NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (NNS) — Sailors join the Navy for a variety of reasons. For one Sailor it was as simple as following in a parent's footsteps. Fire Controlman 2nd Class Bryan Taylor, an Ozark, Alabama native, joined the Navy in 2008 to see the world.
"Like my father did," Taylor said.
Taylor arrived on board the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in November 2009 after completing his initial training at Advanced Combat Direction System School. Taylor deployed with Lincoln twice (September 2010 to March 2011 and December 2011 to August 2012) including a world tour; visiting countries such as Thailand, Dubai and Turkey.
During Taylor's first deployment, he was promoted to second class petty officer, earned his Surface Warfare pin and was awarded a Flag Letter of Commendation by Rear Adm. Troy Shoemaker.
"I attribute my success to my hard work and dedication," Taylor said. "Deployments are no joke. I was working 12 to 14 hour days six days a week."
Success didn't stop after deployment. He moved on to work for the Gold Disk Program, a Navy-wide initiative designed to save money.
When Lincoln pulled into Newport News Shipbuilding to begin her refueling complex overhaul (RCOH) in March 2013, Taylor was sent to Naval Undersea Warfare Center in the St. Julian's Annex in Portsmouth, Virginia to begin working for the Gold Disk Program where he would eventually save the Navy $160,000.
"I am currently a 2M (miniature/micro)/ MTR (Module Test and Repair) technician repairing circuit cards and creating test routines (gold disks) for the Navy to save money throughout the fleet," Taylor said.
The Navy developed the Gold Disk Program to save money and time by reducing costs and turnaround time for repairs. Within this program, Taylor created a process to narrow down the technical issue from an entire circuit board to a single component, which reduces the replacement cost from $10,000 to 20 cents.
In addition to component costs, Taylor's efforts in this project have also saved the Navy hundreds of man-hours that would have been required to remove and replace the circuit boards.
For his accomplishments, he recently received the Chief of Naval Operations Gold Disk Award for May 2014 which included a Letter of Commendation and a $1,000 cash award.
"I'm glad to have the time I've contributed at work equate to hundreds of thousands of dollars saved by the Navy; it's a great feeling," Taylor said.
Lincoln is undergoing RCOH at Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington-Ingalls Industries in Newport News.
Lincoln is the fifth ship of the Nimitz-class to undergo an RCOH, a major life-cycle milestone. Once RCOH is complete, Lincoln will be one of the most modern and technologically advanced Nimitz-class aircraft carriers in the fleet and will continue to be a vital part of the nation's defense.
For more news from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), visit www.navy.mil/local/cvn72/.