracking towards a fully operational status as the team prepares for the cold spray vendor to install additional equipment such as a robotic arm(s), rotary table(s) and other support equipment in the coming month. At the time in which the cold spray booth is up and running, NNSY initially anticipates spraying on a weekly basis with the overall goal of spraying on a daily basis once proficient with the execution of the process. To Stanley and the team, cold spray is an important first step towards bringing innovation to America’s Shipyard. Though cold spray is currently a shop process executed within a booth, NNSY is already involved in the discussions within the technical community to make the technology mobile with the goal of eventually having the ability to executing the cold spray process shipboard. “We want to extend our reach across the shipyard and aid everyone who needs our assistance with repairs. We’re here to service the shipyard and the Navy,” said Allen. For more information regarding innovation, contact the NNSY T&I Lab at 757-396-7180 or email the REAL Ideas program at NNSY_REALIdeas@navy.mil.
SEPTEMBER 2019 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • 11
The Burning Bush? Not With This Mutual Aid Program
BY MICHAEL BRAYSHAW • LEAD PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST | PHOTOS BY SHELBY WEST • NNSY PHOTOGRAPHER Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) has begun providing tours that could potentially save the Navy hundreds of millions of dollars. With an estimated construction cost for USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) of $6.2 billion, safeguarding such a massive taxpayer investment is a tremendous priority. Helping to achieve that is the mutual aid program between NNSY and community fire departments. To improve collaboration and increase awareness, local firefighters have recently been touring the carrier to learn its layout and discuss response actions in the event of a major fire onboard. Bush has been at NNSY since February 2019 for a Drydocking Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA). Portsmouth and Chesapeake firefighting crews, along with the Maritime Incident Response Team (MIRT), have been participating in NNSY’s shipboard familiarization tours since they began in July. “This is to gain understanding of the waterfront layout, emergency
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scene operations and the confines of a CVN during a fire event, enhancing their ability to support Norfolk Naval Shipyard during a major shipboard fire and associated drills and exercises,” said John Micheli, NNSY Emergency Management Planning Division Head (Code 1130). Code 1130 Emergency Management Specialist Vincent Jackson added, “this tour gives an advance look at the shipyard environment prior to a mutual aid response. It provides them awareness of potential obstacles that may be present during their response such as limited access points, temporary services, constricted spaces, etc. In addition, it gives a shipboard perspective to firefighting, and a look at shipboard firefighting systems such as repair lockers and fire main systems. The greatest benefit is showing them how their expertise will enhance the shipyard’s firefighter efforts.” Portsmouth Fire Chief Jim Hoffler agreed. “Shipboard tours and
City of Chesapeake firefighters tour USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) at Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) July 25, helping to better understand the shipyard’s waterfront layout, emergency scene operations and carrier confines in the event of a major fire shipboard. Bush is currently at NNSY undergoing a Drydocking Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA).
drills within NNSY provide our personnel with valuable training and experience to which we would rarely have access,” he said. “With the number of private shipbuilding and commercial seaborne assets in our city, the exposure that our crews get from NNSY makes for much smoother and safer operations for our personnel. This was evident in two fires aboard ships, outside of NNSY, within the past several years.” The last time a major shipboard fire occurred at one of the nation’s public shipyards—USS Miami (SSN 755) while it was undergoing overhaul at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in 2012—firefighters from as far away as Connecticut swarmed to Kittery, Maine to help battle the overnight blaze. One of the outcomes from the Miami investigation was identifying the need for shipyards to increase training with local fire departments on major fires, as their lack of familiarity with the boat’s layout and confines challenged the response. NNSY teamed with Portsmouth and Chesapeake’s fire departments, along with the MIRT, back in 2013 for a major fire drill onboard USS Maryland (SSBN 738) and has been collaborating on shipboard drills ever since. “Portsmouth Fire Department along with our regional fire department assets have become an integral part of the major submarine drills with the shipyard. We have been included in all aspects of the practice and planning for these events,” said Hoffler, who added the Portsmouth Fire Department has helped extinguish fires at the shipyard dating back to at least World War II.
