Marine Corps Commandant Visits Ingalls

The highest ranking officer in the U.S. Marine Corps took a look at some of the amphibious ships being built at Ingalls today.
News 25’s Kristen Durand spoke with the commandant of the U.S Marine Corps General Robert Neller as he wrapped up his tour of the shipyard.
Ingalls Shipbuilding plays a critical role in our nation’s defense as the primary producer of ships used by the United States military. Wednesday morning, the commandant of the U.S Marine Corps General Robert Neller toured the shipyard, getting a firsthand look at the building stages of the amphibious ships that will one day carry some of his troops. “We are a world super power and so as long as we’re engaged across the world and we’re going to do those things to deter our adversaries and assure our allies, there’s a lot of capabilities we need. So, we need destroyers, we need Coast Guard cutters, we need ice breakers, we need amphibious ships.”
General Neller toured two amphibious ships, the Portland LPD 27 and the Tripoli LHA Seven. He hopes to see even more of these added to our nation’s fleet. “Right now, we’re at 30 and we’re going to get to 34 and we’d like to try to figure out a way to get up to 38. Ships are expensive and the country has a lot of needs. So, we’ll work with congress and everybody else to see how we can get more and new ships for the nation.”
These amphibious ships carry Marines all around the world on various missions from providing humanitarian aid to high end combat. Ingalls top executive says he and all the shipyard workers are proud to serve our country in this capacity. Ingalls President Brian Cuccias said, “It’s the main asset that the Marines use to go around the world. To be a part of that, it’s a good feeling. As I said, Ingalls shipbuilders are patriots and when they come to work it’s more than just a job. It’s really to build assets to defend and protect this country.”