Photo By Danielle Lofton | Mark Raasio, a Project Support Engineer for USS New York (LPD 21) poses for a photo on...... read more read more
Walking the yard of General Dynamics NASSCO-Norfolk, you’ll find Project Support Engineer (PSE) Mark Raasio inspecting USS New York (LPD 21) for technical compliance. A Navy veteran of 21 years, Raasio uses his past experience and vast wealth of knowledge to help support MARMC’s efficient completion of availabilities and timely deliveries of ships back to the fleet.
During his active duty Navy career, Raasio worked as a Fire Control Technician. This position gave him the opportunity to travel the world and to be stationed in places like Japan, the Philippines, and Hawaii. In 2003, he was assigned to work at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center’s (MARMC) Engineering Department and was later assigned to the Waterfront Operations Department as a Shipbuilding Specialist (SBS) until he retired in 2006. After retirement, Raasio’s Navy career never skipped a beat and eventually came full circle.
“I always knew that I wanted to get back into Engineering after I retired,” said Raasio. “So after retirement I came back on as a SBS for a few years until I got hired back into Engineering as a PSE. I ended up working for the same supervisor I started my MARMC career with back when I was active duty.”
Raasio is a part of MARMC’s Engineering Service Desk (ESD). The ESD consists of PSEs who are tied in with every availability maintenance team and support the Project Manager (PM) with managing and resolving technical issues and implementing technical authority policy. As the primary point of contact (POC), PSEs assists with request for resolution to technical issues, Fleet Technical Assistance (FTA), and or equipment/system material condition assessments.
As a PSE, Raasio is a part of the core maintenance team for USS New York and serves as the Chief Engineer’s on-site representative. His daily responsibilities include providing technical oversight and coordination to ensure compliance is maintained and work certifications are completed properly. Prior to this assignment, Raasio was assigned to USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) for roughly 10-years.
“We deal with the day-to-day problems a contractor may run into,” said Raasio. “The technical issues come up and we try to find the answers for them or adjudicate the contractor's proposed repair method.”
As challenging as the ship repair business is, Raasio has yet to be faced with an issue that he hasn’t been able to resolve. He is passionate about his work and knows how important it is to keep the condition of the ship in tip-top shape.
“Whether it’s the operation of equipment, the steel, the paint, that’s all part of the material condition of the ship that needs to be 100% operational,” said Raasio. “The best part of my job is to be able to see the ship get out on-time, with everything working, and all of the repairs complete. Being a part of delivering a ship back to the fleet in the best condition possible, capable of fighting for our nation if needed is truly rewarding.”
MARMC provides surface ship maintenance, management and oversight of private sector maintenance and fleet technical assistance to ships in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and provides support to the 5th and 6th Fleet Area of Responsibilities. They are also responsible for the floating dry-dock Dynamic (AFDL-6).
| Date Taken: | 09.08.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 09.08.2022 11:20 |
| Story ID: | 428821 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 33 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Engineering Service Desk Spotlight: Mark Raasio, by Danielle Lofton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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