Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/1532351
14FEBRUARY/MARCH 2025 www.vanguardcanada.com I N T E R V I E W compete with them based on salary. So, anything you can do to keep your current workforce involved and engaged in sub- marines is important. When you look at how to build a work- force, you have to go after every element across the spectrum. And it starts with high schools going in and talking to young peo- ple. And for those that maybe aren't plan- ning on going to university, understanding that coming into the submarine program and going to a trade school would be a great career move for them. It would be fulfilling; it would be a good quality of a life for them and their family. So that would be one arena that you have to focus on. Col- laborate with high schools and get involved with recruiting at that young age. Then you look at universities. As an en- gineer, it takes four years to go through engineering school, so cultivating students in college is important. At Serco we run the U.S. Navy's team submarine intern program where we bring 25 to 30 in- terns every summer into our Serco spaces. They're Serco employees, we get their clearance, and we integrate them in with the program offices across all the in-service elements to teach them about submarine in-service acquisition. Walking onto a sub- marine is kind of an eye-opener for them. About 80 per cent of last summer's class came to join us in the submarine program when they graduated. So, we are a training platform industry, we're a trusted agent, and we're the inner circle of the submarine community. And then there's immigration. You got an influx of people coming in for a new start or success in their lives. We need to see how we can bring them into the mix to support the submarine program. Cdr HUNT: Q: Gord, we've talked a little bit about asset management, but I'd like to dive deeper, pun intended, on that topic and talk a little bit about how we currently define it in the sustainment enterprise that we have. How do you think we should rethink it to make it better in the future and increase our submarine avail- ability? And how does it fit into the ISS future planning? GORDON SZCZEPSKI: Based on my experience, I think we've got an extremely narrow vision of what asset management means in terms of in-service support. Most of my career in Victoria and prior to in the Navy was really focused on maintenance periods. It was focused on maintaining material certification and training. But it wasn't looking at some of the other critical factors that lead to avail- ability. I think that today there's this amaz- ing opportunity because we have 17 years of experience with the Victoria class to build upon. And we have the ability with this new program to adopt a more holistic approach so we can take the work we've already done, the achievements we've achieved, and build a structured approach that is all-encompassing. I'll build on what Peter said. How do you get people interested in submarines? I'm a product of the movie Red October, so more of that. We need to look at data management and employment. We need to make sure we have our facilities estab- lished and ready on both coasts. We really need to embrace technology. Technology is advancing at such a rapid pace, and it could be such an enabler for asset manage- ment. And finally, we need to continue to nur- ture and to grow robust supply chains as Marty alluded to. Cdr HUNT: Q: Gord. I'd be interested to know, are there other examples that you're seeing from your perspective that might be a good area to consider? GORDON SZCZEPSKI: Yeah, absolutely. Fortunately, in my posi- tion and looking at some of the oppor- tunities afforded by our global company, we've looked at asset management out- side of a submarine enterprise construct and looked at some of the other applica- tions. So, we've worked with firms like Sodexo and how they manage or how they conduct asset management for facili- ties like prisons or hospitals or large edu- cational institutions. And what you find with those; they've got very well oiled and operated machines to conduct those asset management operations. The problem comes with the complexi- ties associated with military vessels, and in particular, the complexities of subma- rines. A model that is used to maintain hospital catering and custodial services and maintenance services and infra- structure is good. It's something to use as a baseline, a starting point. But those models need to be expanded and need to include all the complex aspects of poten- tially an offshore constructed submarine with a highly complex sonar suite, with a highly complex weapons system, with a crew that needs to be trained to conduct their operations under some of the most arduous conditions known to man. And all of those pieces together mean that we have to take the opportunity now before We need to look at data management and employment. We need to make sure we have our facilities established and ready on both coasts. We really need to embrace technology. Technology is advancing at such a rapid pace, and it could be such an enabler for asset management. — Gordon Szczepski