DON CHECK APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF TRADES MANAGEMENT AT NEWPORT NEWS SHIPBUILDING

June 19, 1997, NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Don Check has been appointed director of Trades Management at Newport News Shipbuilding. In this position, he will be responsible for approximately 9,000 skilled supervisory and trades personnel to support shipbuilding, repair, and overhaul projects.

Check is a 31-year veteran of Newport News Shipbuilding and brings to the position experience in both construction management and engineering. In addition, he has worked various nuclear test functions, overhauls and new construction on submarines, cruisers and aircraft carriers. Check has also held positions as director of the Submarine Program, of Non-Nuclear Testing and most recently, the sealift conversions USNS Gordon and USNS Gilliland. He holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from West Virginia University.

Newport News Shipbuilding is America's largest ship design and construction company. It has produced approximately 800 ships during its 111 years of operations - including Navy aircraft carriers, submarines, and cruisers. The company is currently building the nuclear-powered aircraft carriers Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) and Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and has begun work in preparation for construction of the Navy's New Attack Submarine. It is also building nine Double Eagle product tankers. Its 1996 revenues totaled $1.87 billion, with earnings before interest and taxes of $140 million. The current backlog is approximately $3.3 billion. The workforce numbers 18,000, making it Virginia's largest private employer.