Yardlines, May 2013

In This Issue Submariners Reflect on Quality Ford’s Upper Bow Unit Lifted Into Place

Yardlines

Photo by Ricky Thompson

USS Abraham Lincoln Arrives for RCOH

A Publication of Newport News Shipbuilding

May 2013

She’s Here!

USS Abraham Lincoln Arrives for RCOH

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) arrived at Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) on March 28 for the ship’s one and only refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH). Lincoln was originally scheduled to arrive Feb. 14, but was delayed due to uncertainties surrounding the defense budget and funding of the work.

progress getting started on the planned work during the extended period at Naval Station Norfolk,” said Chris Miner, NNS vice president for in-service aircraft carrier programs. “Now that the ship is in dry dock, the shipbuilder-Navy team is eager to finish what we’ve started here at Newport News Shipbuilding.”

“We have worked closely with our Navy partners throughout the budget process and have made good

CVN 72 will spend the next 18 months in Dry Dock 11, where shipbuilders will remove the nuclear-powered

aircraft carrier’s parts, operating systems and exterior paint before the repairing, refueling and modernization work begins.

Lincoln’s RCOH will include the refueling of the ship’s reactors, as well as extensive modernization work to more than 2,300 compartments, 600 tanks and hundreds of systems. In addition, major upgrades will be made to the flight deck, catapults, combat systems and the island.

More than 3,800 NNS employees will work aboard the carrier during peak periods of the project, which is scheduled to be finished in November 2016. | By Gina Chew-Holman The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) passed the Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) as it arrived at Newport News Shipbuilding on March 28 for its refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH). CVN 71 is in the last stages of its RCOH. Photo by Ricky Thompson

Fit and Fun All the Time Shipbuilders working for Foreman C.W. Boone didn’t have to list fitness as one of their New Year’s resolutions this year. When it comes to being in shape, their membership to the “X11 Wellness Program,” a slogan used to describe the crew’s day-to-day job activities, has them covered.

The 18-person crew is one of two crews on Newport News Shipbuilding’s (NNS) USS Enterprise (CVN 65) Inactivation team responsible for prepping each of Enterprise’s eight reactor plants for defueling.

“Since arriving on ‘Big E,’ I have been joking with my crew about getting in shape for summer,” said Boone, whose crew has been working at Naval Station Norfolk since January. “The work we do is a very physically demanding job, so coming up with a witty slogan that each member can relate to has helped us get to know each other, focus on safety and, most importantly, share some laughs.”

On any given day, crew members could lift up to several hundred lead bags ranging from 13 to 53 pounds and pass them throughout the carrier. “When you look at the volume and weight of the bags we are bringing in, you have to know the people doing the work are in good shape,” said Andy Flood, who has performed similar work on other carriers for the past 35 years.

In addition to staying physically fit, the newly-formed crew has maintained an “accident-free” safety record. Michelle MaClay and Montrell Barbine concur that from the way each member lines up in alternate positions to how the lead bags are picked up, safety is always on the crew’s mind.

Enterprise is scheduled to arrive at NNS early this summer for completion of the defueling process.

“I’m extremely proud of my team,” said Boone. “Putting a fun spin on what we do has really helped to create an engaging work environment, which in turn has helped us perform better. At the end of the day, you’ve got to love what you’re doing and look forward to waking up the next day and doing it all over again.” | By Lauren Ward Handling heavy lead bags to prepare USS Enterprise (CVN 65) for the aircraft carrier’s defueling has helped Inactivation team members (left to right) Michelle MaClay, Montrell Barbine and Anthony Flood stay in shape and maintain a perfect safety record. Photo by Ricky Thompson

All Decked Out On the morning of April 9, the upper bow of Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) was lifted onto the ship, bringing the flight deck to its full 1,106 feet. Weighing 787 metric tons, the unit is Ford’s 160th superlift.

