Courtesy Photo | Led by Contracting Department Director Cmdr. Andrea Davis, members of NAVSUP FLC...... read more read more
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – When USS George Washington (CVN 73) pulls into ports in South America this summer, there will be a couple of familiar faces at the pier.
Contracting officers from Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Fleet Logistics Center (FLC) Jacksonville will meet the warship at nearly all resupply stops as the newly overhauled aircraft carrier travels from Virginia around the tip of South America to San Diego.
Supporting the carrier’s upcoming transit has been a large focus of the command’s Contracting Department for the past six months. NAVSUP FLC Jacksonville contracting officers have written more than 30 contracts authorizing over 2,000 line items for the transit, including food provisions and pierside services such as potable water and trash collection.
The carrier visited Naval Station Mayport this week as it starts its voyage. Cmdr. Andrea Davis and her contracting team visited the ship to meet their customers in person.
“It is a really big evolution for us,” Davis said about the multi-month transit of the carrier. “We’ve been participating in weekly logistics working groups since February, and we took part in a tabletop exercise, hosted by US Fleet Forces Command, in March up in Norfolk.”
The carrier will travel with the destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) and the fleet replenishment oiler USNS John Lenthall (T-AO 189). While the flattop and destroyer were at Mayport, NAVSUP FLC Jacksonville’s Logistics Support Center supplied the items that made for a successful port stop, including ground transportation and coordination of all deliveries of material, chairs and tents for a 200-person VIP reception, in addition to a top-up of food provisions.
“It has been several years since we’ve had a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the basin. It was a lot of work, but also a real pleasure for my team to support USS George Washington and her escort ship when they visited us here in Mayport,” said Lt. Cmdr. Bentley Hodsdon, NAVSUP FLC Jacksonville logistics support officer.
As the carrier group travels south, it is scheduled to make port visits in several South American cities for resupply. NAVSUP FLC Jacksonville’s Shawn Stebbins, Bianka Echevarria and their team members will be there to ensure everything goes right with the contracted support.
The benefit of having a contracting officer on the ground is the ability to get immediate action if changes are needed. The NAVSUP FLC Jacksonville employee typically arrives in the port city a few days early and visits the warehouses and sites that will supply the contracted items.
“There’s the tyranny of distance. If we’re back here in Florida, there may be a lag in our response time. The ship is only visiting for two or three days. We could miss the window for action entirely,” said Stebbins, a supervisory contract specialist and Husbanding Service Provider Program lead. “If I’m there, and we need a change, I can say, ‘That’s authorized, do it.’”
Echevarria said providing in-person support to a deployed warship is the best part of the job.
“That's absolutely the most fun part of the job. We are living and breathing the contract in real time," said Echevarria, who is 4th Fleet expeditionary contracting supervisor. “What comes out of the contract, we can see it in action for the warfighter.”
NAVSUP FLC Jacksonville is one of eight FLCs under the command of NAVSUP. Headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, NAVSUP employs a diverse, worldwide workforce of more than 25,000 military and civilian personnel. NAVSUP and the Navy Supply Corps conduct and enable supply chain, acquisition, operational logistics and Sailor and family care activities with our mission partners to generate readiness and sustain naval forces worldwide to prevent and decisively win wars. Learn more at www.navsup.navy.mil and www.facebook.com/navsup.
| Date Taken: | 05.01.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.01.2024 13:14 |
| Story ID: | 470028 |
| Location: | JACKSONVILLE, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 502 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, A Friendly Face at the Pier: Jacksonville Logisticians Support USS George Washington Transit Around S. America, by Jeanette Steele, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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