VSRA News

George Yount retired from the U.S. Navy as Deputy Commander for Ship Design Integration and Engineering, Naval Sea Systems Command, in 2001. He is now the Sector Vice president of Ship Construction for Northrop Grumman Corporation providing oversight of operations in Avondale and Pascagoula. Most recently LPD-17 has been delivered by Northrop Grumman and Hurricane Katrina received by Northrop Grumman. George will speak at the American Society of Naval Engineers dinner on Wednesday, September 13th. Details of the event and RADM Yount's career can be found on the ASNE Dinner Announcement (9/13/06). An evening with George Yount promises to be an interesting one.

Chuck Marsh, a Virginia Ship Reapir Foundation Board Member, participated in the recent public meeting addressing the Commonwealth's Economic and Workforce Development. A total of six public meetings were held throughout the Commonwealth. The purpose of the meeting was for the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, Pat Gottchalk, to gather inputs from the public to be used in developing his near term agenda in these critical areas. You can find the presentation used by the Secretary at these meetings at the Secretary's website. Following the presentation, attendees were split into groups to develop recommendations. A summary of public commentary and suggestions has now been posted on the Secretary's website as well. Of note, Chuck Marsh is the HR Director of Colonna's Shipyard and Chair's the Governor's Maritime Task Force on Workforce Development.

The Propeller Club of The United States, Port of Norfolk, is honored to host the 80th Annual International Conference and Convention at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott, October 10-13, 2006. The theme for our convention is “Building Maritime Momentum: A Rich Tradition Moving Ahead.” I am honored to serve as this year’s Conference Chairman and to invite you to participate in the conference and convention. Specific information can be found on the Propeller Club, Port of Norfolk website. It has been more than 25 years since Norfolk has hosted this event and the committee is planning a successful event and warm Virginia welcome for all participants. As we near Virginia’s 400th anniversary of The Jamestown Landing, visitors will be able to observe the state-of-the-art facilities here in Virginia and to participate in a forum that will offer an in-depth look at the latest industry developments and their global impact. The forum will include great panels with knowledgeable speakers and will provide opportunities to meet with partners in the maritime industry and create solutions. Please join us to celebrate the maritime industry and to further our mutual interests for a safe, secure, efficient, and viable maritime industry. Local maritime members should fill out the Propeller Club Convention Registration Form now to take advantage of special pricing. In order to make such an event successful, it requires strong support from our maritime partners. Sponsorship offers a unique opportunity to spotlight your company to many industry leaders and to members of more than eighty national and international clubs that have been invited to attend. Attached is a listing of sponsorship levels and participation details. We hope you will take this opportunity to sponsor this year’s conference and convention. Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to seeing you in October. Sincerely yours, John F. Reinhart Conference Chairman

The 20th Annual association golf tournament is Tuesday, August 22nd. This year the tournament proceeds will benefit the Virginia Ship Repair Foundation, a 501(c)(3) educational foundation. VSRF was formerly known as TMTI. Leigh Kennedy, Earl Industries, is again the chair for the event. For the past 18 years, her exceptional leadership is what has made the previous tournaments great successes. We are very happy she is leading the team for the 20th rendition. The tournament will be held at Bayville Golf Club. Because the proceeds will benefit VSRF, donations are tax deductible. You can download the Golf Tournament Application here. The 144 golfer slots are completely filled as of August 1st, with a Waiting List. Please note that sponsorships which include golfers in the package will be assured tee times, so the only way to get golf slots at this point is to sign up for a sponsorship.

The new VSRA Administrative Team is now in place. It is our goal to provide our members great value each day. They are in place to meet your needs. This experienced administrative team is dedicated to that goal. Now, an introduction to the team members. Josephine Anderson is our new Administrative Manager. She brings significant experience and skills to the position gained by over 20 years of administrative positions, all with non-profits in Hampton Roads. Born in Portsmouth and raised in Virginia Beach, she is a native of our area. No stranger to the Navy or the ship repair industry as her father had a full career in the Navy, retiring as a Chief Boatswain. He then had a career as a civil servant rigger. Josephine’s brother is a machinist at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. She enjoys softball, beach volleyball, ocean kayaking, camping and time with her family. Robert Pillers has been with the team for about a year. He has been a stalwart in both keeping our accounting in order and supporting our standing committees. Robert will be moving to a full time accounting position, but will continue to serve VSRA on a part time basis keeping our books and finances in “ship-shape” condition. Born and raised in Iowa, he brings public accounting experience, as well as 25 years of running a family pottery business. He is married to Beverly, who is also an accountant. Daughter Loerhl recently graduated from Randolph-Macon and is off to the Peace Corps. Robert’s main hobby is maintaining a collection of antique Studebakers. Please help us welcome your new VSRA Administrative Team.

Join Standards of Conduct Experts in an important, timely symposium. For those involved in government contracts, Department of Defense Regulations (DFARS) require that your company have a strong ethics and standards of conduct program. The experts will conduct a "Train the Trainer" session, followed by an actual Standards of Conduct presentation and panel discussion. Attendees will leave with all the materials on disc, including the presentation. The presenting experts include: Mike Gardner, Esq, Troutman Sanders - specializes in government contract advice and litigation; Chairman, VSRA Contracts Committee. Kevin Cosgrove, Esq, Hunton & Williams - specializes in business and government contracts advise and litigation. Steven Solow, Esq, Hunton & Williams DC Office - former chief of the Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Section, now counsels businesses on regulatory obligations and develops compliance programs. Bill Dozier, Esq, Vandeventer, Black - specializes in government contract advice and litigation. Michael Torrech, President, TECNICO The symposium will be held Wednesday, July 12th, at the Nauticus - The National Maritime Center, beginning at 8:00 AM. Please contact Josephine Anderson at janderson@VirginiaShipRepair.org or (757) 233-7034 for reservations or more information. Don miss this important symposium. Cost: VSRA Members $50.00; Non-members $95.00.