The mutual aid program supports the Chief of Naval Operations Design for Maritime Superiority 2.0 priority to Expand and Strengthen our Network of Partners by forging “closer relationships between our Navy installations and host communities, both within the United States and abroad. Create new access opportunities, promote mutual security through drills and exercises, and build pride in and loyalty with the communities we serve.” Per the mutual aid agreement, Norfolk Naval Shipyard Fire and Emergency Services also regularly assist the Portsmouth Fire Department, most recently helping to extinguish an overnight fire at a commercial building on Victory Boulevard this past June. NNSY Emergency Management and Portsmouth Fire Department personnel look forward to continuing this mutually beneficial partnership well into the future. “Portsmouth Fire Department stands ready at all times to assist the Norfolk Naval Shipyard with any emergency situation,” said Hoffler. “We look forward to continued partnership and cooperation between our two entities.”
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THE FIRES OF NORFOLK NAVAL SHIPYARD ARE NOT LIT: the Shipyard Has Aid BY HANNAH BONDOC • PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST | PHOTOS BY TONY ANDERSON • NNSY PHOTOGRAPHER “Get everything ready.” That is what the one piece of paper that Robinson received said when the assignment to fabricate the first Carrier Temporary Fire Response system in all the shipyards was first bestowed upon them— from scratch. Where there was nothing to warn people of a fire but a primitive warning system of radios, cell phones, and people running around telling people to evacuate, there is now a better assurance in going home in one piece. Head of Operations Code 300 Mike Robinson, who was one of the main coordinators of the affair, also said that this will save the shipyard money since there’s no need for two fire watches per area, radio maintenance, nor training personnel to use the said radios. The Origin Story: trial by fire The physical manifestation of this feat began with Mark Shewmaker from Carrier Fire Control & IC Branch (Code 271), who took it upon himself to draw up all the paperwork necessary to begin, before calling on the rest of the codes. According to one of its employees Blesdimir Hernandez, Electrical Department (Code 950) typically fabricates the smoke detector systems for the submarines, so they were familiar with the engineering needed to create a new one for the carrier. This enabled 14 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • SEPTEMBER 2019
them to complete the system within the span of three to four months of ten hour work days. Shewmaker had designed it so the crew could troubleshoot it, but it was not easy. After being workshopped between shops on how it was going to work, it was put together in the workshop, then disassembled for transportation and put back together on the ship. Unfortunately this trial often ended in error and had to be done several times in order to achieve perfection. When they did not have the material they needed that day, they had to improvise and work around hiccups in order to get the deed done and in accordance with Shewmaker’s design. “We had a situation where we tried to make the system modular so we could take each piece apart, store it, put it back in, and that involved a plug connection in every single box,” Robinson said. Because of the rain messing up those connections, he had people spending a better part of a week of up to 12 hour shifts rewiring all the boxes to eliminate damage. He proudly stated, “We didn’t have a company or private contractor install it. Shipyard talent did.” But Wait, there’s more “This system is to bring the carriers and the dry dock in compliance with the 8010 standard, which is the fire protection standard for ships,” Robinson explained, “The next step is to hard wire the system into parts of the Dry Dock 8 and upgrade the system accordingly.”
The following are the original crew from the very beginning of the project to the closing of the last box containing the system, and other notable names: Electrical Code 950: Amanda Herron, Jermone Rider, Veronica Outlaw, Torrey KcKinney, Lisa Defiore, Rahkeem Jackson, Mikeya Backus, Brett Hinton, Blesdimir Hernandez, Jason Whitford, Ronnie Wills, *Keona Bellamy,*Saige Berreto,*J’aira Davis, *Blair Balestino; Temp Service Code 990: David Stevens, Daniel Peak, Matthew Moskowitz, Ronald Hill, Christopher Blake, Lascelles Bond, Mattew Stephenson, James Robinson; Operations Code C300: Mike Robinson; and Carrier IC, Weapons, and Fire Control Code C271: Thomas Colasurdo and Mark Shewmaker. *Those with asterisks next to their names are apprentices Giving credit where its due “(NAME) greatly contributed to the successful development, manufacture, installation, troubleshooting and repair of the first ever temporary Fire Alarm Announcing System for Dry Dock 8 for the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) Dry Docking Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA) 2019. (She/He) applied (his/her) expertise in routing over 7,000ft of electrical signal and power cable, staging 14 fire pull stations, 30 speaker strobe stations, and 8 main power and control stations. (Her/His) attention to detail and tireless effort played a vital role in USS GEORGE H W BUSH to meet the stringent 8010 fire protection standard.” This is the write up for the award for the dedicated team who pulled off this feat. Shewmaker might have been the one write the song and Robinson might have been the one orchestrating the piece, but one can tell the write up previously mentioned was written for a team because it has (his/her) spaced dotted throughout, which means you can plug in any
one of the individuals from the group and the statement would still stand true. They took the initiative when they were brand new and inexperienced in comparison with their older co-workers—a testament to how vital the next generation truly is to the innovative success of the shipyard. Notably, most of them are apprentices and/or haven’t even been employed by the NNSY for a year. Because of these people, families can have more confidence in their family members coming home. Production employees working on carriers can now rest easy and truly be able to say, “No one gets hurt today!”
