PASCAGOULA, Miss., Sept. 13, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Ship Systems sector announced today that retired Rear Adm. John B. "Jay" Foley III, USN, one of the U.S. Navy's outstanding leaders during a 33-year career, has been named vice president of the company's shipbuilding operations in Gulfport, Miss.
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The company said that Foley, who recently retired from the Navy as commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, will bring his leadership and naval expertise to the Gulfport facility beginning Sept. 16, 2002.
"We are delighted to have Jay Foley joining our team," said Dr. Philip A. Dur, Northrop Grumman corporate vice president and president of the company's Ship Systems sector. "His leadership, operational experience and intellectual reach will make him an important contributor to Northrop Grumman Ship Systems and our future programs. Our Gulfport facility is set to reach new heights in our shipbuilding business plan as our 'center of excellence' for composite structures. Through Jay's guidance, I have every confidence the facility will become a center of excellence for composite ships."
Dur noted that modern ship designs increasingly use composite materials in construction. Additionally, the Navy is interested in faster, lighter ships that may be built entirely of composite materials. Foley will lead this transition to composites for future ships now being designed by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, as well as shipbuilding programs that are now underway. These include Aegis destroyers, San Antonio-class LPDs, future large-deck amphibious ships, the DD(X) 21st century destroyer, and the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater program. The facility will also be a center for research and development of high-tech composites for naval ships.
"I am absolutely delighted to be joining the team of professionals at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems," said Foley. "I am looking forward to this challenge and my operational experience will enable me to contribute to the continued growth of Northrop Grumman Ship Systems and their long tradition of quality products."
With employment at the Gulfport facility expected to increase during the next two years, major infrastructure upgrades are planned to accommodate a significant amount of new business.
"I'm extremely pleased to have the opportunity to play a part in the expansion at Gulfport. It is already a uniquely productive facility, and I am privileged to be able to lead in its development as the center of excellence in composite technology and construction," said Foley.
The Gulfport facility covers 120 acres and is dedicated exclusively to module assembly and composites manufacturing. The facility currently employs approximately 900 people who are engaged in ship unit fabrication for both Ingalls Operations in Pascagoula and Avondale Operations in New Orleans. The facility is already recognized as one of the premier advanced composite manufacturing facilities in the nation.
Foley earned his commission in the Navy through the NROTC program at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. He also attended the National Security Program for Senior Executives at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He served as executive officer on the Ship Systems-built USS Callaghan (DDG 995) in San Diego, and has commanded USS Quapaw (ATF 110), USS Estocin (FFG 15), USS Monterey (CG 61), Cruiser-destroyer Group 8 and the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Battle Group, where he completed a Mediterranean Sea/Arabian Gulf deployment in July 2000.
"Throughout his brilliant career, Jay has demonstrated strong operational leadership and a keen understanding of the people who manned the ships and organizations he commanded," said Dur. "We welcome these accomplishments and their application to our operations."
Northrop Grumman's Ship Systems sector includes primary operations in Pascagoula and Gulfport, Miss.; New Orleans and Tallulah, La.; and in a network of fleet support offices in the U.S. and Japan. The sector, which currently employs more than 17,000 shipbuilding professionals, primarily in Mississippi and Louisiana, is one of the nation's leading full service systems companies for the design, engineering, construction, and life cycle support of major surface ships for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and international navies, and for commercial vessels of all types.
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