For 13 months, every shipyard trade, from shipfitters to welders to cleaning crews, worked together to prepare the upper bow unit for installation on the ship in the dry dock. Paul Newton, electrician foreman on the unit and a craft instructor in The Apprentice School, worked on the new Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) in the unit. “They put a lot of faith in us. It’s very complex, but we met the challenge,” said Newton.

“This was a challenge,” agreed Jeff Bilodeau, shipfitter foreman on the unit and also a craft instructor. His shipfitters were all apprentices working on their first aircraft carrier. “We like a good challenge. It makes me proud to see what they built get lifted onto the ship.”

Ford is now 96 percent structurally complete and has two remaining superlifts. | By Peter Stern

The 787-metric-ton upper bow unit of Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is lifted onto the ship, bringing the flight deck to its full length of 1,106 feet. Photo by Chris Oxley

Mike Petters discusses HII’s Two-Year Track Record Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Corporate Communications recently interviewed President and CEO Mike Petters.

HII: We marked our second anniversary as HII on March 31.

How are we doing versus what your expectations were when we started?

Petters: Well, I think if you look back over the last two years, we did what we said we were going to do.

We built a two-year track record of performance and credibility that will serve us well going forward. At Ingalls, we are focused on execution, retiring risk, and driving improved performance and margins. At Newport News Shipbuilding, we are focused on improving performance and maintaining stability. Some things have gone better than we anticipated; some things have gone maybe not quite as well as we anticipated. But in the main, we’ve been able to tell folks what we were going to go do, then go do it, and then be able to remind people that’s what we said we were going to do.

Credibility is critical in our business, and I think we have established our credibility.

HII: The president signed a continuing resolution on March 26. What does that mean for our business?

Petters: It means that we’re now halfway through the fiscal year, and we finally have a budget. If you step back and look at the process that we went through, there aren’t a lot of highlights for everybody, but I take some satisfaction in a couple of things. First and at the top of the list, the things that the Navy

said were priorities were the same things that we said were priorities.

That just shows how important it is to be aligned with our customers.

Coordinating, collaborating and making sure we’re providing good value to the customer on all of our products is the way you create and keep that alignment. So when the pressure is on, there’s not any gap between what you care about and what the customer cares about. That was a critical element in holding all of this together when we came through the last five months.

My hope for 2014 is that we’ll have some kind of normal legislative process that will result in the 2014 budget being appropriated at the beginning of 2014. I would really like to see us not have to go through this again. My hope is that we’ve all learned our lesson—that there was a reason for the normal process. Let’s get back to the normal process, the normal way of doing things. The country knows how to make these decisions. We’ve been making these kinds of decisions for over 200 years.

HII: One of our major goals is to reach 9-plus percent profit margins by 2015. How do we obtain that with a shrinking DoD budget and the Navy’s affordability goals?

Petters: Well, this is a critical year for that. We have to retire the risk on LPD 25 and deliver it. We have to retire the risk on LHA 6 and deliver this ship. We have to get through the disposition of Avondale successfully.

We have to get the programs—the contracts that we signed in the last two years at Ingalls and the contracts that we will sign in the next 12

Mike Petters, HII President and CEO

months at Newport News—we have to get good starts on those. We have to perform to budget out of the box.

And then the last piece is that we have to begin the process of creating the follow-on work for all of that so that there is a sustainable amount of workflow to get us to our targets. I’m pretty confident that we have a good path to get there. We’ve got a lot of hard work to do, but I feel pretty good about getting there.

HII: What do you think distinguishes HII from our competitors?

Petters: If you look at it through the shareholders’ eyes, they would say we are a pure-play defense company that has a chance to expand margins without expanding revenue. That distinguishes us from the standpoint of our shareholders. From the standpoint of our customer, we provide the broadest set of

capabilities for the highest-priority programs in shipbuilding. That’s how we’ve distinguished ourselves with the customer. From the CEO standpoint, I’ve got years and years and years of seeing this happen: When shipbuilders decide they want to get something done, it happens.