The electric panels of the new system--almost all wired by Veronica Outlaw (see pg 18 for her spotlight piece)! NNSY representatives from various codes visit the MX Trailer, learning more about the capabilities of 3-D software at Newport News Shipbuilding and NNSY.
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"WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER": OPW PROJECT TEAM MAKES DEBUT AT NNSY BY KRISTI BRITT • PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST PHOTOS BY DANNY DEANGELIS • NNSY PHOTOGRAPHERS You may have seen signs placed around the inside shops at Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) with a single message: "Area under OPW Protection." The message comes directly from a new team of folks surfacing at America’s Shipyard. Their goal: ensure total visibility of work as well as aid the shops in whatever they need to get the job done. OPW stands for Other Productive Work or, as the team prefers, “Ownership, Pride, We are NNSY”. The project team began to assemble its members in February 2019 after it was determined across the enterprise that work not designated to a project availability needed better visibility and control. “Before our team began to form, there wasn’t a solid process in place for OPW work at the shipyard,” said OPW Project Superintendent Amanda Gulledge. “With availabilities taking priority, no team in place to manage the OPW workload and zero visibility in WebAIM, items would be sent directly to the inside shops and risked falling by the wayside. There was no tracking in place and no set process to ensure the work was getting the attention it needed.
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It wasn’t efficient and a change was needed.” OPW includes managing the shipyard’s rotatable pools including: shafting for submarines and aircraft carriers, CCRP (Corporate Component Repair Program) valve assemblies, and NAVICP (Naval Inventory Control Point) antennas and electronics. These rotatable pools not only support NNSY availabilities but also availabilities across the enterprise. In addition, they also support several active Surface Craft Ships, Carriers, and Submarines through their I-Level ship to shop program. The team has a variety of customers, including aiding the Army and Coast Guard with safety nets, life rafts, abandon ship kits, and more. “Everything inside shop related that the fleet needs to be done that doesn’t fit into the spectrum of a project availability is our responsibility,” said Gulledge. “When the team first began to form, we took a hard look at all the Shipyard OPW work NNSY is responsible for. We broke down each area of responsibility and looked at what and who we would need as part of the team to tackle the work. We are now fully manned and have been working hard to move everything
The OPW Project Team has debuted at NNSY and is manned with a dedicated team of zone managers, trades managers, mechanics, and more to get the job done.
into an AIM project and execution priorities in order to manage OPW work in accordance with Project Management Fundamentals and AIM process guides. Our goal is to have all OPW work visible and tackled in a timely manner.” In addition to building that process and visibility, the OPW project team is working with Code 100PI to improve the NAVICP material process through a Value Stream Analysis improvement event. The team is currently working to have their processes fully inputted into AIM for the FY20 plan. “OPW is so important to keep things running smoothly at the shipyard and now that we have this team in place to run it is a big step in the right direction,” said Shipyard Commander Capt. Kai Torkelson. “This team is able to make real change and forge a way ahead, innovating the way work is done here at America’s Shipyard.” For the OPW Project Team, members aim to support the inside shop and provide the customer the quality service they deserve. “We held a slogan contest as a group to help build morale and get everyone excited about working with the OPW Project Team. And
together we came up with the slogan: ‘We’re all in this together,'” said Gulledge. “It’s sort of a testament to the work we do here. We all work together to get the job done. We’re all here to serve the fleet. We’re here to help the shops get the job done. We have their backs! That’s why we have posters up saying that the shops are under OPW protection. We’re here to help!” The OPW Project Team is ready to assist those across the shipyard and enterprise with getting the work done efficiently. For more information on the OPW Project Team, please email amanda. gulledge@navy.mil.
