On Wednesday, the U.S. Navy held a groundbreaking ceremony at The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research  for the new 100,000-square-foot Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing Regional Training Center. The center will allow more students to enroll in accelerated 4-month programs to help them reskill or upskill for high-paying jobs.  

Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro, spoke during the ceremony and said the new will contribute to the Navy being able to build submarines faster.

“We’re looking now over the past couple of years of about 1,000 jobs that have been added to the industrial base in order for us to be able to build our submarines faster, quicker, and in a more advanced way with new composite materials that are really exceeding the edge of technology in terms of what we do today,” said Del Toro.

The ceremony was held as part of the Third Annual Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM) & U.S. Navy Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE) Summit. Del Toro also stated that the new center will strengthen the Navy and the economy in Danville.

“Well it strengthens the Navy because these shipyards need the workers necessary to be able to more quickly build the submarines that we require on time and on schedule on behalf of the American taxpayer,” said Del Toro, “it also builds the economy up in Danville and in Virginia.”

The Regional Training Center (RTC) will provide instruction to 800-1,000 students per year to fill critical vacancies across the defense industrial base, including positions in additive manufacturing, CNC machining, non-destructive testing (NDT), quality control inspection (metrology), and welding.  

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) has also been selected by the U.S. Navy Program Executive Office, Strategic Submarines (PEO SSBN) as the designated memorial location for the Ex-USS Buffalo (SSN 715) sail and the Ex-USS Providence (SSN 719) rudder to preserve and commemorate the history of these submarines and honor the service of their crews. This memorial demonstrates the strong partnership between the Navy and Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM).

The sail was part of the Ex-USS Buffalo (SSN 715), a decommissioned United States Navy LOS ANGELES Class nuclear-powered attack submarine. USS Buffalo (SSN 715) was commissioned in November 1983, and decommissioned in January 2019. During that time, she saw most of her service in the Pacific area of operation.