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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
United
Defense Industries, Inc. (NYSE: UDI) announced the receipt of one
of the U.S. Navy’s most prestigious awards, the Theater Surface
Combatants Award for Excellence, at its shipyard in Norfolk, Va.
This award, formerly titled the AEGIS Excellence Award, was presented
to NORSHIPCO, a member of the United States Marine Repair (USMR)
family of shipyards, during a ceremony at the yard in August. Rear
Adm. William J. Cobb, Jr. presented the award to Tom Epley, NORSHIPCO’s
president and general manager, before a room filled with representatives
from the Supervisor of Shipbuilding in Portsmouth, Va., Navy officials
and shipyard workers. USMR, recently acquired by United Defense,
now holds a total of four of these most coveted awards. In addition
to NORSHIPCO, Southwest Marine in San Diego, Calif., also a member
of USMR, holds three.
NORSHIPCO received this honor for providing exceptional support
to the Program Executive Office for Theater Surface Combatants
throughout the planning, scheduling and execution of the Extended
Docking Selected Restricted Availability for USS NORMANDY (CG-60).
Additionally, NORSHIPCO met all milestones on or ahead of schedule
and accomplished the entire work package seven days early.
The work was performed at NORSHIPCO between February 28, 2001,
and September 28, 2001. The work package included system and component
upgrades and regular maintenance, including hull girder modifications
and installation of the all-electric ship alt. The USS NORMANDY
is currently participating in Operation Enduring Freedom in the
defense of America.
"NORSHIPCO’s extraordinary contribution, outstanding
performance and remarkable efforts enabled the fully capable and
war-ready ship to quickly return to service. I applaud the entire
NORSHIPCO team and congratulate them on this well-deserved award,"
said Rear Adm. Cobb, who presented the award.
The AEGIS Excellence Program, originally designed to recognize
contributions to AEGIS Weapon System development by individuals
in the Navy, was established in 1971 by direction of the AEGIS
Project Manager, PMO-403. Recognizing the motivating effect of
this program, it was soon expanded to include major defense contractors.
To maintain the award’s exclusivity and significance, this
honor is only given to a limited number of organizations.
According to Tom Epley, NORSHIPCO’s president and general
manager, "Receiving this award is a real tribute to the people
who worked so hard on the NORMANDY. They are the ones who made
this event possible." Epley also added, "I am extremely
proud of the performance of everyone involved in the ship’s
availability."
USMR is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Defense Industries,
with facilities in Norfolk, Va., San Diego, San Pedro and San
Francisco, Calif., Ingleside, Texas and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
United Defense is a leader in the design, development and production
of combat vehicles, artillery, naval guns, missile launchers and
precision munitions used by the U.S. Department of Defense and
allies worldwide and is America’s largest non-nuclear ship
repair, modernization and conversion company. To learn more about
United Defense, visit http://www.uniteddefense.com/.
Doug Coffey
United Defense
(703) 312-6121
Jackie Kreisler
Southwest Marine
(619) 557-4289
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