Pick your project—whether it’s the retirement of risk on LPDs, or the ramping up to two submarines per year, or any of the other projects that we have—when shipbuilders gather, they get it done, and they get it done successfully. That’s very, very rewarding. Beyond that, it’s a true strength of the business. It gives us confidence that we can take on some of the challenges we have in front of us relative to the retirement of risk or the capturing of sustainable work going forward. These are things that shipbuilders will put their heads around and figure out how to go get it done, and it will get done. I have a high level of confidence in that.

Going forward, I would like to see HII take a much more proactive view of education at all levels, but with a focus on preschool and grade school education. If you look around the world, what you find is that countries that are ahead of us have formal preschool programs. It’s almost that simple. We have a kindergarten that you start when you’re 5 years old.

The nations that are above us on different competitive scales have programs that start when you’re 3 or 4 years old. I just believe that’s a place that, as a nation, we are not deliberative enough. The country hasn’t put its head around this yet and said, “This is something we want to go solve.” I think we have to. It will be the thing that drives the country forward in the next several decades.

HII: What do you want HII to be known for?

Petters: What I would like people to know about us is that we are a heavy manufacturer, we do really hard things, and we strive to do them right. The men and women of HII place their signatures— their guarantee, if you will—on everything we produce by taking personal responsibility and holding themselves personally accountable to the highest standards. It’s imperative to our business that when someone stands up and says, “This is right,” that we can rely on that. It’s also imperative to our business that when someone stands up and says, “This is wrong,” that we can rely on that. It’s all about integrity. I think “Hard Stuff Done Right” captures who we are. The products are what people think of, and that’s all well and good, but you don’t get the kinds of products that we produce without people doing really hard things every day and doing them right all the time.

HII: HII’s second annual Report to the Community was inserted into the April issue of this publication.

Can you talk about the importance of corporate citizenship, employee volunteerism and what you believe to be HII’s priorities in the community?

Petters: In all of the communities where we operate, we’re the largest entity in that community. And not only are we the largest business, but we end up being the real backbone of all the community activities. So it’s very important because there’s a connection between the strength of the community and the strength of the business. It’s very important that we get that community support right. We support a lot of different areas, and communities have to function well in a broad set of areas.

I personally believe that education is an area where we as a nation have to get it right, or a lot of other issues will become inconsequential.

Timothy Madden (left), a production manager in the Virginia-Class Submarine Program, meets HII President and CEO Mike Petters during a shipyard tour. Photo by Chris Oxley

Young

Engineer of the Year

Life can take interesting turns. Nobody knows this better than Nuclear Test Engineer John Edwards. Meeting old friends at a wedding in Georgia unleashed a chain of events that changed the course of his life. Since attending that wedding, he took a job at Newport News Shipbuilding, met his wife here in the shipyard, and is now the recipient of the Doug Ensor Young Engineer of the Year Award.

After graduating from the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York, Edwards sailed to West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico for a year as the third assistant engineer on a couple of commercial ships.

“A few buddies of mine working fluids engineering for the CVN 78 project were at the wedding, and told me I needed to stop sailing and go work at the shipyard,” said Edwards.

“Three days after getting off the ship, I was sitting in orientation.”

Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, the 32-yearold engineer understands the importance of preserving the future of the engineering profession, and commits his time to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) efforts on the Peninsula. He is also very active in the Knights of Columbus, and serves as the chairman of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

“I was honored when the Society of Naval and Marine Engineers (SNAME) nominated me

for the award, but I just kind of wrote it off in my mind. Most of the previous winners were Ph.D.s or had numerous works published,” said Edwards As one of the first test engineers qualified on the Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), Edwards is most impressed by two things – the engineers designing the ship and the elements of automation the new class of aircraft carriers bring.

“That’s the real impressive thing about the 3-D product model design of the Ford carrier. Many of these guys have never set foot on an aircraft carrier, but they’re able to make something they see in their heads that the sailor is going to be able to use for the next 50 years,” he said.

Ford’s new technological advances, like automation, greatly reduce the crew and personnel needed to operate the ship, saving the Navy millions of dollars.

