Current and Future Challenges to Resourcing U.S. Navy Public Shipyards
Abstract
The U.S. Navy currently owns and operates four public shipyards, which must be ready and able to support the fleet anytime and any- where in the world at a moments notice. They perform the Navys most-complex maintenance and modernization, including for nuclear- powered submarines and aircraft carriers. For this reason, the public shipyards are required to maintain core capabilities that the private sector does not maintain. In addition, they are subject to laws and regulations that dictate how and where work can be performed. Over the past five years, workload at the Navys public ship- yards has been on the rise. Direct man-days of work assigned to and executed by the shipyards have increased during that time and are planned to continue to increase in the near future. Indirect man-days have also risen. Some of these increases have been driven by the introduction of new classes of platforms maintained at the shipyards, more work for aging classes of carriers and submarines, and higher operational tempo. Increases in programmed work for nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarines (SSBNs) and execution challenges in that work have driven additional workload. Moreover, loss of productivity from the greening of the workforcethat is, an influx of new, and thus inexperienced, personnelhas slowed productivity and will continue to do so in the near and middle terms. Navy initiatives to more rapidly train the newly hired trade personnel have shown early success and may play a key role in future workforce management as the initiatives are broadened. Planned increases in civilian staffing levels are necessary but not sufficient to mitigate near-term execution risk at the shipyards.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 13, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1053679
Entities
People
- Daniel Tremblay
- James G. Kallimani
- Jessie Riposo
- Michael E. Mcmahon
Organizations
- RAND Corporation