Ayotte Subcommittee Highlights Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Best Practices

Press Release

In a Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee hearing she chaired today, U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) continued her longstanding advocacy for Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) and highlighted the shipyard's best practices as a model for the Department of Defense and other federal agencies.

As Chair, Ayotte invited Paul O'Connor, President of the Metal Trades Council at PNSY to testify about shipyard best practices at PNSY, how they affect performance, and how they can be effectively shared with other shipyards. The hearing was particularly focused on new training techniques, efficiency initiatives, management and labor cooperation, apprentice programs, and the role of shipyards in sustaining naval readiness.

"Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is the Navy's center of excellence for fast attack nuclear-powered submarine maintenance, modernization, and repair. That is more than just words. The skilled and dedicated workers at Portsmouth have proven it with their performance and their consistent track record of completing projects ahead of schedule and under budget," Ayotte said.

Mr. O'Connor's career spans 40 years as a federal employee at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, where he worked 25 years in the trades as a journeyman electrician performing maintenance and modernization work on submarines. For the past 12 years, he has served as President of the Metal Trades Council, representing the 2,500 tradesmen and women at the shipyard.

"What we're doing at Portsmouth [Naval Shipyard] is truly listening to our workforce. We want their ideas - the men and women at the job site... At our Shipyard, there are about 6,000 men and women....The most important thing we've done at our shipyard, since we've begun these initiatives in 2010, is listen to our workforce... None of what you will hear today would have happened had we not listened to the workforce - it's that important to us," O'Connor said. "And, I've already said it, we can accomplish so much more when we work together. Again, it sounds so simple, but it's so easy to find reasons or excuses to not work together or to not listen to someone. And we're trying to work past that at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard."

As Chair of the Senate Armed Services Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee which oversees shipyards, Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), and military construction, Senator Ayotte has been a steadfast advocate for Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and its dedicated workforce. In addition to playing a major role in authorizing funding for necessary infrastructure projects at the shipyard, Senator Ayotte has used her position on the Armed Services Committee to push for the acquisition of two Virginia Class Submarines each year, instead of only one. Her successful efforts will help mitigate a looming shortfall in attack submarines that threatens our national security and will ensure the workers at Portsmouth are fully utilized for years to come-making the shipyard less susceptible to a future Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round, which she has consistently opposed and successfully blocked for 2017 in the Senate-passed defense bill.

In order to highlight PNSY's top performance and secure the shipyard's future, Ayotte has also led successful efforts in recent years to bring senior DoD officials to the shipyard - including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, in July 2013; now-Admiral and Vice Chief of Naval Operations Michelle Howard in April 2014; and the Commander of Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris, in April 2015.

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