NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The Naval Aviation Training Systems and Ranges program office (PMA-205) in partnership with Navy dive technicians from Underwater Construction Team 2 (UCT-2) completed undersea sustainment on a critical piece of infrastructure at the Southern California Anti-Submarine Warfare Range (SOAR) in March.
“Sustaining this infrastructure is a no-fail program imperative,” said Capt. Lisa Sullivan, PMA-205 program manager. If they are not viable for future use, the cost impact would be considerable, and the completion dates for the new ranges would be pushed back significantly.”
SOAR provides hundreds of nautical miles of instrumented, three dimensional (air, surface and subsurface) tracking range training for anti-submarine warfare aircrew and evaluation of performance of anti-submarine warfare platforms and equipment.
The PMA-205 ocean facilities team was on site for the operation, and their role was to manage the sustainment activities of the training range infrastructure.
“I am extremely grateful that these professional engineer-divers accomplished this vital work,” said Lt. Cmdr. Paulstephen Chierico, a PMA-205 ocean facilities program manager, who was on site. “This sustainment effort will protect the range structure well into the future, allowing our Undersea Warfare Training Range program to install the next generation of ranges. It was an excellent partnership that UCT-2, as military divers, could accommodate this mission.”
During the inspection process, it was discovered that some of the SOAR’s components were in need of additional maintenance to ensure continued functionality, which required three pairs of divers to complete. These components will not only enable continued operations of the SOAR, but also additional capabilities as the needs of the range evolve.
The Construction Dive Detachment Bravo (CDD/B) from UCT-2 completed this work as part of their training at San Clemente Island, which certified them for forward deployment in future diving operations.
“This project provided the perfect opportunity for my detachment to gain valuable training before deployment, while simultaneously supporting the Navy’s undersea warfare training objectives,” said Lt. j.g. Eddie Zhang, the CDD/B officer-in-charge.
UCT-2, based in Port Hueneme, California, provides a capability for underwater construction, inspection, repair, and maintenance of waterfront and ocean facilities to enable distributed maritime operations for the Navy and Marine Corps across the Pacific region. UCT-2 is an Echelon V ashore command assigned under administrative and operational control of Naval Construction Group One in homeport, and under the operational control of fleet commanders when forward deployed.
About PMA-205
PMA-205 provides full life-cycle acquisition of naval aviation training platforms, general training systems, training range instrumentation systems, and distributed mission training centers to provide Navy and Marine Corps pilots, naval flight officers, aircrew, and maintainers with the training equipment required to provide superior capability and operational readiness. The program office manages flight simulators, part-task trainers, maintenance trainers, airborne and underwater training range instrumentation, threat systems, and associated curricula to ensure optimum performance for naval aviation.