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SHIPYARD SHIPYARD SPOTLIGHT: VERONICA OUTLAW STORY BY HANNAH BONDOC • PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST PHOTOS BY TONY ANDERSON AND DANNY DEANGELIS • NNSY PHOTOGRAPHERS
She bakes. She shoots hoops. She owns her title as electrician helper here at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. She is Veronica Outlaw and she helped wire the panels for the first carrier fire response system in all the shipyards. An alumni from Rappahannock Community College and proud owner of an associate’s degree in Electronics Engineering and Technology, she is the youngest of her family and does right by them every day when she’s at work. From the time she was young, she loved to do stuff with her hands. “Ever since I was a little girl, I would always ask for Lincoln Logs and Legos. Of course I wanted Barbie dolls and stuff, but I always wanted to build things.” When she was 12 years old, she built 18 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • SEPTEMBER 2019
a truck out of popsicle sticks because she knew her dad wanted one for his birthday. Complete with a figurine of him with a photo of his face on it, it sat by his bedside every night. “That’s one thing I’ll do,” she said, “I’ll put my heart and soul into something. I don’t have a lot of money and buy you nice things, but I will make you something incredibly nice.” She also bakes cakes, and works well with arts and crafts. This love for hands-on work continues to lend itself well in her life as an electrician. She had always wanted to create things and build, hence why she would rather stay an electrician for now than move onto engineering. “With my engineering background I can create,” she explains,
“but as an electrician, I can actually build something. I can send up a wiring diagram, but it’s up to me how I want to wire it.” Working at the shipyard during the day and bartending at night, she has always been a hard worker and credits her work ethic to her parents who raised her to be selfsufficient. After she was born, her mother stopped working at Human Resources at the hospital she worked at, but then started her own business from home. Her father worked for Newport News Shipbuilding for thirty five years. “It was cool to get this job because it also allowed me to follow in my father’s footsteps,” she said with a smile. Before she became an electrician helper she had trouble finding a job that would allow
10 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT Veronica Outlaw
1. She loves to bake and decorate cakes. Her favorite cake to bake is the classic pound cake. 2. She hates the color purple because it reminds her of grape medicine, but she does like pink and blue.
TOP: Bles Hernandesz and Outlaw pointing to her employee of the month award LEFT: Outlaw holding a baby alligator BOTTOM: Outlaw loves baking, but design is her speciality, such as the billiards cake she made for her dad
3. Her guilty pleasure is the Food network (especially when she’s on a diet). 4. She loves bacon. 5. When she’s not working, she loves to play sports and coaches a teen basketball team. 6. She is the only girl in her family and grew up with two older brothers. 7. She collects snow globes from different countries and states. 8. She started playing basketball when she was four and was on a variety of other sports teams all throughout grade school. 9. She’s named after her aunt.
her to use her education until one day, her friend suggested that she should apply at the shipyard. Despite worries that she had been out of school for so long, she took the chance and has never regretted it since. “I always wanted to help my country,” she elaborated, “but I never wanted to go into the military field, so I was really excited because this was my chance to give back.” In addition to living up to her family’s name, she also loves working with her work family. “I made a cake for Ronnie, who’s from my shop, for his birthday-- we’re a close knit shop and we always try to do cool little things for each other—and I made him an Alabama birthday cake. He didn’t even want to cut it because he thought it was so nice!”
10. Scary Movie 2 and Malibu’s Most Wanted are her favorite movies and has an appreciation for dumb movies.
she said. Outlaw puts her whole heart into her work both on and off the shipyard because as she puts it, she can be satisfied knowing that she gave everything she could—and thus far, it has paid off.