“I know that a lot of people will tell you the EMALS (Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System) on the Ford are the most impressive component,” he said. “But I think the propulsion plant monitoring control is going to wow everybody.” | By Jeremy Bustin

John Edwards is the recipient of the distinguished 2013 Doug Ensor Young Engineer of the Year Award for his work both inside and outside the shipyard. Photo by Ricky Thompson

SUBSAFE An Attitude At 9:15 a.m. on April 10, the shipyard whistle blew, signaling Newport News shipbuilders to observe a moment of silence in honor of USS Thresher (SSN 593).

Although Thresher wasn’t built at Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), 50 years after the submarine’s tragic sinking and the deaths of 112 sailors and 17 civilians who were aboard, the event continues to serve as a reminder about the importance of quality in shipbuilding.

“There are very few NNS shipbuilders who have firsthand recollection of Thresher’s sinking,” said Sean Coons, manager of the NNS Submarine Safety (SUBSAFE) program. “It’s really important that we don’t let the passage of time make us forget the devastating effect this had on the submarine community. We can’t ever afford to allow ignorance, arrogance or complacency to set in.”

A few months after Thresher’s sinking, the Navy established the SUBSAFE program. “The resiliency of the submarine community was shown when it immediately responded to this disaster with the SUBSAFE program – a whole new way of thinking about submarine design and construction,” said Coons.

Since 1963, the Navy, and its industry partners, have worked diligently to build one of the most robust quality assurance programs in the world. The SUBSAFE

program ensures submarine watertight hull integrity and recovery and is based on compliance with technical and programmatic requirements supported by personal responsibility and accountability.

The idea to sound the shipyard whistle at the exact moment Thresher lost communications and sank came from Zach Waynick, who was an apprentice at the time.

“I read a book about Thresher and I wanted everyone to think twice about not taking the easy way out when they are working. We can never let our guard down,” Waynick said.

This year, in addition to the moment of silence, NNS flags were flown at half-mast to commemorate Thresher’s 50th anniversary, and plaques with the names of all the men who died on Thresher were presented and will be permanently displayed in buildings where submarine and SUBSAFE program employees work.

“At NNS, we have a saying that sums it all up: ‘SUBSAFE – an Attitude,’” Coons said. “Everyone who works on submarines needs to have the attitude that a disaster like Thresher will never happen again.” | By Gina Chew-Holman Shipbuilders (L - R) Trevin Wilson, Jared Miller, Gary Nix and Zack Waynick paused on April 10 to reflect on the 50th anniversary of the tragic sinking of USS Thresher. Photo by Ricky Thompson

Making a Difference

King of the Eagles Nest

Whether it’s learning to fold an American flag, sailing, hiking or serving soup at a “Nest Program,” the Boy Scouts in Troop 70 are well-rounded – it’s Juan Aponte’s responsibility to make sure that happens.

For the past 13 years, Aponte, a radiological control scheduler, has been a leader for the Norfolk-based Boy Scouts troop. “I became involved in 2000 when my son joined, and I’ve stayed aboard ever since.”

The troop ranges in age from 11-17. “We often go camping in the Appalachian Mountains and hiking in the Shenandoah,” said Aponte. “We also traveled 86 miles in seven days from Minnesota to Canada on a canoeing adventure. Many of the boys have never traveled out of Virginia, so it’s exciting to see their faces light up when they experience parts of the country they have never

seen before.”

In addition to high-adventure activities, the troop is also heavily involved in giving back to the community. “You can find us collecting food, visiting nursing homes or assisting the city with landscaping.”

Aponte added, “Many people know the troop by their nickname, ‘the Eagles Nest.’ For me, each time I hear that, I’m reminded of my responsibility as a scout leader – to prepare these boys for whatever comes their way. I can honestly say that watching them grow up has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.” | By Lauren Ward Scout Leader Juan Aponte explains the rocket launch process to his Norfolk-based Boy Scout troop as part of Science and Exploration night. Photo by Troy Cooper

Yardlines is published 10 times a year for the employees of Newport News Shipbuilding.

