Rear Adm. Randy Crites, Commander, Submarine Group 10, on behalf of the Secretary of the Navy, presented Capt. Gunter Braun, Commanding Officer of TRIDENT Refit Facility (TRF), Kings Bay, with its fourth Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC).

The award covers the time frame Dec. 1, 2011 - Dec. 1, 2014, and was presented today in front of the command flagpole, as a crowd of TRF military and civilian employees looked on. In addition to the certificate, Rear Adm. Crites presented the command with a new MUC flag with three gold stars on it, signifying a fourth award, which was raised up the flagpole.

Previous command MUCs covered the period Aug. 1, 1997 - Feb. 28, 1999, signed by Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig; from Aug. 1, 2007 - July 31, 2008, signed by Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Gary Roughhead; and from May 1, 2010 - May 31, 2011, signed by CNO Adm. Jonathan Greenert.

The new award, also signed by Adm. Greenert, says in part, "The military and civilian personnel of TRIDENT Refit Facility, Kings Bay, distinguished themselves in every aspect of planning and execution of ballistic-missile, guided-missile, and fast-attack submarine refits, voyage repairs, and emergent repair periods, accomplishing 1 million man-hours of repair operations."

The citation continued, "Despite demanding scheduling constraints and diminishing resources, this high-performing maintenance facility developed repair strategies and contingencies that resulted in reversing a 20-year trend in ballistic missile submarine lost operational time, restoring 17 days of operational availability to enable Atlantic Fleet guided-missile submarines to meet all forward deployed presence requirements."

"This recognition represents the outstanding work that each and every one of TRF's 1,500-plus employees does every day," said Capt. Braun. "I couldn't be more proud to accept this award on their behalf."

TRF performs all of the homeported and forward-deployed maintenance for east coast-based Ohio-class submarines, provides technical assistance to regional maintenance centers, shipyards and other activities as requested, and provides fleet wide submarine supply support. The command supports eight Ohio class submarines (two SSGNs and six SSBNs) homeported at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Ga., visiting United Kingdom (UK) boats, and other submarines requiring emergent repairs. TRF is the Navy's only shore-based submarine repair facility in the southeast United States and the only repair facility certified for handling of explosive ordnance.

Braun praised the work of all TRF employees, military and civilian, saying, "This is a tremendous achievement that recognizes the extremely hard work that every member of TRF contributes. The honor of this award will not be understated. Each and every one of our employees had a part in making this happen."


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