All surface ships now have an articulated, technically rigorous and engineered maintenance oversight process that supports each ship reaching its expected service life.
USS Essex (LHD 2) completed an 85-week Docking Phased Maintenance Availability (DPMA) in San Diego in April and is now preparing to enter the new Fleet Readiness Plan cycle in this month. This transition marks the attainment of Naval Sea Systems Command’s (NAVSEA) goal of implementing the BAWP/AWP process on all surface ships by the end of fiscal year 2014.
“This milestone represents a significant accomplishment for the surface maintenance community and is a testament to the professionalism and partnership between the SURFMEPP team and all our maintenance partners,” said SURFMEPP Commanding Officer, Capt. Michael Malone. “The process efficiencies gained through the completion of the BAWP will help improve ship availability planning and execution, providing an engineered foundation by which to plan, execute, track and document surface maintenance.”
The BAWP/AWP process represents the NAVSEA-mandated technical requirements to ensure a ship reaches its expected service life and meets operational commitments while reducing surface ship maintenance cost overruns through early identification and planning of material deficiencies. This process, which includes detailed and timely material condition assessments for critical ship systems and structures, is tailored specifically to each ship based on the requirements outlined in the ship’s Class Maintenance Plan, and includes a list of work that must be accomplished during scheduled availabilities. SURFMEPP then tracks the execution of all BAWP-required maintenance actions.
This process codifies a centralized and streamlined approach to plan and document surface ship maintenance requirements, which in turn improves surface ship maintenance execution by reducing the potential for unknown and growth work to impact cost and schedule execution.
The Program phased in the BAWP/AWP process in 2009. Since then, a total of 136 initial surface ship BAWPs have been issued. By implementing processes such as the BAWP, SURFMEPP plays a key role in ensuring the Navy meets its surface ship readiness goals.
The Navy’s Surface Maintenance Engineering Planning Program, a NAVSEA field activity, provides centralized surface ship life cycle maintenance and engineering planning. SURFMEPP is headquartered in Portsmouth, Virginia, with detachments in Norfolk, Virginia, Mayport, Florida, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Everett, Washington, San Diego, Yokosuka and Sasebo, Japan, Manama, Bahrain and Rota, Spain.
