By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman
Matthew Reinhardt, Kitty Hawk public affairs
Posted: January 17, 2007
YOKOSUKA, Japan – USS Kitty Hawk
(CV 63) entered a long maintenance period here, Jan. 8. This
maintenance period is called a selective restricted availability
(SRA) and will last through spring.
More than 239,000 man hours are scheduled for the ship’s force
during SRA, said Cmdr. Dan Carscallen, 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.”
A new division was created to handle a portion of the work inside
the ship, said Lt. Gary Gunlock, ship’s force work team (SWFT)
coordinator. The SFWT is made up of 200 Kitty Hawk Sailors and will
fix problems with lagging, tile, paint, doors, valves, tool issue
and several other areas, he said.
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,”
said Gunlock.
This year’s availability is smaller than last year’s in both time
and job size, but the work is just as important, said Gunlock. He
said the planning for this SRA period actually began during last
year’s, and planning for next year’s has already begun.
“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.”
Larger jobs during this period include maintenance on boilers,
upkeep on aircraft elevators, and replacing the non-skid surfacing
for both the flight deck and hangar bay, said Carscallen.
To find more news about the Kitty Hawk Strike Group, visit the Navy
NewsStand at www.news.navy.mil/local/cv63/.
This is an official U.S.
Navy web site and the official web site for the U.S. 7th Fleet. Contact the Webmaster via
e-mail or Unit 25104; FPO
AP 96601-6003.
