Fourteen employees of Southeast Regional Maintenance Center (SERMC) were honored as the first inductees into the new “Rough Riders Team” on Nov. 4 by Rear Adm. Tom Anderson, Commander, Navy Regional Maintenance Center (CNRMC) and Director, Surface Ship Maintenance and Modernization (SEA 21) of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA).

“The Rough Rider award recognizes our people who go above and beyond the call of duty. Ship repair is a tough business, there are long hours and most people don’t understand or realize the amount of behind the scenes work that goes into getting these ships underway. It’s the people who embody President Roosevelt’s Rough Riders ethos of prioritize, communicate and finish that earn a spot on the team,” Anderson said during his visit to SERMC.

Six SERMC employees earned the SEA 21/CNRMC Rough Rider awards for overseeing and completing emergent repairs expeditiously on USS Detroit (LCS 7), ensuring the littoral combat ship was on time for its maiden deployment, the first LCS Freedom-variant block-buy ship to deploy on the East Coast.

The USS The Sullivans (DDG 68) maintenance team became Rough Riders for completing the ship’s CNO availability early and mission-ready. The team’s effective communication, teamwork and ability to resolve problems all played vital roles during the five-month endeavor. In total, 110 depot and numerous intermediate level work items were completed, including a major Vertical Launch System cooling upgrade, Ballistic Missile Defense package installation, Consolidated Afloat Network and Enterprise Services communications upgrade and several major structural improvements. 

“The standards are being set by the SERMC team members acknowledged here today with regards to on-time delivery and timely correction of material deficiencies on ships. This is exactly how we need to operate going forward. You correctly planned, made sure everything lined up during execution, and attacked each work item to completion in order to return the ship to the Fleet on time,” Anderson concluded.

CNRMC is a Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) field activity and oversees the operations of Regional Maintenance Centers in their execution of surface ship maintenance and modernization. SEA 21 is the dedicated life cycle management organization for the Navy's in-service surface ships and is responsible for managing critical modernization, maintenance, training and inactivation programs.

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