MANILA, Philippines—A command under the Philippine Navy that is in charge of maintenance and repair of ships will now deploy its men to Navy vessels at sea to keep its fleet ready at all times.
The Naval Sea Systems Command (NSSC) on Wednesday (July 1) sent off 26 officers and 40 enlisted men in a small ceremony at Naval Station Pascual Ledesma in Cavite City. They have just finished Hull Machinery and Electrical (HME) and Weapons, Communications and Electronics (WCE) systems training for their new duty.
Rear Admiral Rommel Jason Galang, NSSC commander, said the sailors received training on maintaining and doing repairs for the Navy’s current and newest vessels.
The training and deployment would also allow the Navy to build a specialty field for its personnel.
More specific technical training programs are scheduled in the next few months to meet the target number of officers and men for deployment to offshore combat force and sealift amphibious force assets.
The NSSC personnel onboard will be in charge of maintenance and repair of ships while the Fleet focuses on operations, Galang said.
The new shipboard organization was approved by Navy chief Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo in late May.
This is said to be part of the NSSC’s five-year capacity building strategy which would give skills to naval systems engineering personnel to provide quality maintenance and repair service to the Philippine Fleet.