EB News April-May 2013 - Electric Boat Corporation

MENITZ MARKS 50 YEARS AT ELECTRIC BOATOne of STAN MENITZ’ first duties when hereported to his new job at Electric Boat in 1963was to pack up the mechanical design officewhere he would be working and move it into thenewest building on the grounds – Building 197.He moved into the top floor where they woulduse the latest technology – 21-foot drafting boards.But it didn’t stay the top floor for long, as EB addeda new floor to the engineering building the followingyear. Wheelbarrows became a common sight inhis office and the scent of fresh cement permeatedthe floor.STAN MENITZMenitz (431) still has his first pay stub, with anet pay of $43.51. He’d started on a Wednesday so it only coveredthree weekdays, and the total worked out to about $2.06 per hour.Menitz was recently recognized for achieving 50 years withElectric Boat during a breakfast with President KEVIN J. POI-TRAS and his senior staff.“I wonder what’s going to happen in my next 50?” Menitz joked.Poitras said executives at Electric Boat understand the value ofthe experience that Menitz brings to the job. Menitz recounted aninstance where they were trying to solve a design issueon USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23), and he suggested asolution similar to what had been used on the NR-1,which he worked on during the 1960s. It turned out tobe the right answer.He said one thing experienced staff can do is to pointout to more junior designers and engineers those areaswhere tried and true methods are the best.“It’s simple and straightforward. Do it by the draftingmanual. If we get innovative, be careful, there areyears of experience behind what has been created,”Menitz said.He added that everyone has to adapt to the timesas well. Before the Virginia program started, for instance, all thedrafting boards were traded for computers. Today Menitz thinksthe best part of his job is working with computer graphics, particularlyon the steering and diving design for the Seawolf and Virginiaclasses with BOB WALSH (492).“If you get an engineer who knows his stuff you can do somegood work together,” Menitz said.NOEL CELEBRATES 50 YEARS ON THE JOBDON NOEL started at Electric Boat in 1962 asa four-step learner carpenter making about$2 an hour, and while he thought he would bebuilding submarines, his skills were soon put to adifferent use.Flasher, Greenling and Gato – all Thresher-classsubmarines as they were known at the time – wereunder construction in the South Yard, and twomore were taking shape in the North Yard. In fact,the year after he started, EB did its first ever doublelaunch, with Flasher and Tecumseh both slidingdown the ways on June 22.DON NOEL“I went down into the yard to work on thelaunchings for two weeks, and ended up staying for 15 months,”Noel told President KEVIN J. POITRAS and his staff during abreakfast to mark his 50th anniversary with the company.It took him a little longer than 50 years to get to that landmarkbecause of a break in service. Laid off January 1964, he came backafter four months and applied for a job, but was told there wereno openings. So he came back every day and said he would keepcoming back until they let him at least fill out an application.“After four days, they finally let me see an application,” Noelsaid. “I was persistent.” He was re-hired into a design position onJune 6, 1964, and has been at the company since.His three children, Kevin, Darin and Brenda, aswell as his brothers, Roland and Andy, all drove considerabledistances to help him celebrate. They alsosurprised him with a large advertisement in the NewLondon Day to commemorate the event.“Ducky Noel — Congratulations on 50 years at TheBoat,” the ad read. “You continue to be an inspirationand role model to all of us. When they made you, theybroke the mold. We love you Dad.” Featured in the adwas a picture of Noel and his three children on a trip toFlorida in 1976, which they re-created digitally.“When I came, I didn’t know port from starboard.And now I think I do,” he joked. CATIA, the computerizeddrafting program he has been using, is a far cry from thedrafting tables he started on, he said. “It was hard to get used tofrom triangles and T-squares and pencils, but enjoyable.”Over the years he has worked on many of the historic submarinesuch as Seawolf, Triton, Narwhal, even Nautilus three times.Today, he’s 24th in seniority at the shipyard.“Everyone hears about that and asks me when I’m going toretire, but I tell them, you ought to be talking to the 23 in front ofme,” Noel joked. “Everyone wants the number one spot, so no onereally wants to go.”10 | ELECTRIC BOAT NEWS | APRIL/MAY 2013