The Navy’s top maintenance official warned that the service is “in a tail-chase” to get submarines and ships the overhauls they need, with some running much longer than foreseen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vice Adm. William Hilarides said the yards got backed up because of budget cuts and a hiring freeze that left thousands of jobs unfilled at Naval Sea Systems Command, which Hilarides leads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We found ourselves almost 2,000 people behind out of a workforce of 30,000, on an increasing workload … and we fell behind,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hilarides, who spoke Wednesday at the annual Naval Submarine League symposium in Northern Virginia, said that the attack boats had seen the longest delays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They are significantly behind and we will not catch back up,” said Hilarides, a career submariner who has commanded the attack sub Key West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hilarides said workloads have continued to increase as the ballistic missile subs hit their mid-life refueling, as well as the increased demand of having 11 carriers, which wasn’t the case until the George H.W. Bush entered the fleet in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hilarides also discussed the impact of last year’s shootings in Building 197, NAVSEA’s headquarters, saying his staff is getting geared up to reenter the building next February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They are beginning to come to terms with the idea of coming back to the building,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hilarides said workers have been shown pictures of what the building and their desks look like now after the renovation and many have visited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The building will be ready Feb. 1, which is a Sunday. NAVSEA will have a ceremony marking the renaming of the building after renowned ship builder Joshua Humphreys, who designed the Navy’s first six frigates, including the USS Constitution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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