JUN - Bath Iron Works

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From the Fleet and the Field Seaward-Bound on a Bath-built Ship On May 22, 2009, Nathaniel Bishop, stepson of Greg Bridgman (D20) graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. President Obama shook the hands of every graduating midshipman, all 1,000+ of them. What next for a young man who has already accomplished a great deal? His parents say that he passed the SEAL screening and had quite a bit of pressure from fellow mids to go in that direction. However, he felt that his ultimate goal was to be a good leader, and his advisers suggested that the best place to learn about leadership is as a surface warfare officer because SWOs deal with such a wide spectrum of issues. Taking that advice, he was accepted and then the midshipmen SWO candidates were able to select a ship based on their class rank. For a variety of reasons, Ensign Bishop chose the Bath-built USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) now homeported in Japan. His reporting orders from the ship included an encouraging greeting: “You will absolutely love your tour aboard the “Fightn’ Fitz.” Nathaniel’s reaction to his assignment? “Pretty cool, eh?” Ensign Bishop receives congratulations from President Obama in the photo at right. Photo courtesy of Greg Bridgman. DDG 109 Christening is August 1, 2009 Summer is a busy time of year, but sometimes beaches and barbecues can take a back seat. Please highlight Saturday, August 1, 2009 on your calendars— the day that Bath Iron Works will host the christening of Jason Dunham (DDG 109), the latest Arleigh Burke class AEGIS destroyer and the thirty-second of these remarkable ships built at BIW. DDG 109 is named for a heroic young Marine who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country, Cpl Jason L. Dunham of the United States Marine Corps. Jason Dunham is a recipient of the nation’s most distinguished award, the Congressional Medal of Honor. While serving with the 3rd Battalion of the 7th Marine Regiment in DDG 109 Ship Sponsor, Deb Dunham Iraq’s Anbar Province in April 2004, Jason saved the lives of several of his platoon colleagues by smothering the blast of a grenade dropped by an insurgent who was involved in a scuffle at a vehicle checkpoint near Karabilah. Gravely wounded, Cpl Dunham was evacuated to the United States and died on April 22, 2004 at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He is buried in his hometown of Scio, New York. His mother, Deb Dunham, is the ship’s Sponsor and will be assisted by her daughter and Jason’s sister, Katelyn Dunham, as Maid of Honor. Many Dunham family members and friends from their hometown in upstate New York will be in Bath to honor Jason. We expect that many of his USMC brothers in arms will attend, including members of his unit. If you would like to learn more, Jason’s story is told in the book The Gift of Valor by Michael M. Phillips. The event will have a noticeable Marine Corps presence including a Marine Color Guard. We are expecting many distinguished guests and a turn-out of Marines, other Medal of Honor recipients and Iraq theater veterans. Come and join the celebrations of another great BIW-built ship and show your appreciation for the people who make this country great. The formal program of this christening will begin at 10:00 AM, one hour earlier than recent christening events. BIW employees and accompanied family members will be able to tour some of the manufacturing facilities and Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) between 7:30 and 9:30 AM before the ceremony. We are hoping for great summer weather, so bring sunscreen. In addition to the usual fare, the 11:00 AM post-event reception will also include ice cream. 8 | June 2009 | BIW NEWS
Engineering Excellence Manufacturing Excellence The 5th Annual General Dynamics Manufacturing Symposium was held April 15-16, 2009 in Tampa, Florida and once again recognized improvement activities occurring throughout GD. The BIW Ultra Enterprise Team received the BIW award for manufacturing excellence. This team is comprised of over 50 people drawn from Manufacturing, Engineering, Design, Planning, Scheduling and Facilities who were recognized for their achievement in planning, building and bringing the Ultra Hall concept on line. With our first Ultra Unit now part of DDG 109 on the Land Level Transfer Facility (LLTF), this group has exceeded their initial target for moving work scope from LLTF to Ultra and allowed us to set new goals associated with Ultra capability. With major advances in safety, quality and schedule being confirmed, the Ultra Hall is proving its value to current ship con- Brent Moulton (D40) received a General Dynamics Engineering Excellence Award at the 11th Annual GD Engineering Excellence and Innovation Awards Conference and Banquet which was held in Washington, D.C. on April 30, 2009. These awards recognize top achievements in technological performance by General Dynamics employees. The Engineering award is given for significant engineering project accomplishment with direct and positive impact on design and /or production quality, schedule, or cost. Brent is the lead electrical engineer for the power generation equipment that supplies combat systems aboard the Arleigh Burke DDG 51 Class of destroyers and he received this recognition for his leadership and skill in resolving issues associated with the 400Hz power system. The first solid state fault protection system and the first solid state automatic bus transfer device for a 400 Hz system were installed on DDG 104 to address combat system failure problems. When the newly installed system experienced multiple failures and the Navy expressed concern, Brent immersed himself in the problem, redesigned the vendor hardware and coded changes into 20 microprocessors. He then developed and executed a rigorous test and activation plan at the vendor facility that essentially eliminated any technical issues with the system, resulting in a near flawless shipboard installation and activation. His efforts resulted in a 400Hz power system that is much more robust and survivable than ever before aboard a surface combatant. tracts while allowing us to apply the lessons learned of late stage DDGs to DDG 1000 planning. Jeff Geiger, Chairman of the GD Manufacturing Council, stated in his introduction to council participants, “A tremendous asset of our corporation and the council GD Engineering Excellence and Innovation Awards. Shown l to r: Jeff Geiger, Michael Bolon, Brent Moulton, Jay Johnson and Chris Waaler. At the conference, opening remarks were provided by Michael Bolon, senior vice president, Land Systems and chairman of the Engineering and Technology Council. Jay Johnson, GD Board of Directors Vice Chairman presented the awards. GD Manufacturing Symposium. Shown l to r: Jeff Geiger, Mark Lamarre, Ray Robishaw, Kevin Flanagan, Nick Chabraja (GD Chairman and CEO), David Heebner (GD Marine President), Jim Favreau and Matt Reid. construct is the ability to draw upon and leverage the knowledge and skill of our innovators and implementers.” The BIW Ultra Enterprise Team is an outstanding example of innovation and implementation. BIW NEWS | June 2009 | 9
Page 1 and 2: BIW NEWS June 2009 Wayne E. Meyer (
Page 3 and 4: Performance May 2009 RECORDABLE INJ
Page 5 and 6: Wellness and Benefits Keep Movin’
Page 7: Help! Call 2222 * Members of BIW’
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