CAPT Dan Hemminger, Commanding Officer, MARMC
The Virginia Ship Repair Association was pleased to have Captain Daniel Hemminger, the Commanding Officer of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC), as the guest speaker at the General Membership Luncheon on Tuesday, September 9th. In his address, Captain Dan Hemminger emphasized the critical importance of the partnership between the U.S. Navy and the ship repair industry in an era of increasing global competition. He began by referencing the 34th Chief of Naval Operations' directive to "rebuild and reform and refocus on what matters readiness, accountability and results". Captain Hemminger stressed that with the current global challenges, the Navy cannot simply build its way to a stronger force in the short term; instead, it must rely on the sustainment and readiness of the current fleet, making the work of the ship repair industry more vital than ever.
To underscore the urgency, Captain Hemminger presented stark statistics comparing U.S. shipbuilding capacity to that of China, noting that China's capacity is over 230 times greater in tonnage and that its naval fleet is significantly younger on average. He stated that the "road to building and sustaining global maritime dominance runs through Hampton Roads," directly crediting the VSRA members for making naval readiness happen. He celebrated several recent local successes, including the on-time or early completion of maintenance on the USS Gonzalez, USS Gravely, USS Ross, and USS Arlington, as proof of the industry's capability to meet these high-stakes demands.
Looking forward, Captain Hemminger called for a continued focus on improving processes to ensure ships are returned to the fleet on time. He identified key areas for improvement, including reducing "open and inspect" strategies in favor of predictable work packages informed by data, better leveraging "streamline growth" authority to empower project managers, and accelerating the time between discovering a problem and taking action. He concluded by reinforcing that the work of the ship repair industry is not just about maintaining vessels but is fundamental to "maintaining America's ability to project power, protect our interests, and preserve peace".
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