1423 Powhatan St., Suite 1
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Phone (703) 836-6727
Fax (703) 836-7491
Email: asnehq@navalengineers.org

 

ASNE is the leading professional engineering society for engineers, scientists and allied professionals who conceive, design, develop, test, construct, outfit, operate and maintain complex naval and maritime ships, submarines and aircraft and their associated systems and subsystems.  ASNE also serves the educators who train the professionals, researchers who develop related technology, and students who are preparing for the profession.  Society activities provide support for the U.S. Navy; U.S. Coast Guard; U.S. Marine Corps; U.S. Merchant Marine and U.S. Army.

ASNE is the seventh oldest technical society in the United States.  It was founded in 1888 by a group of naval engineering pioneers, most of them officers of the U.S. Navy's Engineering Corps, who sought a unified approach to their profession in order to make the most of new advances in technology. The purposes of ASNE are:           

  • to advance the knowledge and practice of naval engineering in public and private applications and operations,
  • to enhance the professionalism and well-being of members, and
  • to promote naval engineering as a career field.

For 125 years, the Society’s objectives have been strengthened and preserved to meet the changing needs of a time-honored profession. Today ASNE conducts a variety of technical meetings and symposia, publishes the highly regarded Naval Engineers Journal and a number of other technical proceedings and publications, and fosters professional development and technical information exchange through technical committees, local section activities and cooperative efforts with government organizations and other professional societies.

The Society's annual meeting, ASNE Day, is typically held in February of each year in the Washington, DC, area. The meeting features major addresses by high level industry and government leaders and panel discussions by leading members of the profession.  It also includes presentation and discussion of technical papers on a variety of timely naval engineering topics, presentation of the Society's prestigious annual awards and a large exposition with government and industry exhibits covering the full spectrum of naval engineering technology. ASNE Day is highlighted by the Society’s annual Honors Gala, attended by hundreds of executives and senior managers from both government and industry.

Our website is designed to not only serve our members, but also to support scholars, students and others interested in the varied field of naval engineering.  We welcome your suggestions on ways we can improve your experience. 

CDR Kurt J. Harris, USN

Award: Claud A. Jones Award 

 1995 

CDR Kurt J. Harris, USN

 

For his significant contribution to naval engineering as set forth in the following:

Commander Kurt Harris was singularly responsible for the exceptionally high level of material readiness and operational availability maintained by ships deployed to the U.S. FIFTH Fleet from November 1992 through October 1995.  As Officer-in-Charge of the SIXTH Fleet Ship Repair Unit Detachment, Bahrain, he managed over 400 scheduled and emergent maintenance availabilities and was directly responsible for correction of more than 3,300 material casualties on nearly 200 ships, including eleven carrier battle groups and seven amphibious ready groups.  Without exception, each ship benefitted directly from his hallmark personal attention, untiring dedication and commitment to excellence.

Ships deployed to the FIFTH Fleet face the U.S Navy's most materially challenging theater of operations.  The U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Area of Responsibility spans a vast region from the waters off of Iraq and Iran to the shores of Kenya and Somalia, and from the headwaters of the Red Sea to the approaches of Karachi, Pakistan.  Ships deployed to this region confront a demanding venue of extended, high-visibility, real-world operations more than eight thousand miles from home port with infrequent tender visits as the only organic source of maintenance and repair support.  In this extreme environment, Commander Harris' technical competence, ingenuity, and unrelenting customer focus were the key reason FIFTH Fleet deployed ships consistently achieved nearly eighty percent operating tempo and still completed their deployments in better material condition than when they arrived.

In achieving this remarkable record of support, Commander Harris expertly and energetically scheduled and coordinated support from a broad array of commercial ship repair facilities, Navy and commercial shipyard and SIMA fly-away teams, Navy and commercial technical representatives, and Navy and commercial logistic support providers.  He eagerly tackled unusual repairs as well as the routine.  His accomplishments included waterborne propeller replacements, aircraft carrier main engine bearing replacement, gas turbine generator rotor replacement and repair of hull and structure collision damage on three ships, including a nuclear aircraft carrier.

Striving constantly for more effective and efficient approaches to deployed ship maintenance,  Commander Harris’ exceptional leadership and innovative spirit achieved marked success, such as his pioneering implementation of deployed submarine maintenance availabilities without submarine tender support.

The greatest measure of Commander Harris’ immense achievement lies in the unmitigated praise from all who witnessed and benefitted from his efforts.  The FIFTH Fleet Commander remarked that he received “... more unsolicited (praise) for Kurt Harris than all others combined.”  Commanding officers of ships he served were unanimous in delivering plaudits such as one who said “... unreservedly that no single individual contributed more to the maintenance of (the ship’s) mission readiness ... CDR Harris ... did right by my ship as no other outsider in my 13 months in command.”

Clearly, Commander Harris epitomizes the highest ideals of fleet engineering and is most deserving of the Claude A. Jones Award.