Southwest Regional Maintenance Center Hosts Congressional Members

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- Southwest Regional Maintenance Center (SWRMC) hosted Reps. Rob Wittman, R-VA, and Madeleine Bordallo, D-GU, to observe some of SWRMC's production operations March 26.

Capt. Mike Fulgham, SWRMC's commanding officer, began the visit by briefing the congressional visitors on SWRMC's primary mission areas to include depot level maintenance contract oversight, fleet technical assistance/total ship readiness assessments and intermediate level maintenance.

The delegation toured two of SWRMC's four product families to witness firsthand the intermediate level maintenance capabilities supporting the fleet in San Diego.

The tour began in the corrosion control product family which produces thousands of treated and powder coated items annually, utilizing the most modern equipment and highly efficient procedures.

The congressional visitors also toured the engine product family (EPF) where they were able to see the innovative efforts of SWRMC personnel in regards to the flight deck net frames' product line.

Historically, RMCs and their contracted sources have manufactured and repaired flight deck safety nets using an archaic manual process. The process included the use of several technicians to assemble these nets using heavy hammers to impact form star clips at the intersections of the stainless steel rope that formed the nets.

Working with SWRMC's machine product family, the EPF created a machine that indexes and compresses each star clip in a tooled location, eliminating the need for technicians to position themselves in poor ergonomic situations while also standardizing the process to provide identical nets from unit-to-unit.

The visit provided a unique opportunity for members of Congress and their staffs to gain an understanding of the critical role SWRMC has in ensuring Pacific fleet ships are maintained to ensure maximum operational and material readiness.

For more information about SWRMC, visit http://www.swrmc.navy.mil/.


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