APR - Bath Iron Works

From the HelmJeff Geiger, President, Bath Iron WorksIn addition to an early spring, April ushered in a number ofimportant events and activities which confirm that ourefforts to continuously improve, reduce costs and maintainhigh quality standards are exactly what we need to be doing.It’s hard to imagine a better way to begin a new month atBIW than by hosting the Chief of Naval Operations, ADMJonathan Greenert, USN, and our own Senator Susan Collinsfor a visit. The DDG 1002 Start of Fabrication ceremony atHardings on the morning of April 4 and the tour of DDG 1000that followed gave them an opportunity to see where our shipbuildingprocess starts, greet many of you and observe firsthandour progress on the lead ship. We heard on more than oneoccasion that day about several things they felt were important.Their messages were clear. The Navy values Bath-built quality,wants us to continue building their ships and needs us to buildthem affordably. It was a great day for BIW—we should all bevery proud. About two weeks after the visit, Secretary of theNavy Ray Mabus announced on April 17 that DDG 1002 wouldbe named in honor of the 36 th President of the United States,Lyndon B. Johnson.In terms of our DDG 51 Program, the Navy issued a draftRequest for Proposal (RFP) for the upcoming competition forDDG 51s that the Navy will buy between now and 2018. We’vebeen studying the details of the document in preparation for therelease of the final RFP which is expected to be out in early May.We anticipate a 60-day window for developing and submittingour proposal. As I’ve mentioned in this space for the last twomonths, the results of this competition will decide which shipbuilderwill build each of the DDG 51s the Navy expects to buyfor the next five years. The importance of succeeding in thiscompetition cannot be overstated; affordability to the Navy willbe the principal factor in determining the ultimate outcome.We must continue to control and further reduce costs in allareas of the shipyard.Within the shipyard itself, the demolition of our inclinedways and reconfiguration of that area is essentially complete.The next major change in the north end of the shipyard beganon April 18 with the start of demolition of the Machine Shop,the oldest building in the yard. A quick look back at the historyof this building appears in the pages to follow. The demolitionproject will continue into May.Brian Levesque (D07) and Senator Susan CollinsEarly in the month, OSHA released its report of the wallto-wallinspection that was conducted here last fall. The resultstell us two very important things. First, we still have much workahead of us. Items cited in the final report are things that arewithin our control, and all of us need to remain vigilant inspotting and eliminating any unsafe condition. The secondthing they tell us is that we are making good progress in ourefforts to make BIW a safer place to work. In the words of theOSHA Regional Director as quoted in the newspapers, “It was avery, very good inspection. They have made some very, verygood strides in the past four to five years.”All of the these events and activities send a signal that we aredoing the kinds of things we need to do to positively influencethe future of the shipyard, keep quality shipbuilding jobs inMaine and preserve our rich heritage. We must continue topull together and keep moving forward.TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.On the cover: Chief of Naval Operations, ADM Jonathan Greenert and Paul Lebel (D07) at the Start Fab ceremony for DDG 1002 at Hardings.2 | April 2012 | BIW NEWS