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PORTSMOUTH, Va. – For sailors aboard USS Wasp or any other Navy ship, performing material and maintenance management (3M) work is a sometimes demanding yet always necessary task. From Feb. 22-25 aboard Wasp, sailors got a chance to show their 3M skills during a “no notice” spot check inspection, a test they passed with flying colors.
For this evolution, a team from Commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic came aboard the ship and tested Sailors from Wasp’s deck, navigation, engineering, and command, control, combat systems, computers, communications, information (C5I) departments on their knowledge of 3M. This was accomplished by having Sailors perform spot checks for the inspectors on various preventive maintenance jobs.
“We passed 17 out of 18 spot checks for the team,” said John Greene, chief hull maintenance technician, Wasp’s 3M coordinator. “This was due to the involvement of the ship’s leadership. Their level of intrusiveness in the 3M process, as well as the hard work of the ship’s maintenance qualified personnel, all contributed to our great performance.”
For Wasp’s crew, performing PMS checks correctly is vital for both the ship’s reputation and its ability to complete its mission.
“Passing inspections such as this helps determine whether or not we are awarded the ‘Battle E,’” said Greene. “But more importantly, doing maintenance correctly ensures that the ship can go out to sea and perform its job.”
For some of the sailors who performed spot checks for the COMNAVSURFLANT team, getting a passing grade meant simply following every step correctly on their maintenance requirement card.
“We were tasked with performing a Q-10R, which involves inspecting and cleaning vari-nozzles,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Tony Malone, aviation boatswain’s mate (handling), a 3M work center supervisor. “It’s a strenuous check, because you have to do it for four different nozzles. The inspectors were very thorough in their assessment, but we passed.”
For Malone and his fellow air department maintenance personnel, performing for the inspection team was also a learning experience.
“We were taught various ways to identify tools, parts, and materials correctly,” said Malone. “It was a worthwhile experience.”
For Petty Officer 3rd Class Andrew Phillips, boatswain’s mate, completing his spot check for the inspectors was simply part of a good day’s work.
“I had to do a 2M-1R, which is maintenance on our Probe Receiver Flag indicators and release arm, which are used during refueling evolutions with other ships,” said Phillips. “The inspectors were very formal, yet they didn’t try to slip me up with overly difficult questions. They just wanted to make sure that I had done the maintenance correctly. And as long as you’ve done this, spot checks are easy.”
The opportunity for training and experience that 3M inspections such as this bring is their most important feature, said Greene.
“These types of inspections ensure we are doing PMS correctly, both on the deck plate and administratively,” he said. “If we’re doing our job exactly as specified, everything will go fine.”
| Date Taken: | 02.25.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 03.16.2011 12:42 |
| Story ID: | 67178 |
| Location: | PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 223 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Wasp Nearly Perfect on 3M 'Spot Check', by PO2 Christopher Koons, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
