Employees from Southwest Regional Maintenance Center (SWRMC) graduated from the Southwest Regional Apprenticeship Program (SWRAP) on Jan. 28. The graduation was held at Naval Air Station North Island.
SWRAP was created in 2010 in partnership with Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Detachment, Naval Base Point Loma, Fleet Readiness Center Southwest, and Southwestern College.
“This is a highly competitive program,” said Capt. David Hart, SWRMC’s commanding officer. “The apprentices will utilize what they have learned to help make positive changes and embrace process improvement for the Navy across SWRMC and the enterprise in support of readiness and on-time delivery.”
The apprentice program involves four years of intensive training in one of about 10 skilled trades of interest related to the maintenance, repair and modernization of Navy ships and submarines.
For those selected to the SWRAP, the first three years are equally divided between trade skill training and taking college classes, which leads to an associate’s degree at the end of the third year. After successful completion of college and trade courses, emphasis shifts from academics to specific skills training on the job, leading toward the apprentice achieving journey level certification through the Department of Labor and Department of the Navy.
Two graduates of this year’s program are from SWRMC and completed the program focuses on the trades of pipefitting and rigging. Other graduates came from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Detachment San Diego, and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
“SWRAP is an opportunity of a lifetime. The leadership of SWRMC set us up to become the future leaders of our trades and equipped us with the tools to become successful,” said Jacob Marron, a SWRMC graduate in the pipefitting trade. “The biggest take away from the program would simply be the opportunities given. SWRMC and Southwestern College form every apprentice into great assets for the Navy.”
SWRMC is meeting its mission to provide superior ship maintenance, modernization, technical support, and training for the Pacific Fleet.
For more information on SWRMC, please visit https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/RMC/SWRMC.