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aware that most of our craft work is com- pleted outdoors, sometimes in extreme conditions,? Brenton added. NAVAL SHIPYARDS TRAIN NEW GENERATIONThe Navy is also taking an active role in recruiting and training the next gener- ation of workers. The Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyards Apprenticeship Training Program is highly selective. ?We had 5,000 applicants for this year?s class. Ul- timately we?ll select 100 to 150 appren- tices who will begin the four-year program,? said Robert Fogel, production resources manager at PHNSY. ?It can take as long as a year from when someone first looks into the program to when they actually begin,? Fogel said. The program is conducted in partner- ship with Honolulu Community College (HCC), and is highly selective. ?Turnover is incredibly small,? said Fogel. ?About 95 percent of each four- year class graduate. From a class of ap-prentices that complete their four yearprogram together, about 60 percent of them will still be working together when it comes time to retire.? Apprentices attend classes at HCC at asatellite facility right on the shipyard. ?They attend courses in the morning and then learn trade theory, taught by in- structors from their particular shop. We have about 100 production department people who are dedicated to training, in-cluding working with our apprentices,? said Steve Wantanabe, the apprenticeship coordinator. After receiving their AAAS degree, the apprentices receive continued training while they work with their shop gaining experience for two more years to become certified according to Department of Labor standards as journeymen. ?Even- tually, they can become a work leader and master craftsman, and then a supervisoror even project superintendant,? Fogel said.PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS Speaking to the Southern Growth Poli- cies Board (SGPB) Conference inRoanoke on June 14, 2011, HuntingtonIngalls Industries CEO Mike Petters said that his company is faced with an aging workforce. ?We have nearly 38,000 em- ployees, many of whom are third-, fourth- and even fifth- generation shipbuilders,? he said. ?The average age is 45, which means we have a lot of very experienced folks who can retire in a little more than adecade. And only 24 percent of our workforce is under 35 pre- senting us with troublesome challenge.? ?The cost of training a worker at HII is considerable. In fact, it?s about $8,000 per employee in the first year. When we were part of Northrop Grumman, the av- erage cost for the corporation to train anemployee in the first year was $3,160. The point here is that the complexity of shipbuilding requires more extensive training and therefore a higher invest- ment,? he said. ?The great majority of the people wehire need some kind of training already ?whether it be in the technical, engineer- ing or computer science areas. That does not always mean someone with a bache- lor?s degree.? ?In many cases we look for someone with technical school or community col-lege education to satisfy our require- ments. And we also recruit the ?work ready? high school graduate who has ed- ucational foundation and who we believe we can train to be successful on the wa- terfront. A large majority of HII employees must be U.S. citizens, and half of thesemust be able to acquire a security clear- ance, said Petters.?This becomes increasingly importantin trying to recruit the younger genera- tion today before lifestyle choices com-promise their ability to obtain securityclearances,? he said. ?And it?s one rea- son why we target some of our workforce development programs to middle school age chidren.? Captain Edward Lundquist, USN (Ret.), is a naval analyst and principal sciencewriter for MCR Federal. Newport News Shipbuilding Apprentice Jessica Henderson works on pipe. (Image: HII)August 2011www.marinelink.com 45MR Aug. 11 # 6 (42-49):MR Template 8/3/2011 2:36 PM Page 45