The US Navy admiral in charge of maintaining more than 125 warships got a chance to step away from her desk and watch divers conduct underwater ship maintenance.
Rear Adm. Dianna Wolfson, Fleet Maintenance Officer for US Fleet Forces Command (USFFC), last week joined active-duty and civilian divers for her first-ever dive to see firsthand the work being done under the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS San Antonio.
The dive, conducted alongside Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC) divers, gave Wolfson an up-close view of the routine underwater ship husbandry work vital to keeping vessels mission-ready.
According to Wolfson:
“Every trip to the waterfront is time well spent, but getting underneath an [Amphibious Ready Group] amphib in the final days of her deployment preps was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
For the past month, 10 divers from Navy Expeditionary Combat Command’s Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit have been working hand-in-hand with MARMC’s teams in Norfolk, Virginia and Mayport, Florida to keep regular, pre-deployment maintenance on track. Those divers were on station during Wolfson’s visit, guiding her through the repair site.
Wolfson added:
“As a member of Navy’s Dive Executive Steering Committee, I engage frequently in matters critical to the operational readiness of our dive-enabled mission areas. Gaining personal exposure to an actual productive dive not only deepened my appreciation for our active-duty and civilian divers, it also gave me a unique perspective that could’ve only been gained by putting on the helmet and getting under that ship.”
Chief Warrant Officer Five Jason Potts, Fleet Diving Officer with USFFC, has been participating in, overseeing and coordinating this kind of underwater maintenance for over two decades:
“Friday’s familiarization dive on San Antonio facilitated the Fleet Maintenance Officer’s direct exposure to the world-class underwater ship husbandry capabilities that keep our fleet away from the dry docks and out to sea. This engagement uniquely captured Global Maritime Response in action and gave the Admiral a front-row seat to the complex, technical operations of our [underwater ship husbandry] teams.”
