In September 2010, the Eisenhower transited from Norfolk Naval Base to Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth , Va.
PIA involves upgrades, maintenance and habitability upkeep. Tiling, lagging and painting are the most basic tasks that are completed throughout the PIA evolution.
Making sure the Sailors have a comfortable living area and high grade equipment to effectively do their jobs is an important part of preparing for the upcoming workup cycle and a deployment in 2012.
Since PIA is at the halfway mark, senior IKE leadership met with high-ranking Navy officials and shipyard representatives for a fifty percent review meeting to discuss work results and coordination efforts.
"The crew and the ship's leaders presented the status of PIA to senior leadership," said Capt. Marcus Hitchcock, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower commanding officer. "We discussed where we've been, where we're going, and how we're going to get there."
The PIA fifty percent review is a critical step to brief stakeholders on progress of the availability and to identify key resource and support requirements to complete the availability on schedule. The meeting focused on the ship's force and shipyard team's current progress, and the team's ability to meet all major milestones as scheduled.
"The ship's crew is on track; the Sailors are dedicated to the work that needs to be done," Hitchcock said.
Hitchcock said that even with the impressive progress, the assembled senior leaders agreed there was still room for improvement.
"The ship did a great job presenting itself to the assembled leadership, but we can't forget cleanliness standards and properly maintaining our equipment," Hitchcock said.
PIA is scheduled for ships having completed a cruise to upgrade and repair ship's systems and equipment. Having returned in July 2010, after seven months out to sea and completing a five-month cruise the prior year from March to July, IKE was due for this maintenance period.
Hitchcock said he was confident IKE would continue its partnership with both Norfolk Naval Shipyard and the various civilian contractors completing jobs during PIA, and that such cooperation was vital to the success of the overall mission.
"[The shipyard and senior leaders] are as confident as I am that we'll be finished and out of the yards on time," he said.
Cmdr. Robert Bebermeyer, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower chief engineer, also commented on the ship's need to maintain professional relationships with the shipyard and contractor workforce.
"One of the keys to success in the availability has been, and will continue to be, the good working relationship between IKE, NNSY, and our contractors. This relationship between not only senior leadership, but throughout the chain of command, has allowed to us to focus on helping each other, and jointly driving towards a successful delivery of IKE."
Among the completed projects on the ship since the beginning of the PIA, Bebermeyer pointed out a successful catapult accumulator inspection, and workers are now working on a major piping replacement. Preservation of the ship's mast has been completed as well, and the combat systems department will be ready to get it back soon.
"The crew has executed well," Bebermeyer said. "This has been a challenging availability, with a significant workload for ship's force."
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