US Navy alters contracting concept for carrier Truman overhaul

The US Navy is looking at using more commercial contracts for overhaul work on the USS Harry S Truman, shown here. (Michael Fabey)

The US Navy (USN) Quality of Service Cross-Functional Team (QoS CFT) and Portfolio Acquisition Executive (PAE) In-Service Aircraft Carrier Programme Office is looking to count on more commercial contract work to complete aircraft carrier Refueling and Complex Overhauls (RCOHs), beginning with USS Harry S Truman (CVN 75), the USN confirmed in a statement on 15 June.

Traditionally, sailors assigned to a ship undergoing an RCOH could be assigned to perform supplementary, non-rate-specific duties such as painting, insulating, transportation services, and maintenance, the USN noted.

“The navy is rethinking its approach by leveraging commercial contracts to fulfill these requirements during Harry S Truman 's upcoming RCOH, a strategic shift that will potentially return up to 1 million man-hours to the crew,” the USN said.

“By reducing the crew's supplementary workload during demanding shipyard periods, sailors will have more time to focus on advanced training and operational readiness,” the USN said.

“By contracting out routine tasks like transportation and preservation, we free our crew from traditional shipyard duties,” Vice Admiral Scott Gray, who oversees Navy QoS CFT, said in a statement.

To date, five navy contracts have returned approximately 690,000 labor hours to the crew, with plans to award five additional contracts over the next five years, the USN noted.

With the new contracting method, the USN can assign smaller crews to ships undergoing maintenance, streamlining some of the work and “fostering a more sustainable and effective workforce balance between active-duty personnel and the shipyard's industrial base”, the USN said.