The ribbon is cut for the U.S. Navy Memorial’s newest exhibit. From left: (Ret.) Vice Adm. John B. Nowell, Jr., the president and CEO of the memorial; Dr. Brett A. Seidle, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition; Ian Bennitt, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of the Office of Shipbuilding; Matthew Sermon, the direct reporting program manager for the Maritime Industrial Base Program. (Samuel Weinstein/Stars and Stripes)

WASHINGTON — A new exhibit at the U.S. Navy Memorial Visitor Center in the nation’s capital draws attention to the Navy’s renewed shipbuilding efforts and emphasizes the industrial jobs available because of that effort.

The “Maritime Industrial Base and Submarine Force” exhibit, which opened on April 24, uses interactive screens and a model of the USS District of Columbia (SSBN-826) to highlight the submarine force and the skilled labor involved in the Maritime Industrial Base.

The model of the USS District of Columbia celebrates the first of 12 Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines. The class, which is set to replace the Ohio class submarines, is designed for stealth. The USS DC is expected to enter service by 2031. 

As the exhibit opened, the visitor’s center hosted a booth for the USS DC Commissioning Committee to welcome the crew and introduce them to residents of Washington. 

A poster introducing the USS DC Commissioning Committee and the USS District of Columbia submarine. The committee’s function is to welcomes the crew and introduces them and their families to residents of Washington. (Samuel Weinstein/Stars and Stripes)

The exhibit comes less than a year after the Maritime Industrial Base Program Office was established in September 2024. The office leads the service’s effort to restore American shipbuilding capacity. The Trump administration and recently confirmed Navy Secretary John Phelan have also named shipbuilding as a priority.

The Navy has struggled in recent years with delayed and over budget shipbuilding and ship repairs. One recent report from the Government Accountability Office has cast doubt on the Navy’s ability to reach its shipbuilding goal without dramatically reconfiguring its approach.

It has also struggled with retaining civilian talent, with service officials and experts testifying before the House in March that better pay for shipyard workers is crucial to boosting shipbuilding capacity.

Despite the challenges, service and industry leaders at the exhibit’s unveiling took an upbeat tone.

As the U.S. faces “the huge challenge of China,” said (Ret.) Vice Adm. Carol M. Pottenger, the acting chair of the memorial’s board of directors, it has “huge opportunities as well.”

Pottenger said the new exhibit captures the intersection of military, industry and administration, referring to the Trump administration’s shipbuilding goals.

(Ret.) Vice Adm. John B. Nowell, Jr., the president and CEO of the memorial, said that the goal of the exhibit was partly to help visitors understand “what it takes to protect our freedom,” but also to give the public a sense of what kind of job opportunities are available to them if they want to serve in some way.

“For some, it might be being in uniform, the way that I was ... But for many, it may be putting on, you know, a welder’s helmet. It may be being a naval architect. ... We want them to see what the opportunities are and what life looks like and in these critical trades that support the maritime industrial base.”

(Ret.) Vice Admiral John Nowell, Jr., the the president and CEO of the U.S. Navy Memorial, stands before the memorial’s newest exhibit, April 24, 2025. (Samuel Weinstein/Stars and Stripes)

Nowell said that the exhibit is aimed at the general public. While some of the 40,000 visitors that pass through the center each year are veterans, Nowell said that many others visitors are families or friends of veterans, accompanying them to the visitor’s center. 

Matthew Sermon, the direct reporting program manager for the Maritime Industrial Base Program, similarly said the exhibit was aimed at attracting talent.

“Over the next 10 years, to build the ships and submarines and unmanned platforms the Navy needs, we have to hire about 250,000 civilian workers in the United States. Just in the skilled trades,” Sermon said. He and his colleagues want “to show we’ve got great careers, good-paying jobs, that are valued and undertaking a patriotic mission for the nation.”

Sermon struck an optimistic note, emphasizing the over 75,000 profiles he said are registered on an online career portal. In the near future the website will encompass more than submarine building, Sermon noted.

“This country was founded and has thrived off of our industrial-based workforce. And we’re headed back there. The demand signal is there. The great jobs are gonna be there, they’re there now and we’re super excited about that.”

(Ret.) Vice Admiral John B. Nowell, Jr., the president and CEO of the U.S. Navy Memorial, gives remarks before the ribbon-cutting of the memorial’s newest exhibit, April 24, 2025. Lined up next to him are Admiral William Houston, director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, left, and Matthew Sermon, the direct reporting program manager for the Maritime Industrial Base Program. (Samuel Weinstein/Stars and Stripes)

Admiral William Houston, director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, at the U.S. Navy Memorial Visitor Center along with other visitors on the opening day of the memorial’s newest exhibit, April 24, 2025. (Samuel Weinstein/Stars and Stripes)