This issue of Yardlines was produced by: Jeremy Bustin, Gina Chew-Holman, Troy Cooper, Mike Dillard, Christie Miller, Eugene Phillips, LaMar Smith, Peter Stern, Susan Sumner and Lauren Ward. Photographs by:Apprentice Troy Cooper, Chris Oxley, Ricky Thompson and John Whalen.

Craft Instructor Linda McMillian spends Saturday mornings

volunteering at the Peninsula Rescue Mission.

Photo by Chris Oxley Send comments, questions and story ideas to Yardlines editor: gina.chewholman@hii-nns.com or call 757-380-2627.

To stop receiving Yardlines, go to nns.huntingtoningalls.com/Yardlines to unsubscribe.

Look for more news at nns.huntingtoningalls.com.

Long Service MASTER SHIPBUILDERS

April

Wesley Agee 40 years

Michael Anderson 40 years

Christopher Boyd 45 years

Larry Elliott 40 years

Sherman Haskins 40 years

Lynn Hobbs 40 years

John Jones 40 years

Lewis Maynard 40 years

Wilma Morris 45 years

Timothy Taylor 40 years

Kenneth Walker 40 years

Terry Wolak 40 years

45 Years Christopher C. Boyd Jr. X33 Wilma B. Morris O14 Milton B. Thornton M53

40 Years Wesley L. Agee X18 Michael J. Anderson X33 Larry D. Elliott X33 Sherman L. Haskins X36 Lynn O. Hobbs Sr. X36 Marcus G. Howard X42 John E. Jones X42 Lewis D. Maynard X10 Robert L. Sylvester X18 Timothy E. Taylor X18 Kenneth J. Walker O15 Willie L. Walker X11 Francis T. Wolak AMSEC

35 Years Rodney L. Bays X54 Aaron L. Beckett X18 Perry N. Bell E68 Robert L. Brown Jr. X11 William P. Brown Jr. X36 Barbara W. Crawley E18 Lianne S. Elliott AMSEC Terence O. Gatling O43 Terry L. Harless AMSEC Richard B. Harris X88

Lonnie L. Heckstall X11 James G. Hogge O53 Archiebald Jordan X33 Kenneth W. Mobley M20 Nancy C. Moore E86 Robert E. O’Brien E88 Allen R. Person Jr. X33 Quinton Rainey M53 Kevin T. Salnoske M20 Reginald A. Sykes X36 Paul D. Toupin E68 James R. Vermaaten Jr. O79 Roscoe S. White X33 Alvin J. Whitlow O70 Randy W. Winn X31

30 Years Seth R. Bazemore III E86 Kenneth G. Bell X10 William A. Blyth X54 Randy D. Boone X42 Kelvin T. Brooks X31 Lora D. Callahan E89 Garland Chambliss X11 Horace W. Chapman X33 Michael D. Chenault X89 Michael A. Childress O43 Michael A. Cooper X42 Gregory Cumbo X31 Lawrence E. Darden X88 Leon Dawson X18

Claude W. Deberry X42 James H. Dillard X42 Alton R. Dolberry X11 Jerome Draughn X18 Henry Drew Jr. X42 Thomas W. Earman X36 Cedric R. Edmonds X31 Michael J. Eley X11 Glenn E. Evans X32 Paul A. Farrow X82 Dexter R. Faulk X31 Nathaniel Fisher X31 Steve O. Fitchett X43 Phillip G. Fortune X42 Bruce H. Foster X67 William J. Freeman X72 James R. Friend Jr. X31 Emanuel Futrell X31 Meredith A. Gardner X42 Wilbert M. Gary X33 Christopher L. Gilbert X42 Isaac W. Gilliam X33 Timothy A. Ginger X10 Mark E. Goodwin X18 Michael Gramby X82 Johnnie Granger Jr. X36 Sherman D. Gray O53 Anthony L. Green X32 Dale W. Gregory X32 Larry C. Grizzle Jr. E84 David L. Hall X11

