Ingalls Shipbuilding, a Division of HII’s Post

Transcript

No matter the role, the work of an English ship builder is both complex and inspiring. For 85 years, the world class shipbuilders at Ingles Shipbuilding have designed, built and maintained amphibious ships, destroyers and cutters for the US Navy and the US Coast Guard. Welcome to Inciting Goals, a podcast that dives deep into the stories and perspectives of those who shape our legacy. Welcome back to another episode of Inside Angles. I'm your host, Katie Weldon, and with us today on the podcast, we have Brian Blanchette, President of Ingles Shipbuilding. Welcome, Brian. Thanks, Katie. Of course. So we're going to talk about Brian's background today and kind of the plans that he has for Ingles now that he's president. So on that note, Brian, tell us about your background and kind of what brought you here to Ingles. So I grew up in Rhode Island by the water, always had a love for boats and ships and things like that. And I remember watching the Australians beat the Americans in the Americas Cup, taking the Cup away from the United States for the first time in 150 something years and say, well, I'm going to go to school and learn how to design. Quotes and and bring the cup back to the US Somebody beat me to that, but I decided to go to school to design chips anyway and hired him to Ingles in about 1996. Had a lot of amazing opportunities along the way starting in research and development. I got to work some international programs, travel overseas. I moved to Washington DC and supported the DX program at the time. And by the way, it's amazing to see her back in the yard. Something I worked on when it was just PowerPoint charts. And you know, went down into the yard to work at ship program manager for DG114 and then on into engineering and VP of engineering and quality just prior to taking this job. So a little bit of everything, a little bit of everywhere outside of work, really my principal focus is my family. I'm married, I have several kids. I joke we have 6 on the Christmas card and five on the tax return because I unofficially adopted 1 somewhere along the way. And so with that. Many people, that much going on, really. That's when I'm not here. That's where my focus is. I said to say, so that's it, that's it. You've done a little bit of everything, like you said, and you're going on 28, almost 29 years now. And in that time, what have you seen that makes English ship builders so special? Like what makes us different? So it's, it's amazing to see what's happened to the facility, you know, coming in when so much of the work was outside, a lot of the buildings weren't here. I remember hearing piles being driven for the stacking hall and the outfitting hall and. You know, so much of the facility has changed over the years, but really it's the people that make this place so special and the the dedication, the commitment. When I look at the wall in in exchequer and and see that I came in halfway through the pictures on the wall, it does make me feel a little old. But, but it is amazing to see all the different things that we were part of over the years and things like the US coal coming in. And I'll bring her back into service making it through Hurricane Katrina. Recently with the Fitzgerald talked about DG1000 and and doing the modifications to her. Just so many incredible opportunities to be part of something bigger than yourselves, to make a difference to to really influence the world events and I don't think you can get that anywhere else. Really seem like the whole cycle of not only shipbuilding, but like as like careers go and you know, really being a part of something bigger than yourself. Like you're saying like we build things that protect service members, that protect our nation and our families and our communities. And on that note, you said, you know, when you see these things being constructed in the infrastructure, what is on the horizon for Ingles, like in terms of opportunities or initiatives? So we're in a great position right now in terms of our backlog. We know what the future looks like for the next 10 years we have. I don't, I've lost count of how many DG is in the backlog, LJ 8-9 and 10 LPD's all the way out through PD 35. So whereas in the past maybe we were wondering what the next ship might be or when it would come, we really have line of sight to all the work. We just need to go execute it. And so that's where the focus is going to be is how do we get better every day, how do we learn from each other, how do we improve, how do we perform on the contracts. That that the Navy, the Marines need so badly to get into the fleet, right. And relating it back to mission and purpose as part of that execution too. And with that, you know, a lot of times when you're motivating, when you're trying to engage with shipbuilders and you know, the people that we work with every single day as a leader, what are some key values and principles that guide you specifically? So I try and pick up a little bit from from people I've worked with or people have observed over the years kind of shaped. That that personal leadership philosophy, sometimes it's what not to do and sometimes it's it's what to do. Had the opportunity to meet Admiral Mcraven, his wife was the ship sponsor for DG114, the ship I was spin for. And I mean, he is just an incredible leader. And, and he, he has some of the principles that he learned through his time in the seals and, you know, taking the problem head on and you know, looking at things different way. That's something that I believe is going to be important to us as we as we look to evolve. Always adding value, influencing the outcome, something my father told me time and time again growing up. There's always room for improvement, you know, keeping that mission, keeping that purpose and always looking for ways to do it better. You know, I think that's where that's where the future lies. Somebody, when you hear it from that perspective, like you talked about different viewpoints, anytime you get to hear it like that and kind of relate it back to the work that we do and the team that we get to do it with. What what do you think makes an effective team in shipbuilding? Knowing that other people rely on you, depend on you, you know, being part of something bigger than yourself. So if you're committed to the outcome and you're committed to your teammates, I think that those are things that make a great team. And you see it, you know, you see it in the military. You see it in sports. People understand what is expected of them, they understand what collectively you've committed to. They understand that they have to work together to achieve the outcome. And they understand that some days you're going to be carrying a little more of the load and some days somebody else is going to be carrying a little more because you can't. And so working together, finding that balance really. Depending on people to to achieve the ultimate goal, right? Every podcast episode that we've had so far, it's always related back to, you know, the team and being fellowship builders and things like that. And now that you're on this new journey, what are you most looking forward to being part of this team and how we go into the future? I think I'll say, First off, I'm looking forward to the opportunity to influence the outcome. And you know, it is a significant responsibility. Knowing there's 11,000 plus people depending on me to to do that well. So I'm I'm looking forward to not screwing that up. I do think that they, we do have a tremendous opportunity in front of us. Like I said, with, with the known backlog of work, we can really focus on how to do it right, how to do it better each time. We have a a generation of people coming in who maybe don't have the skills that the prior generation did, but they've expressed an interest in wanting to be shipped builders. So we have an opportunity to to teach them to let them grow. Into that role and to, to continue the tradition of, of craftsmanship, of, of quality of the things that have kept us here for 85 years and, and you know, hopefully will keep us here for 85 more. And I think from a bigger picture, we have the opportunity to influence the entire country's perspective on skilled labor for a generation or more. We've sort of de emphasized the value of working with your hands of learning a trade. And we've steered people different directions. And I think as a country, we're starting to realize that maybe that wasn't the best thing. And so we angles can be at the forefront of showing people there is value in working with your hands. There's value in learning a trade. We can give you a great life. We can give you great benefits, great pay and and great opportunity to be something bigger than yourselves and to not just, you know. Could phone bank or deliver meals or whatever else, right? The same thing every single day that's popping up. And you know, you keep driving back to like being a part of something bigger than yourself. And that's what we get to do here everyday. And I think I speak for a lot of shipbuilders when I say, you know, the leadership that you've shown and the leadership that we have here too and able to do those things and do them well with the team that we have. It's just an opportunity that not everybody gets to have. So on that note, is there anything else you'd like to add before we wrap up? I think that's it. Thanks, Katie. Thank you so much, Brian. For being here today and for those of you listening, if you're interested in starting your journey at Ingles Shipbuilding, go to hi.com/careers and get started today. On that note, we'll see you on the next one.