DIEGO GARCIA, British Indian Ocean Territory (Jan. 19, 2016) – Sailors from the submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) began maintenance on guided-missile submarine USS Florida (SSGN 728) during a continuous maintenance availability (CMAV) period Jan 10.
A CMAV is time set aside for maintenance and repairs. A ship or submarine enters a CMAV prior to a certification cycle, where all the unit’s systems are tested and certified to be in good working order. Without the certifications, the ship or submarine would not be able to deploy.
Sailors from the repair department of Emory S. Land are conducting fabrication and maintenance to parts of Florida in support of its CMAV.
“Repairing parts from the sub is something that the Florida personnel can’t do while underway.” said Hull Technician 1st Class Evan Schuster, leading petty officer of Emory S. Land’s weld shop. Schuster added that during an availability period like the CMAV it’s easier to have the submarine moor alongside tender instead of traveling all the way to a shore-based repair facility.
One of the more important jobs conducted by Emory S. Land Sailors was repairing an aft sewage access cover plate, which, if left unrepaired, could potentially cause noise underwater and compromise mission security.
Emory S. Land Sailors also replaced brackets on sanitation lines, refurbished and fabricated navigation chairs as well as repaired deck stanchions for life lines.
“So far we are getting a lot of positive feedback from the sub,” said Hull Technician 3rd Class Mike Woodbury, from Emory S. Land’s weld shop. “They’re always as helpful as possible.”
Emory S. Land is a forward deployed expeditionary submarine tender on an extended deployment conducting coordinated tended moorings and afloat maintenance in the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operations.
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