Wayne A. Harrell E14 Michael W. Hayes X11 Mitchell D. Haynes X43 Paula E. Hill X42 Robert L. Hill X11 John J. Hooper X88 Dalton E. Howard X18 Eric P. Howell X31 Gary D. Hubert X33 Randy Hunt X43 Robert E. Jeffers X11 Keith E. Jones O39 Larry L. Jones O26 Robert S. Kenerley Jr. X 32 Alfred P. Kidd Jr. O39 Emmitt L. Knight X43 William J. Landon Jr. X36 Jeffery L. Myrick X11 John M. Neal X31 Johnny R. Norman E86 Michael T. Oblein N950 James C. Osborne X88 Brian K. Perkins X32 Jeffrey Reid X87 David P. Rice E30 Jay A. Richer E15 Thurman M. Riddick X33 David L. Robbins X18 Nolan D. Rudisill X18 Johnny Rumble X36 Joseph E. Sams X42

Jeffrey A. Scheiman O19 Twilla Stover-Anderson E14 Dianna L. Taylor O46 James E. Williams X42 Murray B. Williams Jr. X32 Steven L. Winn X33 Terrance L. Woods E26

25 Years Johnnie M. Bailey X36 Tony Bowden O19* Ronald E. Brosius E24 Darryl D. Bugg O58 Douglas W. Cosby E56 Barbara C. Eby E89 Didier Edwards X11 Steven A. Edwards E69 James E. Ellis X42 Chester Ellis Jr. X11 Felicia Y. Farmer E09 Rufus D. Frances X31 Colleen A. Harvey K24 Brandon T. Jenkins E83 Rosetta M. Lamb O14 Kevin P. Martin E26 Michael J. Nelson O19 David C. Redman E81 Kelly T. Reese X70 Don W. Richardson II X82 Eric A. Sharpe E83 Tonia L. Smith X54

Jean E. Thompson O14 Melody S. Turlington T55 Mary B. Via O82 Kent F. Williams E80

20 Years Garnet E. Abdelmalak X42 Barry G. Bailey X33 Norwood Brewington X 36 Woodrow M. Brooks X88 Dennis Clark X43 David E. Gauthier O64 Jerome Harrison X18 John T. Hibbler X11 Wyatt R. Jordan Jr. X36 William R. Klotz M53 Victor V. Lugo O51 Brian F. Marszalek X70 Robert G. Martin X57 Jonathan W. Michie O45 Darren C. Mitchel O64 Angela M. SalasArreazola X88 Ronald D. Schmidt E71 Covert W. Sutton X36 Gregory L. Taylor X33 Donald Van Dyke AMSEC Alex D. Worthy X36

*February Anniversery

Retirements March David E. Bremby X43 Scott F. Davis N940 John T. Faulk X31

Lorenzo Harrington X36 George W. Harvey X33 John J. Houlihan Jr. T55

Nathaniel Kee X36 Lyle W. Kelly E44 Randy C. Lavender E84*

Bobby R. Stanfield X11 Wendell S. Sturdivant X42 Gerald W. White E84*

Curtis E. Wilkins X42 *Retired December 2012

Photo by Ricky Thompson

Dependent Verification Required for HII Benefits Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) is in the process of verifying all dependents covered by company benefits.

Letters mailed to all affected employees explain: “The majority of healthcare costs are for dependents. Other companies who verified dependents in their health plans have reported between 5 percent and 15 percent of dependents were not eligible dependents at all.

Huntington Ingalls has the fiduciary responsibility to the health plans to ensure that only eligible dependents are

provided coverage.�

The letters include directions for submitting proper documentation (marriage certificates, birth certificates, etc.) to maintain benefits for dependents. Non-verified dependents will lose their benefits on July 1 and will not be eligible for COBRA. For more information, call the Huntington Ingalls Benefits Center (HIBC) at 1-877-216-3222.

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May 2013