• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Seabee MUSE Technicians Add Uninterrupted Power Supply Capability

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS110921-06
9/21/2011

By Mason Lowery, Naval Facilities Engineering Command

NAVAL BASE VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (NNS) -- Seabee Mobile Utilities Support Equipment (MUSE) technicians added Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) training to their skillset Sept. 20, enabling them to prevent loss of power during the switch to backup power at Navy and Department of Defense facilities during emergencies.

In the past, critical data and work were often lost at Navy and Defense facilites during the time it took to switch from normal power to emergency power.

"You probably have something similar to this attached to your office or home computer. Or if you don't, you know how frustrating it can be if you lose work when the power goes out. It's an inconvenience, but usually not catastrophic. We (MUSE) just have it on a much larger industrial-sized scale," explained Utilities Constructionman Master Chief (SCW) John Smith, MUSE program manager.

"Now imagine you're a heart surgeon, or a commander making decisions in the middle of a battle when the power goes out, and you can begin to see how important uninterrupted power is," Smith said.

Responding to a need driven by Fleet Cyber Command, the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), and the Seabee enlisted community manager; MUSE is modifying its 60-week training program to include UPS capability. Prior to the merge, there were only 10 trained UPS technicians remaining in the Navy who would have been lost by retirement or reclassification into other career fields, Smith explained. Non-UPS-trained construction electricians had been filling the UPS personnel positions since January 2009.

The Navy and Air Force originally established a joint six-month UPS training program in 1987 at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. In 1996, the Air Force discontinued its UPS training program on Sheppard, and the Navy replaced the training with a 9-week basic electronics course on Keesler Air Force Base, Miss.

By merging the two highly-technical Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) communities, the Navy is retaining a diminishing critical capability while producing superior technicians and providing a healthy career progression with better community management and oversight for both, Smith explained.

"Most people know that Seabee MUSE technicians are world renowned power generation experts, but today's data centers (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) demand a continuously available, reliable and high-quality power supply systems," Smith said. "These power systems are designed, maintained and managed to focus on integration, coordination and management of an entire electrical system, known as a Critical Power (CP) system, instead of previously disassociated sub systems. With this new addition, MUSE technicians are now the only truly trained critical power technicians in the DoD."