Rear Adm. Joe Cahill, Commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic
On Tuesday, June 3rd, Rear Adm. Joe Cahill, Commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic, addressed the Virginia Ship Repair Association (VSRA) at our recent General Membership Luncheon at Chartway Arena, praising the industry as "home front warriors" for their critical role in maintaining the U.S. Navy's fleet.
Cahill began by setting a collaborative tone for the meeting. He emphasized the importance of the industry's work by sharing a personal story about the emotional return of the USS Carney and other warships. "I thank you for everything that you are doing every single day to make our ships ready," he stated, attributing the 37 successful homecomings across both coasts to the efforts of the ship repair industry.
A key focus of his address was the success of the Navy's maintenance model for destroyers, known as "Tasker Greyhound." This model, which utilizes incremental SRA's has resulted in a 15 out of 17 on-time completion rate since 2021. Cahill announced a significant expansion of this strategy, transitioning all East Coast destroyers to what will be called the "24/6 model," which moves from a nine-year to a six-year dry-docking cycle. "We know based on the last four years of data... as a team, we can accomplish maintenance and repair, overhaul, refit and some modernization to keep our warships in the fight for more days," he explained.
The Rear Admiral also highlighted the Navy's commitment to improving its own processes. He mentioned the establishment of a full-time Readiness Operations Center to bring together stakeholders and solve problems more rapidly. He stressed the need for the Navy to provide the industry with well-defined work packages and early contract awards.
Addressing the evolving threats faced by the Navy, Cahill spoke about the need to counter new challenges like drone swarm attacks. He mentioned the work of the Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center, which uses data to rapidly evolve tactics. He noted that the future of ship defense lies in directed energy weapons.
Cahill also acknowledged the industry's contributions to building the future workforce, noting that the VSRA Foundation has raised over $180,000 to support workforce programs and has trained 21,000 students.
The luncheon concluded with thanks for RADM Cahill's speech. The next General Membership event will be a member networking social on Thursday, July 24th and the next General Membership Luncheon will be on Tuesday, August 12th.
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