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YOKOSUKA, Japan – While USS George Washington (CVN 73) sits in port after completing a successful 2025 patrol, its work is far from over. For the next few months, the passageways are narrower and sailors’ hardhats seem to scrape the overhead no matter how low they duck.
This year’s iteration of Shipboard Repair Availability has turned “Team Warfighter” into “Team SRA,” who can be seen diligently hauling equipment, repairing doors, fixing pipes, reconfiguring berthings, lagging, flooring - the list, seemingly endless.
“SRA is our opportunity to fix what can’t be handled underway,” said Logistics Specialist 1st Class Jesten Leija, a member of the plenum team. “If we miss it here, we carry those problems back to sea.”
Leija explained that SRA typically lasts four to five months while the ship is in port and serves as a critical window for repairs, upgrades, and preventative maintenance before the ship gets underway.
“Every task is on a timeline, and delays affect the entire crew,” Leija added.
Apart from the shipyard workers and white hardhats walking around, seven SRA teams made up entirely of Sailors are putting in the work. The door team is ensuring watertight integrity. The habitability team is refurbishing berthings and racks. The deck team is installing new flooring. We have vent, cable, lagging, and plenum teams repairing, replacing, and inspecting their respective areas. In total, 282 GW Sailors are supporting SRA teams with over 20 people per team – all working to improve the overall safety and operational readiness of the ship.
“People think because we’re in port, things slow down, but this is when the real work starts,” said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate Airman Lebron D. Jordan, a plenum team member. “Our team takes care of corrosion from the saltwater and we repaint and make sure there’s no damage from the corrosion. It’s physical work, but it has to be done right because other people rely on the job getting done on time.”
Jordan described the work as repetitive, loud, and physically demanding. Power tools clatter against metal. Passageways shrink from the tubing, equipment, and parts. Schedules change daily. Simple tasks turn into larger jobs.
“Being flexible and adapting to the day-to-day changes is essential to the work at hand,” Jordan added.
For Leija, being a good leader means taking initiative, finding out what steps need to be taken, and what works need to be done.
“SRA is about coordination and accountability between Sailors and civilian contractors and the officers who oversee multiple teams,” Leija explained. “My job is to balance manpower, safety, and deadlines while ensuring junior sailors aren’t pushed past their limits.”
Jordan described how his team rarely gets to see their impact on the final product as each team contributes to the overall job. Doors close. Racks return. Spaces look unchanged, but Teams Sailors know what it took to get there.
“When everything is back in place, it feels like we were never there, but we know the difference it makes,” Jordan said. “The work tests endurance, communication, and attitude, but it also builds confidence and ownership in the ship.”
SRA teams Sailors are showing up and taking pride in their work and it is important to recognize them for their impact on material and operational readiness.
When SRA ends and the ship returns to sea, the repairs fade into the background, but their impact carries forward. Long after the tools are stowed, the ship remains mission ready because of the hard work and dedication from our SRA teams Sailors, who embody the confidence and determination to fight and win wars – which can only be achieved through readiness.
| Date Taken: | 04.30.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 07.14.2026 18:16 |
| Story ID: | 569871 |
| Location: | YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, JP |
| Web Views: | 10 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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