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NORFOLK NAVAL SHIPYARD DEDICATES RENOVATED BUILDING OF SHIPYARD INFRASTRUCTURE OPTIMIZATION STORY BY MICHAEL BRAYSHAW • LEAD PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST | PHOTOS BY SHELBY WEST • NNSY PHOTOGRAPHER Continuing its aggressive push in the realization of the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan (SIOP), Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) cut the ribbon on its renovated Building M-32 August 22. The building, which dates back to 1905, has undergone a $30 million makeover which includes all new heating, ventilation and air conditioning, plumbing, electrical and fire suppression systems. It will also improve employee quality of life, with showers, a nursing mother’s room, kitchens and eating areas. The building will house approximately 200 employees from multiple divisions in NNSY’s Nuclear Engineering and Planning Department and the Production Facility and Equipment Management Division. “Improved facilities like this enable us to optimize the opportunities for our workforce 20 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • SEPTEMBER 2019
to learn, to improve, to innovate, and to teach consistently, better positioning us to achieve excellence in repair and modernization of our nation’s ships and submarines,” said Shipyard Commander Captain Kai Torkelson at the ribboncutting. “Along with improved workplace functionality, we have a number of life safety and quality of life improvements for our high performing teams residing within this historic facility.” The drive for renovation goes back to September 2014, when Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), Public Works Department Portsmouth was fielding multiple requests for Building M-32 repairs. After assessing the situation, the most sensible option was designating M-32 as a special project for a complete building renovation. Construction began in early 2017. Reflecting on the renovation challenges,
NAVFAC Construction Manager Dan Bischof said, “the biggest thing was working within the limits of the existing building— predetermined ceiling heights, structures and things like that. It took a lot of investigating the facility and coordinating with the occupants.” Not only did the renovation need to meet the needs of the new occupants, it also had to adhere to the guidelines of the State Historic Preservation Office. Among the shipyard’s more unique structures, featuring rounded arches and two square towers, this four-story building provided home to Marines stationed at the shipyard for its first 70-plus years. For all the modern improvements, Building M-32 also honors its history with a miniature museum of sorts displaying items uncovered during the building’s
G IN CONTINUED PUSH N PLAN renovation. These include letters, magazines and Marine hygiene products such as razors and toothbrushes. “We even found a bullet from 1880,” said Bischof. “We then found a picture from the 1800s with the Marines with the gun in their hands that would fire that round. These items are displayed inside the building now, helping to tell the history of the facility.” The building exterior is more aesthetically pleasing with fresh sod and newly planted trees, and even more importantly has what Bischof described as “environmentally friendly drainage” with a dry swale that filters rainwater prior to it entering the storm sewers. Bill Dezern, M-32 Project Manager from NNSY’s Facilities Support Branch (Code 985), said, "This building is special to me because I worked in it before renovation,
I am the project manager, and now I will be one of the lucky ones who can say I am now working in the finished product. To me, I feel like I am a part of its history. I am looking forward to going back into M-32 and seeing the changes, improved quality of life, and what it offers the shipyard in the near and far future.” Another beneficiary of the renovation is NNSY’s Civilian Morale, Welfare and Recreation (CMWR). Later this year, CMWR will return to Building M-32 with a food service facility. Formerly known as The Brig, it will now feature a new menu, new layout and even a new name—The Gosport Café. The café will feature self-serving stations for breakfasts and lunches, such as omelet and panini stations, and an expanded menu with freshly baked breads, fruit, salads and possibly even sushi. “Having new
equipment will allow us to provide offerings that younger workers like, while still providing the favorite foods like meatloaf and fried chicken that longtime shipyarders have come to expect,” said Cris Sigler, CMWR Business Operations Manager. “My vision is for the Gosport Café to look like a food court with improved ambience and lighting. It’s a new place with a whole new look.” The Building M-32 ribboncutting caps off a summer of SIOP initiatives at the shipyard. In June, NNSY dedicated its new $9.9 million waterfront submarine maintenance facility, and in July broke ground on a new $64.7 million production training facility, which will consolidate training currently spread across 26 different locations at NNSY.
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NORFOLK NAVAL SHIPYARD HELPS STAR STUDENTS SHINE A LITTLE BRIGHTER AT STARBASE VICTORY CAMP
BY HANNAH BONDOC • PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST PHOTOS BY TONY ANDERSON• NNSY PHOTOGRAPHER 22 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • SEPTEMBER 2019
The gears in the young girl’s head and the literal gears in the machine almost completely made of Legos before her churn in tandem as she intently looks between the machine and the laptop she is using to operate it. Colorful little birds atop the machine turn around and around. She understands the mechanics of what she is doing, the likes of which many math and science majors only learn in college. This bright young mind is one of the many products of Starbase Victory’s (SBV) summer programs. This camp is just one of the camps supported by the Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) and has been responsible since 2002 for teaching students the STEM skills it takes to take the future NNSY onward. The shipyard also supports three other camps for free in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and Newport News, touching over 5,000 students from elementary to 12th grade. With 3,000 students every year at this particular camp in Portsmouth, the nonprofit organization uses whatever funds it receives to go into educational materials to teach them things beyond your average middle school science class curriculum, from programming robots inspired by nature to computer coding. For example, the SBV’s Executive Director Bill Hayden spoke about the trip the coding students are taking to Norfolk State University where the professors are going to show them how what they’ve learned in class pertains to cybersecurity. “They walk away with their eyes wide open,” Hayden said, “and the instructors from day one, when we first did this said, ‘Whoa! These are 5th
FAR LEFT: Shipyard Commander Capt. Kai Torkelson meets with the children in attendance at Starbase Victory Summer Camp. RIGHT: Children in attendance at the Starbase Victory Summer Camp learned the tools they need to succeed in math and science.
