Intrepid Salute Award Honors HII Shipbuilders At New York City Fleet Week

Last night aboard the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid at Pier 86 in New York and in the company of Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti, it was my honor to present this award. 

The 2024 Intrepid Salute Award honors HII and all its shipbuilders and employees.

You know why.  HII is a global all-domain defense and technologies partner, and America’s largest shipbuilder, with 44,000 employees. 

They know innovation.  In early 1943, the United States Navy was down to just 2 operational aircraft carriers. 

The answer was the Intrepid and her sister ships of the Essex-class.  The Intrepid was hull number 394 and one of the most innovative and successful warships ever built.  Launched as a Fast Carrier in August 1943, the shipbuilders at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division in Virginia, packed the Intrepid with wartime innovations: from an armored hangar deck to more guns, and even an air search radar.  

The Intrepid was a little crowded.  At one point in World War II, plans called for 268 hammocks in the mess halls  – but the Navy forgot to buy the hammocks. 

My father served aboard another Essex-class carrier, the Yorktown, so I know the Intrepid had many nicknames in the fleet.  Including the “Fighting I.”

During combat in the Pacific in World War II with the Fast Carrier Task Forces, Intrepid stood up to the worst the enemy could dish out: a night torpedo attack, and kamikaze hits. 

After the war, the Intrepid was modified many times to counter the Soviet submarine threat, launch missions off Vietnam, and finally, to drill and deter with NATO from the Baltics to the Mediterranean. 

Intrepid’s history and innovation live on today with the men and women of HII who continue to build U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships with the combat power and innovation to keep America ahead of any rivals.

The Ford-class carriers – the largest warships in the world – are true technological marvels. CVN 78 Gerald R. Ford launched over 10,000 sorties on its recent deployment with 239 days underway.  CVN 79 John F. Kennedy is under construction in the yard. As is CVN 80 Enterprise, whichis the first aircraft carrier built using digital drawings and tablets on the deckplate.

HII shipbuilders built two ships here this week as part of the Fleet Week celebration: U.S. Navy amphibious ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) and the U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter Calhoun (WMSL-759).

They truly deserve this award. 

First, I’d like to ask Stu Gelband to join me on stage.  Stu is past president of the board of the USS Intrepid Former Crew Members Association.  Stu served aboard Intrepid in the engine room from 1970 to 1972. 

Now, to accept the Intrepid Salute Award on behalf of HII shipbuilders and employees, will Christopher Kastner and Xavier Beale please come to the stage.  Mr. Kastner is President and Chief Executive Officer of HII and Xavier Beale is a shipbuilder and the vice president of Human Resources for Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of HII.  Welcome, Mr. Kastner and Mr. Beale.