USS Porter completes maintenance in Spain

U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) on June 16 became the U.S. Navy ship to complete a 60-day Surface Incremental Availability (SIA) at the Rota naval base in Spain.

Porter serves as one of the navy’s four forward deployed guided-missile destroyers home-ported in Rota, Spain that support NATO’s regional security and ballistic missile defense efforts.

This SIA provides more intrusive maintenance support and is part of the planned maintenance cycle in the Navy’s 32-month Optimized Fleet Response Plan.

U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command said it used its own shipbuilding specialists and marine surveyors to establish requirements and predictive planning ahead of the undertaking.

During maintenance assessments, one measure of productivity is the fix-to-find ratio. This ratio reflects the percentage of items not previously identified for repair or maintenance that were corrected when completing maintenance actions. Maintenance items not previously identified often require deferment so the proper manpower and equipment can be identified to conduct the repair. FDRMC Det. Rota personnel achieved a 23 percent fix-to- find ratio.

For comparison, a typical fix-to-find ratio in the United States is less than five percent. “A job well done for FDRMC Det. Rota, notably Teddy Baggott, project manager, and Lon Walters, assessment director,” said David Phillips, deputy officer in charge, FDRMC Det Rota.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer also scored well during its Ballistic Missile Defense Readiness Assessment. The assessment was completed concurrently with the SIA.