VIDEO: Aircraft Carrier USS Ronald Reagan Celebrates Reactor Milestone

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) completed its post-overhaul propulsion plant examination Feb. 1.

Completing this exam is the one of many milestones in the current docking planned incremental availability (DPIA) and the next major step in getting the ship operational and back to sea.

“It’s a huge sigh of relief; after a whole year of sacrifices, we are ready for the next evolution,” said Master Chief Machinist’s Mate Ronald Gantuangco, the leading chief petty officer for Ronald Reagan’s Machinery Division.

Ronald Reagan spent the last year away from her traditional homeport of San Diego in Bremerton, Wash. expending hundreds of thousands of man-hours during DPIA.

“It’s nice to get the preliminaries done,” said Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Ryan Cameron. “Now it’s time to move on to getting the reactor critical and getting us back to San Diego.”

The evolution was spearheaded by the ship’s Reactor Department. More than 400 Sailors spent countless hours living on the ship, away from their families, preparing for the extensive exam.

“This week is just validation for all of the tireless hours we put into this ship all year long,” said Capt. Mike Lehman Reagan’s Reactor officer. “None of this could have been accomplished without the great group of leaders and crew I have. They have done a phenomenal job and I am very, very proud of my team.”

At the completion of the exam, the commander of Carrier Strike Group 9, Rear Adm. Patrick Hall, addressed the department and congratulated them on their achievement.

“Your work is greatly appreciated,” said Hall. “We are now one step closer to our move back to San Diego.” The Reactor crew devised and executed a complicated training and maintenance plan to ensure success. Overcoming a long-range schedule that was originally thought to set the ship’s DPIA schedule behind, they persevered, keeping the ship ready for the fight.

“We were given a schedule that put us two and a half months behind,” said Lehman. “We recovered half of that time based on our hard work.”

The celebration, although well-deserved, was short lived. Immediately jumping back into action, the Reactor Department began preparing for the next task at hand.

“We aren’t quite finished with anything yet,” said Lehman. “We have to start up the plants next week and get this ship underway. We have a lot to be proud of, but we all understand that we have much more work ahead.”

Ronald Reagan is homeported in Bremerton, Wash. while undergoing a docking planned incremental availability maintenance period at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility.

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Naval Today Staff, February 7, 2013; Image: US Navy