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Kitty Hawk Enters Maintenance Period
Story Number: NNS070119-03
Release Date: 1/19/2007 2:47:00 PM
By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Matthew Reinhardt, USS Kitty Hawk Public Affairs
YOKOSUKA, Japan (NNS) -- USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) began a $28.5 million selective restricted availability (SRA) maintenance period Jan. 8.
Through the spring, more than 239,000 ship’s force man-hours will be devoted to maintenance work on boilers, upkeep on aircraft elevators, and replacing the non-skid surfacing for the flight deck and hangar bay, said Cmdr. Dan Carscallen, Kitty Hawk’s SRA shipboard coordinator.
“This is an old ship, a lot of maintenance is required to keep Kitty Hawk running,” said Carscallen. “This maintenance will keep us mission ready, so it’s critical that all major equipment be [inspected] and that jobs be put in.”
According to Lt. Gary Gunlock, ship’s force work team (SWFT) coordinator, the ship created a new division to handle a portion of the work inside the ship. The division’s 200 Sailors will replace pipe lagging, worn tile, fix or replace doors and valves, oversee tool issue and paint, as well as several other areas.
"Civilian contractors are training the new division, since few of its Sailors had experience with that sort of work," said Gunlock. “This really is a unique opportunity for the young guys to learn something outside their rates to help them later on as leaders.”
The work load for this year’s maintenance period is smaller than the one the ship completed last year in both time and job size, but the work is just as important, said Gunlock. Planning for this SRA began during the previous maintenance period, and plans already are underway for next year’s efforts.
“This took a lot of prior planning,” said Gunlock. “Each team leader has screened the jobs and estimated the necessary man hours and materials. It’s a lot of hard work to do, but these guys are all pretty motivated to get this work done for the ship.”
For related news, visit the USS Kitty Hawk Strike Group Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/cv63/.
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