Commanding Officer of U.S. 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) Capt. Kyle P. Higgins, lit off Blue Ridge's 1 Alpha boiler officially wrapping up a selective restricted availability (SRA), Feb. 4.

The oldest steam ship in the Navy, Blue Ridge uses its boilers to provide the ship with its own supply of steam, powering its ability to ensure the safety and security of the 7th Fleet area of responsibility, engaging with its Pacific partners.

"Having lit off the boilers, we can now start making our own services," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Christopher Atwater, Blue Ridge's boiler officer. "Without the boilers, this ship cannot generate its own electricity, steam, or water. The boiler light off signifies that the SRA period is coming to a close and Blue Ridge is making the transition to being able to get back underway."

"It signifies the definitive end of the major maintenance and operational preparations in engineering spaces," said Higgins. "And because there are few boiler steam engineering plants in the Navy, I was honored to experience a little bit of what this elite group of engineers does on a regular basis."

Blue Ridge spent the last six months in SRA, making repairs and improvements throughout the ship, ranging from major systems upgrades in the Information Systems and Engineering Departments, to habitability upgrades with renovations in some of the ship's berthings.

Prior to lighting off the boilers, Blue Ridge had to first demonstrate its engineering and damage control proficiencies to the Engineering Assessment Pacific inspection team, during a weeklong assessment.

"The Damage Control Material Assessment is the first part of the light off assessment," said Damage Controlman 1st Class Joni Abando. "We had to demonstrate to the inspectors that all of our firefighting equipment was working, including our halon 1301 and aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) systems, and our self-contained breathing apparatuses.

"The halon 1301 and AFFF systems are our primary fire defense when the boilers are lit," continued Abando.

The long hours and hard work that Sailors contributed to the ship were essential in preparing the ship and its crew for the upcoming underway period.

Several dedicated divisions, called "tiger teams", were formed using Sailors from every department to tackle specific jobs, such as lagging, deck and bulkhead preservation, and door maintenance.

"We worked with the Corrosion Control Assistant Team to complete 23 jobs, preserving over 7,600 square feet of the ship," said Boatswain's Mate 1st Class Nathan MacDonald, leading petty officer of the ship's corrosion control tiger team.

"Since Blue Ridge is a flagship, its outward appearance is important for first impressions with our Pacific partners," said MacDonald. "The work we did not only allows us to represent ourselves well, but it also extends the life of the ship by maintaining what we already have."

Another tiger team worked with Ship's Engineering Maintenance Assistance Team, ripping out old furniture and installing new decking, light fixtures and pipes in 10 state rooms, saving the command more than $300,000.

"These tiger teams allow the Navy to save money by allowing Sailors we have aboard to carry out jobs that we are capable of doing, instead of hiring contractors to outsource the work," said Culinary Specialist 1st Class Luis Sanchez, habitability tiger team leading petty officer.

"For Blue Ridge to remain viable for the future we have to go through our scheduled maintenance periods, but more importantly, complete them on time," said Higgins. "Unlike other ships in the fleet Blue Ridge commences at-sea operations as soon as maintenance periods complete.

"On-time completion guarantees our ability to properly support 7th Fleet's mission objectives," continued Higgins.

Blue Ridge has been forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan, for 36 years. As the flagship for Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, Vice Adm. Joseph Aucion, Blue Ridge is committed to strengthening and fostering relationships within the Indo-Asia Pacific region.