RADM Brendan McLane Addressed VSRA Membership at December Luncheon

The December VSRA General Membership meeting was held at the Portsmouth Renaissance Hotel on Tuesday, December 6, 2022. The guest speaker was RADM Brendan McLane, Commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic.

RADM McLane began by thanking everyone for the opportunity to address the Virginia Ship Repair Association and thanked all those in the room for all the hard work that they do to keep the ships in fighting shape. He felt it was an honor to talk and break bread with industry partners as they are both critical to the defense and safeguard of our nation.

RADM McLane was sure to mention that the Virginia Ship Repair Association has raised over $150,000 to support workforce programs and has trained over 27,000 students preparing to enter the labor field. These investments will provide huge dividends in the years to come as we continue to develop a world class shipyard industry.

As a surface warfare officer, RADM McLane learned that engineering readiness drives operational excellence, and that starts in our shipyards. The CNO issued a call to action for the Navy to “Get Real and Get Better.” In the face of threatening strategic competition, the Navy must deliver a war fighting advantage needed to win on little or no notice. Our Navy remains the most powerful Maritime force in the world, and we want to ensure that we retain our war fighting edge and operate to our full potential. Since WWII, ship numbers and advanced technology has been caught up with, and also for our adversaries as well. The last advantage we have is the intellectual way. We can fight, adapt and win. The CNO likes to say, “The Navy that adapts at sea faster, will be the one that is going to win.”

RADM McLane said what they need help with is maximizing the things we can do at our yards so that they don’t take themselves out of the fight before it even starts. He asked for the continued focus on the issues that we know we can fix. He asked for the assistance from industry with the Hot Works Chit management. The Navy has collapsed to a maximum of six duty sections per ship so that the work can be done safely and on time. At the upcoming Maintenance & Modernization Summit in San Diego, industry and Navy will continue the conversation to find common ground that he believes will help to resolve the issues with Hot Work.

Next, RADM McLane shared with industry those things that have gone well. In 2022 Norfolk ship repair companies completed six CNO maintenance availabilities of which two were completed early. There are currently ten CNO maintenance availabilities going on, eleven CMAVs and seven small maintenance periods. In parallel, together we are working on fifteen ships that are in some phase of maintenance planning for their upcoming avails. There have been several major time sensitive emergent repairs that have required immediate support, and the Hampton Roads based companies have been extremely supportive. He thanked industry for their repair and modernization work on Navy ships.

As an example, RADM McLane mentioned the high quality of work done on the Truxton while she was on her 2020/2021 selective restricted availability. This made it possible for her to achieve operational success in tracking multiple Russian Submarines in the Eastern Atlantic Mediterranean because of the AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 ACB-15 upgrade she received. The upgrade greatly enhanced watch standard interfaces and recognition differential. The Truxton has vastly improved IP services because of the Navy multiband terminal she received. The upgrade doubled the bandwidth of Truxton and greatly simplified user interface allowing easier troubleshooting and maintenance completion. These upgrades could not have been accomplished without close and skillful cooperation from industry. RADM McLane spoke about other ships that had quick turnarounds that enabled them to keep the ships on track and in the fight.

Although there have been challenges over the past few years, we are burning down the length of time the ships are in the yards, which speaks to the hard work and dedication of the companies involved. The success of ship repair in Hampton Roads relies heavily on the engagement of Naval leadership in tandem with ship repair companies as trusted partners, which he sincerely appreciates.

As focus on completing on time availabilities increases, it’s the teamwork that is vital to the success of improved fleet readiness. RADM McLane thanked industry for the opportunity to address this great group of Americans and VSRA, and for everything they accomplished in 2022. He said he looks forward to continued success in 2023. RADM McLane closed the meeting with, “Our Navy and our Nation is counting on all of us, Merry Christmas, God bless you, and God bless America!”

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