graders? 6th graders? And they’re doing elementary coding?’” The way he explains how they have managed to maintain effectiveness thus far is to teach with the belief that “you can’t measure excitement. You can’t measure inspiration.” Shipyard Commander Kai Torkelson, who was also in attendance, said he has also discussed the need to build talent with community leaders. ”We need more talent and skill for ship repair and modernization business—not just for the shipyard, but all the private contractors and private shipyards.” Not only are they learning technical trade skills, but also what it means to work as part of a team and the camaraderie that is paramount to the success of the shipyard. “These kids don’t know each other when they come here,” said Hayden. “They might know one other kid in the class. By the end of their one week here, they’re working with each other, and they’re solving problems, and they’re getting a taste of real life in the school.” One could argue that all of these skills are transferable to other workplaces beyond the shipyard, so how do we know any of them will want to come work at NNSY? With the camp’s origins lying in the partnership between SBV and the shipyard back in 2002, SBV’s Science Program Specialist Richard Neefe explained how the first impression that NNSY’s volunteer mentors leave on the students help with that. “The men and women who come out of the yard to tutor the students are one of the best gifts,” he said, “There are so many times when someone needs one to one help, and you can’t just generate more and more staff.” One of the
volunteers in particular was even able to engage students to him in a way that made them ask questions about what he does, thus piquing their curiosity and interest about working at the shipyard. NNSY Community Outreach Officer Valerie Fulwood has also taken students on a tour of the shipyard to show them what it's like and enable them to speak with the employees who are engaging the same skills and knowledge they are learning about in class. Most importantly, programs like the summer camps at SBV are not just valuable to the shipyard, but to the empowerment of the children themselves. One of their 10 year old coding students, Chandler Thompson, is a shining example of this. The camps he has gone to with the program has only fostered the love he has had for technology since he first started helping his mother, as well as his friend with a technical computer issue at school. Hailing from Churchland Academy Elementary, he’s only going into 6th grade, but already several steps ahead of most of his peers. “There are a million codes for the games I like to play and there are a lot of people involved in programming them, ranging from 40 to 200 people.” Thompson explained, “I never get to see those people because all I see is what the final project is.” His favorite memory was creating his first code based game “and being able to put the characters and telling them what to do.” From how well-spoken he is, to the confidence he holds himself with and in approaching others, there might be a thing or two others could learn from him. When asked about what advice he would give other children who might share similar passions to him, he said “never stop dreaming and don’t take other people’s comments seriously.” Thompson plans on pursuing engineering or computer science when he’s older, but ultimately he wants to be the next Bill Gates. If you are interested in becoming a mentor, contact Fulwood at Valerie.fulwood@navy.mil.
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C-FRAM FRAUD SCHEME AWARENESS SEPTEMBER: DEFECTIVE PRICING
Contractors inflating their costs in order to increase profits or limit losses
DOD EXAMPLE In October 2018, Alpha Research & Technology, Inc. (ART) settled with the United States and agreed to pay $1 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act. From 2006 to 2011, ART submitted subcontract proposals to prime contractors, including Raytheon and Boeing, in support of firm-fixed price contracts awarded for Air Force command and control systems. The subcontract proposals included millions of dollars of its owners' personal expenses, which paid for cars, a personal caretaker, a luxury vacation, and the construction of the owners' luxury home. The personal expenses, which were unallowable per FAR Part 31, subsequently inflated the subcontract costs included in the prime contractor proposals, which caused the United States to pay improperly inflated prices. The settlement is a product of a joint investigation by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI).
INDICATORS (RED FLAGS) Falsification or alteration of supporting data; Failure to update cost or pricing data when costs or prices have decreased; Failure to correct known system deficiences.
LEARN MORE TODAY Check out the C-FRAM site on WebCentral under C100CE for more information. Need to report fraud? Contact the NNSY Hotline today at 757396-7971 or NNSY_IG_HOTLINE@navy.mil.
