Training & Manufacturing Operations in Danville, Virginia — Including IIA Lab — Impress Acting Chief of Naval Operations

July 8, 2025 | < 1 min read

In Danville, Virginia, Industrial Inspection & Analysis (IIA) is part of a team of industrial partners, industry experts and government entities working together to support the Navy’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE) in its efforts to accelerate and scale defense manufacturing.

Our testing lab in Danville, located at the Center of Excellence, provides on-site qualification and component testing to validate the quality of additive manufactured parts for submarines.

VIPs Tour IIA Lab

On April 29, 2025, our Lab Service team in Danville was proud to give Admiral Jim Kilby, Acting Chief of Naval Operations, and Admiral William Houston a private tour of our facility as part of the Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM) Summit at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR), held April 28-30 in Danville.

ATDM was established under the direction of the Navy’s Maritime Industrial Base Program to train the future workforce and operationalize an innovation hub for advanced manufacturing.

Kilby delivered the keynote address at the summit, telling an audience of approximately 400 stakeholders:

“I can assure you that ATDM is contributing to a national movement that is making America stronger, safer, and more secure. The work you’re doing matters to our military, our economy, and the future of this country.”

Kilby also discussed key shipbuilding and maintenance initiatives, including additive manufacturing.

“In our shipyards, in our manufacturing plants, and in our support organizations, we are reducing maintenance delays, and we are moving faster,” said Kilby. “Every time we 3D-print a part that would otherwise take 40 weeks to procure, we are putting more capability back into the field. That is real, measurable readiness.”

Remarks to House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee

At a May 14, 2025, meeting of the U.S. House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, in response to a question from Texas Representative John Carter, Admiral Kilby referred to the Navy’s Danville operations as a model that could be used across the country.

“…Two weeks ago, I went to Danville, Virginia, where we have an accelerated training and defense manufacturing center. That’s an exciting proposition for me,” said Admiral Kilby, who later held up a part used to repair a helicopter hangar door as an example:

“This part was produced in Danville, Virginia…. It would take 40 weeks to make this part through traditional means. Danville did it in 19 days. And if I did it tomorrow, it would be 5 days because I don’t have to find the IP and get it run in the system and do a fit-up. To me, that is the promise, and we need to do that all over the country.”