Post by Sailor on Mar 9, 2012 14:49:31 GMT -8
Aging But Unbowed, Enterprise Poised to Deploy One Last Time
NAVAL STATION NORFOLK -- The problem of the moment aboard the USS Enterprise was not the crossfire in Syria or rumblings in Iran. It concerned a coupling for an air conditioner unit.
Ordering a replacement was out of the question. The government doesn't exactly have an online parts store for this one-of-a-kind, 50-year-old aircraft carrier. A new coupling had to be manufactured from scratch.
Enter Petty Officer Second Class Michael Petronio, the leading petty officer in the machine shop of the Enterprise.
"We manufacture any kind of custom part you can't find," he said. "They just don't make them. So we piece it together, measure it and create a duplicate, so to speak."
As the Enterprise prepares to leave Sunday for its final deployment to a dangerous part of the world, the skill of Petronio and his sailors will be as vital to the mission as that of fighter pilots, communications officers and senior command staff.
More here:
www.military.com/news/article/aging-but-unbowed-uss-enterprise-poisted-to-deploy-one-last-time.html?ESRC=eb.nl
The Big "E" just a month ago with a BIG bone in her teeth.
www.navy.mil/management/photodb/photos/120204-N-ZZ999-006.jpg
51 years young and still impressive as all hell.
NAVAL STATION NORFOLK -- The problem of the moment aboard the USS Enterprise was not the crossfire in Syria or rumblings in Iran. It concerned a coupling for an air conditioner unit.
Ordering a replacement was out of the question. The government doesn't exactly have an online parts store for this one-of-a-kind, 50-year-old aircraft carrier. A new coupling had to be manufactured from scratch.
Enter Petty Officer Second Class Michael Petronio, the leading petty officer in the machine shop of the Enterprise.
"We manufacture any kind of custom part you can't find," he said. "They just don't make them. So we piece it together, measure it and create a duplicate, so to speak."
As the Enterprise prepares to leave Sunday for its final deployment to a dangerous part of the world, the skill of Petronio and his sailors will be as vital to the mission as that of fighter pilots, communications officers and senior command staff.
More here:
www.military.com/news/article/aging-but-unbowed-uss-enterprise-poisted-to-deploy-one-last-time.html?ESRC=eb.nl
The Big "E" just a month ago with a BIG bone in her teeth.
www.navy.mil/management/photodb/photos/120204-N-ZZ999-006.jpg
51 years young and still impressive as all hell.
