NNSY Repairs USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Catapult Launch System

From Norfolk Naval Shipyard Public Affairs

NORFOLK (NNS) -- Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) personnel completed repairs to USS Dwight D. Eisenhower's catapult launch system during the aircraft carrier's Planned Incremental Availability, March 21.

Shipyard personnel replaced approximately 80 feet of various-sized piping. Forty employees worked around the clock with the support of many others across the various shipyard shops to complete the job.

"It's a critical path to the completion of the availability," said David Bittle, NNSY Piping Production superintendent. "[It is] such a precise job that when they rig [the piping] into place, the joints need to be fitted to within thousandths of an inch."

The job was so integral to the carrier's mission that USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Commanding Officer, Capt. Marcus Hitchcock, personally visited the Pipefitter Shop to examine the job in progress.

As part of NNSY's continuing efforts to foster a workplace culture focused on continuous improvements in organizational competence, the launch system repair team held a "Learning Cell" with the Engineering and Planning Department.

NNSY Engineering and Planning Manager Mike Zydron said outcomes from this Learning Cell were ensuring team makeup remained constant instead of a daily changeout of personnel, and making sure everyone involved had a clear understanding of the job.

"We had a shared vision on the goal of completing the work safely with first-time quality, on time and at cost with an eye toward the customer at all times," said Zydron.

"Norfolk Naval Shipyard immediately began to develop a multi-trade plan to engineer and execute the complex myriad of requirements necessary to successfully execute this work in the limited time available," said Cmdr. Pete Ludwig, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower military deputy superintendent. "From day one on this job, the dedication and craftsmanship displayed by all has been second to none - truly a job well done."

NNSY is one of Naval Sea Systems Command's four public shipyards that play a major role in sustaining America's fleet and provide wartime surge capability to keep the nation's ships ready for combat.