The U.S. Navy’s Submarine Industrial Base Directorate expressed the intent to hire approximately 140,000 new employees in the skilled trades over the next 10 years to bolster its workforce to build and sustain the fleet. In an effort to build the capacity of the Submarine Industrial Base, the Navy requested $3.9 billion in federal funding for FY25. Admiral Lisa Franchetti, Chief of Naval Operations and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also identified additional funding for the Submarine Industrial Base as the top unfunded priority for FY25.

Students working; The “crew”; Press event

ORBIS, Inc., a veteran-owned engineering solutions company that provides services for the U.S. Navy and the Department of Defense, managed the Naval Shipyard Institute program in collaboration with the Academy. MMA faculty customized their courses to align with the Navy’s workforce needs. ORBIS’s Naval Shipyard Institute Director Chris Oelschlegel ’05 indicated that “Maine Maritime Academy has the ideal combination of high-quality training facilities and first-rate instructors for the Naval Shipyard Institute program to be successful.”

Maine Maritime Academy Interim President Craig Johnson said, “The Academy’s expertise in providing training in the skilled trades in addition to world-class lab facilities makes the collaboration with ORBIS a natural fit. We hope this is just the beginning of the Academy helping to contribute to the Navy’s mission of bolstering qualified, skilled labor for the Submarine and Maritime Industrial Base. Submarines play a crucial role in our nation’s defense and helping to train skilled workers for their maintenance is an important objective.”

Hands on work at its finest.

Trainees, ranging in age from 18 to 60, were provided room and board while participating in the Naval Shipyard Institute program. After successfully completing six weeks of training on the Maine Maritime Academy campus, students receive six hours of academic credit. According to welding student Lyndsey Levasseur, “This program is a fantastic opportunity to pursue a career doing something I enjoy while also contributing to my country.”

According to welding student Lyndsey Levasseur, “This program is a fantastic opportunity to pursue a career doing something I enjoy while also contributing to my country.”

On August 7, 2024, Maine Maritime Academy and ORBIS, Inc. hosted a showcase event on campus highlighting the progress of the Naval Shipyard Institute training program, offering a tour of the training cohorts, and allowing interaction with MMA Leadership and faculty. Representatives from the offices of Governor Mills, Senator Collins, Senator King, as well as officials from the U.S. Navy, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, MMA’s Board of Trustees, and the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Labor were in attendance.

The Academy hopes to continue the partnership with the Navy to continue to develop the Submarine Industrial Base workforce in 2025 and beyond.█

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