Maintenance Success: Assault Craft Unit 5 Achieves Highest Readiness Level in 34-Year History

Photo By Senior Chief Petty Officer Justin Oxford | 201218-N-OI926-1002 CAMP PENDLETON (Dec. 18, 2020) – Gas Turbine Systems Technician Second Class Maurice Williams inspects an ET40-B gas turbine engine belonging to a landing craft air cushion (LCAC) assigned to Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 5. ACU-5 boasts several intermediate maintenance activities as well as a deployable sea component. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Operations Specialist Justin Oxford)  

SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES

03.24.2021

Courtesy Story

Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Maintenance Success: Assault Craft Unit 5 Achieves Highest Readiness Level in 34-Year History
By CNSP Public Affairs
SAN DIEGO – Assault Craft Unit 5 (ACU 5) kicked off fiscal year 2020 with an increased demand signal from combatant commanders. With an aging fleet of 32 landing craft air-cushions (LCAC) expected to be fully manned, trained, maintained, and ready to fight and win in combat operations, the ACU 5 team had a daunting task ahead of them. Meeting that requirement meant teamwork across the three tiers of their in-house maintenance team of the craft crews, the operational maintenance team, and the organic intermediate maintenance activity.
Despite COVID-19 mitigation efforts, ACU 5 improved its readiness by 20 percent and reduced the occurrence of unplanned failures by 13 percent. Therefore, the length of time needed to complete maintenance jobs decreased from a 69 day average in previous years to an average of 50 days in 2020.
ACU 5’s success was built on a continuous evaluation of processes and an extensive focus on investing in building Sailors’ skillsets. The command graduated more than 20 Sailors from an in-house aluminum welding school, while providing over-the-shoulder master craftsman mentoring for a shop of 24 hull technicians and machinery repairmen. This dedicated oversight from seasoned welding and fabrication technicians as well as gas turbine inspectors on-staff provided the Sailors the direction and technical training required to help them become master craftsmen in the areas of machining, hydraulics, electronics, and calibration, as well as servicing LCAC lift fans and propellers.
In collaboration with PMS 377 – the Amphibious Program Office – ACU 5 was able to take advantage of a very experienced team of on-site representatives for hull, mechanical, and electrical subject matter experts who provide daily oversight and advice on all aspects of LCAC maintenance and repair. This dedicated commitment to mentoring Sailors enabled ACU-5 to remain self-sufficient in nearly every aspect of LCAC maintenance and repair. More than 94 percent of all work items generated by Sailors are completed in-house without assistance from outside activities.
Another beneficial initiative was improving the maintenance workflow between sea-duty LCAC Crews and the organic intermediate maintenance activity. In 2020, ACU 5 also reinvigorated the maintenance team concept, as the port engineer and command maintenance officer worked closely with the staff of Naval Surface Forces Pacific to bring maintenance validating and brokering systems on-line. This electronically moved work items between departments and improved maintenance accountability.
“Over the past six months, the PE (port engineer) has been a critical player in terms of accountability,” said Capt. Chris Nelson, ACU 5’s commanding officer. “The PE continues to ask tough questions, making us justify our planning factors, challenges our assumptions, and forces us to think outside the box in key areas.”

Thanks to a re-investment in Sailor knowledge base, skill sets, and over-the-shoulder mentoring from a team of dedicated and experienced on-site representatives coupled with improvements in work flow, process improvement, and accountability ACU 5 experienced its best readiness year on record. Captain Nelson expressed his admiration of his team’s achievements – especially when factoring in COVID-19 implications.

“Watching this team in action over the past year has been one of the most humbling and rewarding experiences of my career,” Nelson said. “What they were able to achieve in a year of uncertainty and challenge is incredible.”

ACU 5 provides Fleet operational commanders with fully manned, trained, well-maintained and properly supported Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) detachments in support of high-speed ship-to-shore movement of weapons systems, equipment, cargo, and personnel.

• Date Taken: 03.24.2021
• Date Posted: 03.24.2021 18:22
• Story ID: 392222
• Location: SAN DIEGO, CA, US