Opportunity Inc. – the workforce development board for South and Western Hampton Roads is seeking employers willing to participate in our Summer Youth Employment Program. We have high school students between the ages of 16 and 18 who have participated in an in-school year-long program that provided them among many things some workplace readiness training. We want as many of them as possible to work full-time for six weeks beginning June 26th. We’d like employers to assign sufficient projects to the youth to keep them active throughout the work day. This Workforce Investment Act funded program enables Opportunity Inc. to pay the salaries of these students while they work for the employer at no cost to the employer. The employer gets the opportunity to positively impact on the community by helping develop responsible, well trained Hampton Roads young adults to enter the business world. OppInc. will enter into a formal agreement with all participating employers. If you’re interested, please contact Ken Durham at (757) 455-9022 or at kendurham@arboret.com.

The International Conference of Agile Manufacturing ICAM 2006 will be held July 18-21, 2006 at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott. ICAM 2006 is the largest conference on Agile/Lean Manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region. It will include both academic and industry tracks, panel discussions, as well as national and international speakers. The conference is organized by the Lean Institute of Old Dominion University and co-sponsored by the International Society of Agile Manufacturing, Northrop Grumman Newport News, and Virginia's Philpot Manufacturing Extension Partnership. The conference will feature both academic and industry tracks. National and international speakers will present keynote addresses. One of those speakers is Jim Brice, NAVSEA's Task Force Lean Director, who was a features speaker at the VSRA Lean Conference in March. Registration and detailed program information can be found at the conference website: ICAM 2006.

While attending the National Ship Repair Conference (May 23-25), attendees representing ship repair companies from all over the country learned of several key provisions in HR 5122 that address significant challenges to Navy ship repair. These provisions are NOT currently included in the Senate's version of the bill (S. 2766). They are: Section 345 – Prioritization of Navy Funding – Fund Maintenance and Operations First. Requires the Navy to fund 100% of operational and maintenance requirements before funds are spent on the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command. In short, before funding “new” Navy missions, critical “core” Navy missions must be fully funded. This will provide an additional $250 million in Navy maintenance funding for FY 2007. Section 1012 and Section 3503 – Repair America – Keep work in the United States. Makes all United States commonwealths and possessions qualify as U.S. homeports for Navy warships, Military Sealift Command ships and Maritime Administration Ready Reserve Fleet vessels. This will put between 100,000 to 120,000 mandays of work back into our American shipyards. That means the work that has been going to ports like Singapore will be coming to our facilities. Section 1017 – Defense Preference Cargo Restrictions – Keep work in the United States. This would prohibit the Secretary of Defense from awarding any contract for the carriage of defense cargo by a vessel unless the contract includes a requirement that the contractor ensure that all repair, overhaul and maintenance work is done in a U.S. shipyard. Section 1014 – Shipbuilding Industrial Base Improvement Program – Modernize Facilities. Establishes a program to provide grants and loan guarantees to U.S. shipbuilders to make capital investment to processes and facilities in order to improve cost effectiveness and quality of ship construction as well as promote international competitiveness. Section 333 – Sea Swap (Policy) Sea Swap is designed to keep a warship on station for 24 to 36 months at time. Then, the Navy sends crews to the ship on six month rotations. This section prohibits further “testing” that keeps warships deployed in foreign waters for years at time. By flying crews to and from ships, routine maintenance is accomplished in overseas facilities as “emergency repairs.” Section 332 – Fleet Response Plan (Policy) The Fleet Response Plan was implemented two years ago for Carrier Strike Groups to improve the surge capability of our 12 aircraft carriers. Concerns have been raised that the Fleet Response Plan has negatively impacted the material condition of the aircraft carriers as well as degraded the quality of routine maintenance. This section puts a hold on the Navy’s plan to expand this program to Expeditionary Combat Groups until a comprehensive study is completed by both the GAO and Navy. Section 331 – Attack Submarine Depot Maintenance (Policy) This section requires a report on the criteria used to send a nuclear attack submarine for short-term CNO schedule maintenance, for example a three month Selected Restrictive Availability, to a facility other than a facility located at the homeport of the submarine. This section prohibits the practice of separating sailors from their families if their homeport facility can execute the maintenance in FY 2007. It is vital to our national security that the ship repair industrial base be preserved and remain vibrant. The House provisions target important areas which support the industry maintaining its critical national security posture. Efforts must be made to encourage the Senate to include these provisions in their version of the FY2007 National Defense Authorization bill (S. 2766).

The following imformation was received from Fleet Forces Command. Please mark your calendar: The next JINII meeting will be held in the Norfolk area on Monday, 24 July 2006, 0800-1630. The location will be the Carrier Planning Activity at 510 Independence Blvd., Suite 500, Chesapeake, VA 23320. Agenda, read ahead and administrative details will be provided in subsequent emails. I anticipate that coffee, breakfast pastries and a box lunch selection will be provided with a conference fee of about $25. If you plan to attend the meeting, request that you send an email to fred.lutz@navy.mil and add “I will attend JINII” to the subject line. Fred can be reached at (757) 836-3750 should you have any questions. We will post the agenda when it becomes available.