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SURFLANT Commander tells SNA Surface Forces are Taking Care of Business

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS080520-12
Release Date: 5/20/2008 10:58:00 AM

By Chief Mass Communication Specialist (SW/AW) Vic Brabble, Commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic Public Affairs

NORFOLK (NNS) -- Commander, Naval Surface Force, Atlantic (CNSL), spoke at a luncheon held by the Hampton Roads Chapter of the Surface Naval Association (HR SNA) on May 14.

Rear Adm. Kevin Quinn, CNSL, told more than 240 people that surface warriors are taking care of business every day in important operations around the world, but need to go "back to basics" to ensure continuing warfare readiness.

"I just want to give you some of my views about being a surface warfare officer and what it means to be part of the surface warfare team," Quinn said. "My experiences are a very personal one. Last year I was in command of a carrier strike group. I took my carrier strike group on an eight-month deployment to the Arabian Gulf. As a strike group commander, I saw all the assets and I can tell you that my most versatile and useful asset in that strike group was my group of surface ships."

The Arabian Gulf is a body of water more commonly known as the Persian Gulf.

Quinn noted just because our surface ships aren't in the news every day, that doesn't mean they aren't doing positive things every day.

"Every single one of our surface ships has absolutely critical and important functions," he said. "We are taking care of business every day by keeping the sea lanes open so commerce can flow and we can be prosperous here at home."

In addition, Quinn said he was proud of the accomplishments of the surface ships and the personnel who make them run.

He also noted a commitment to humanitarian efforts, as well as being ready for combat, is equally important to him.

"Right now we have ships off the coast of Myanmar. That whole spectrum is what surface warfare is doing right now, while at the same time getting ready to surge for war and major combat operations wherever and whenever we are tasked to do it. That is surface warfare. That is what I think about whenever I think about my responsibility as the Commander Naval Surface Force, Atlantic and as the chief readiness officer for the United States Surface Navy."

Quinn directly addressed the claims made in a news article that said the surface force is full of problems that degrade readiness. He explained although two ships in the surface navy recently failed their Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV), 90 percent of ships pass INSURV and this year's pass rate is similar to previous years.

He also stressed that surface force leadership finds any failure unsatisfactory, and leadership needs to look at the causes both up and down the chain of command.

"I'm the kind of guy that assumes when my ship has a problem communicating with other ships in the battle group, it is my problem first," said Quinn. "The approach I am taking, is let's take a hard look at our readiness process aboard our ships. These INSURVs are indicators to see if we have the right maintenance traditions or if we have some fundamental problems."

Quinn said the surface force is taking a two-pronged approach to get there.

"On one prong we want to look at what ships should be doing inside their own lifelines and that is things like having an effective PMS program," said Quinn. "We expect ships to have effective zone inspections, we expect the captain, XO (executive officer), department heads, division officers, chiefs and all the way down to the deck plates to get out and about their spaces to identify things that aren't right and need correcting. If they can't fix them, then get them identified as unfunded maintenance so reports can reach those responsible for budgets. We also expect training programs to take place. All these things are not new, but they are inside the lifeline of a ship and are things a ship can control."

The other prong, Quinn said, is for surface force leadership to look at the resources ships are provided to man, train and maintain.

Quinn concluded his remarks summarizing the goals of the two-pronged approach.

"Keep in mind the two-pronged goal is to ensure war fighting readiness of the surface forces," he said. "That is my number one goal. We are going to be effective, we are going to be efficient--we are going to be ready."

For more news from Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/local/surflant/.