Pre-Commissioning Crew

The Sailors who will eventually crew the ship are selected and ordered to the ship starting about 12-18 months prior to delivery. They establish a pre-comm detachment at the ship's prospective homeport and a pre-comm unit (PCU) at the construction site. The prospective crew will phase transfer to the construction site starting with the nucleus crew about 12 months before delivery through to the arrival of the balance crew shortly before delivery.