Photo By Troy Miller | During their annual Navy Reserve two-week-long training period at Norfolk Naval...... read more read more
“Send in the cavalry” is an adage that dates back as early as the 8th century B.C. Although the saying derives from the times an army component mounted on horseback, it is still used today, normally when someone needs help or reinforcements.
All four public Navy shipyards: Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY), Portsmouth, Virginia; Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine; Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, Washington; and Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii have their own cavalry, the Navy Reserve Surge Maintenance Program (SurgeMain).
The SurgeMain program, established in 2005, mobilizes reservists with technical and trade backgrounds to augment the Navy’s civilian workforce, providing critical support for ship maintenance, repairs and modernization. This can be especially valuable particularly during periods of high workload or when faced with challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the NNSY SurgeMain’s indoctrination class, Shipyard Commander, Capt. Jip Mosman told the reservists of the recent win of a fly-away team consisting of 27 civilian personnel. These members went to Souda Bay, Greece, to perform emergent work on the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) for repairs following its recent collision with a merchant vessel.
“From the moment we found out the Harry S. Truman needed assistance, the shipyard immediately went to work to establish a response effort that could leave within a few days,” said Mosman. “Our team traveled on Sunday, February 16th, and approximately five days later, the Harry S. Truman was repaired to the point where it could finish its current deployment.”
Mosman continued, “Now if there was ever a time the shipyard needs to send out multiple fly-away teams at the same time for whatever reason, it would leave a gap here at NNSY. Providing these fly-away teams doesn’t mean that the work being performed at NNSY comes to a halt. We still need to continue the work here at home to return the ships and submarines to the fleet to support the Navy’s mission.”
“This is where SurgeMain would come into effect. I would request a SurgeMain mobilization to the shipyard to fill the gaps that were created when the civilians went on the fly-away teams to support ships that are currently on deployment,” said Mosman. “The shipyard will rely on you, the SurgeMain team, to carry out NNSY’s mission of repairing, modernizing and inactivating our Navy’s warships and training platforms on time and within budget.”
If the need arises for NNSY to activate SurgeMain, participating Sailors will need to have current qualifications and knowledge of the job. This is where the reservists' two-week-long Navy Reserves Annual Training (AT) comes into play to provide a smooth transition into the various shops and codes across the shipyard.
“During my time here at NNSY, I am earning my qualifications and learning how to work on the equipment and parts that are unique to NNSY,” said Machinist Mate First Class Kyle Leonard from SurgeMain Atlanta. “This way, if SurgeMain is activated, I do not have to take valuable time to earn my qualifications and learn how to perform the job. I can come straight in and get to work right away.”
NNSY personnel who are considered subject matter experts in their particular skill and trade are brought in to help with SurgeMain’s continuous training and development.
“Some reservists have been doing their trade for a long time, while others are fairly new to their trade,” said NNSY’s Outside Machine Shop (Shop 38) Outside Machinist James Derrickson. “Not all reservists get to perform their skill and trade every day like us civilians here at NNSY. We provide them with refresher training to get the rust off, plus we train the new reservists to get them up to speed on how to perform any said task given to them at NNSY during their time here.”
NNSY’s assigned SurgeMain personnel come from Baltimore, Maryland; Nashville, Tennessee; Raleigh, North Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; and Norfolk, Virginia, which is the flagship unit. All six SurgeMain units combined consist of over 250 Navy Reservists. In the recent past, each SurgeMain unit throughout the United States would support all four Navy shipyards. Currently, SurgeMain is organized in regions that are assigned to only one shipyard to support when needed.
“Being assigned to just one shipyard allows SurgeMain to learn the ins and outs of that particular shipyard to be more proficient in their work and it allows for good working relationships to form with NNSY shop personnel that would carry on in the future,” said SurgeMain Program Manager and Officer in Charge Lt. Comdr. Robert Lang.
In June, the second and final group of SurgeMain reservists, consisting of approximately 140 Sailors, will come to NNSY for two weeks to receive or maintain their qualifications to date and learn or refresh in their trades. This way if the “cavalry” is ever needed, NNSY will request SurgeMain, whose motto is “Right Skills, Right Place, Right Time,” and as for Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s assigned SurgeMain team, it’s ready and standing by to do its part for America’s Shipyard.
| Date Taken: | 04.01.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.04.2025 12:24 |
| Story ID: | 494582 |
| Location: | PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 23 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Norfolk Naval Shipyard has Its Own Cavalry Known as Navy Reserve Surge Maintenance Program, by Troy Miller, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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