Photo By Shelby West | Code 133 Non-Nuclear Quality Assurance Receipt Inspection Specialist Edward LeBoeuf,...... read more read more
This time on Heritage Hour, we had the privilege to sit down with Code 133 Non-Nuclear Quality Assurance Receipt Inspection Specialist Edward LeBoeuf, Jr. He recently received recognition for 60 years of Federal service with 55 of those years spent right here at Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY).
To say that LeBoeuf has history with the shipyard is an understatement. Born at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (formerly Portsmouth Naval Hospital) and growing up outside the NNSY gates on Elm Ave., his father was a Shop 26 welder. In fact, he is believed to be one of the earliest African American graduates from NNSY’s apprenticeship program. After serving more than four years with the U.S. Air Force and a brief time at Naval Air Station Oceana, LeBoeuf followed in his father’s footsteps and entered the apprenticeship program in 1968 as a Shop 56 pipefitter.
Things looked very different at NNSY during that time. Just a few months prior to LeBoeuf starting, NNSY had completed its very first overhaul of a nuclear powered submarine in the shadows of the shipbuilding ways that once towered over waterfront personnel with the USS Skate (SSN 578). The first radiation protection course was held onsite for radiation monitors instead of sending personnel out to locations scattered across the country. The parking lot in front of Building M-32 was a lush green Marine parade field where recreational sports were played. All reports and inspections were handwritten, as LeBoeuf recalled, but it was something he was accustomed to from his time in the Air Force when he was documenting air traffic over Berlin, Germany. When he graduated from the apprenticeship program with honors in 1972, his class is noted as being the second year that women had graduated from the program.
Some things that were happening at that time would feel familiar to the shipyard workers of today. NNSY was leading the way with never-before-done conversions to Navy ships. Instead of converting submarines to moored training ships, waterfront personnel were converting the gasoline powered ships to diesel engines. LeBoeuf spoke of post-availability meetings where suggestions for much needed changes to processes were presented to the commanding officer. However, pre-planning for projects often happened so far in advance that the changes were not recorded on paper until a later avaliablity.
LeBoeuf said that, despite their issues, computers have made jobs, especially inspections, easier compared to having to handwrite and fax documents. While his job of checking in and storing material may not be glamorous, it is still important. A good reminder that no matter what the job is in NNSY, every person makes a vital contribution to the mission and the history of repairing, modernizing and inactivating our Nation's warships and training platforms.
Cutlines:
Code 133 Non-Nuclear Quality Assurance Receipt Inspection Specialist Edward LeBoeuf, Jr. at the entrance of Code 133 Receipt Inspection; LeBoeuf with Code 133 Receipt Inspection General Foreman Ruben Durand; LeBoeuf with fellow honor graduates of the 1972 apprentice class at NNSY; the November 17, 1972 issue of Service to the Fleet covering the 1972 apprentice graduation.
| Date Taken: | 02.01.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 02.01.2024 12:00 |
| Story ID: | 462926 |
| Location: | PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 239 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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