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NNS Donates More Than 15,000 School Items to Hampton Roads Students 9 | 28 | 2015

A weekly publication of Newport News Shipbuilding

This year, Newport News Shipbuilding employees collected more than 15,000 school items for Hampton Roads students through its annual “School Tools” drive. “We are members of the community as much as we are shipbuilders,” said Tom Cosgrove, manager of Corporate Citizenship. “We know that today’s students are our future shipbuilders and leaders. As a company, Newport News Shipbuilding values education and improving the lives of youth to help them realize their full potential. School Tools is one way that we will enhance the education of thousands of students this year.” NNS employees donated, sorted and distributed a variety of school supplies for the drive, ... CONTINUED ON PG 2

Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez and Rep. Bobby Scott Tour The Apprentice School Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez and Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., toured The Apprentice School on Monday, Sept. 21.

Welder Gerald Barnes (X18), left, and Fitter John Miller (X11) work together to complete a job for CVN 79. Photo by John Whalen

Collaboration Drives CVN 79 Cost and Schedule Improvements

Matt Mulherin, Newport News Shipbuilding president, Ray Bagley, vice president of Trades Operations, and other executives led the tour. They also met with company leadership to discuss the state of the workforce at NNS and the school’s partnership with local community colleges as an education and training engine in Hampton Roads.

Since the keel for John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) was laid in August, CVN 79 shipbuilders have been working together to build a “Community of Cost Consciousness” that drives cost and schedule improvements at every level. Superintendent Lee Murphy believes the key to improving is ownership and good communication. “We want everyone to own their decisions and also understand why we’re making the cost decisions we’re making,” he said. “To ensure that everyone is on the same page, weekly crew talks are held to communicate the status of safety, cost, quality and schedule. Communicating these goals has stirred up friendly competition between crews with everyone wanting to do the best they can to meet or exceed the goal.”

Perez talked with second-year students about what they like best about The Apprentice School. When he asked which students had prior college experience and college debt, the majority of the class raised their hands. “That’s the beauty of this,” Perez said of the school’s tuition-free education. “You stack one skill on top of another on top of another, and all the while you’re doing it without accumulating debt. You’re in a great program that’s going to set you up for life.”

CVN 79 Program Director Mike Butler says that current performance on Kennedy is excellent. “Deckplate production has been absolutely outstanding, and our partners in the value-stream are providing what we need, when we need it. Because of the game changers we’ve implemented on CVN 79, we’re not only completing the work earlier, but we’re doing more work at the same point than we did on Gerald R. Ford – and we’re doing it in less man-hours.” CONTINUED ON PG 3

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October is National Cyber Security Month ... READ ON PG 3 & 8 Untitled-1 1

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