April 2, 2008, brought the most unexpected, yet most exciting, encounters of my career. At approximately 0945 I received a call from the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) program manager. On the other end of the line the voice said, "I am about to make your day; the Chief of Naval Operations will be at your facility at 1100. I need you to set up the facility and be ready to brief him."
My initial reaction was a big gulp followed by a shot of adrenaline, realizing that I had to condense a normally intense preparation cycle into only one hour. The briefing material was developed, so I had the team put up all the storyboards and quickly sweep up the facility. Within 20 minutes, Capt. Red Hoover, then the commanding officer of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SSC) Charleston, was on-site helping to prepare for the unexpected visit by ensuring all details were covered and that the facility was ready for inspection by the highest ranking officer in the U.S. Navy.
This quick visit was similar to how the MRAP program has progressed since its inception: faster than humanly possible. The MRAP program went from inception to full-rate production in a little over a year. That is about five times faster than most traditional acquisition programs of this type.
The MRAP family of vehicles provides operating forces multiple mission-role platforms capable of mitigating the effects of improvised explosive devices (IEDS), underbelly blasts and small arms fire threats, the greatest casualty producers in the global war on terrorism.
The MRAP platforms include a suite of government-furnished communications equipment to help warfighters in a variety of ways. SSC Charleston oversees the integration and installation work of the communications suite after the vehicles are accepted from the manufacturers. The MRAP team also performs interoperability testing and coordinates transportation of the vehicles from South Carolina to the Middle East. While many vehicles were transported by air initially, most are now sent by ship. SSC Charleston teams also work in theater, plugging in the radios and performing final preparations to the vehicles before they are turned over to warfighters.
CNO Adm. Gary Roughead, arrived promptly at 1100 and was quick to congratulate the team for success in meeting the nation's demand signal to ramp up production to 50 fully integrated vehicles with a full complement of command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems.
The CNO not only learned all the details of what it takes to integrate the vehicles, but he also shook as many hands as possible and delivered as many personal "thank-yous" as he could for all the hard work done.
This visit also gave the CNO the opportunity to look over the facility and observe a joint program in action, which he was very excited to see. Many of his questions focused on how the services were able to balance requirements and ensure interoperability. Overall, he was very impressed with how, in a highly compressed timeframe, the services teamed to develop the best product at pennies on the dollar compared with original estimates.
To put the accomplishments of the MRAP program in perspective, this effort is the first of its kind, and it was able to increase production by 10 times in only four months. The MRAP vehicle development and acquisition ramped up more rapidly than the Jeep in World War II. This is especially noteworthy considering that the MRAP is a much more complex vehicle.
As the CNO departed his final comments to Capt. Hoover were about how the success factors and lessons learned in the MRAP program needed to be shared with all programs across the DoD. He was highly impressed with the workforce, leadership, facilities and with SPAWAR as an agency. The visit was a resounding success in that it showcased the high quality work we do here at SSC Charleston, and it allowed the CNO to see engineering duty officers in action and highlight their value to the Navy.
Lt. Brian E. Phillips is the MRAP vehicle Lean Six Sigma deployment champion.
Editor's Note: Capt. Bruce Urbon assumed command of SSC Charleston in June. Phillip H. Charles assumed duties as SSC Charleston's technical director in July.