Based at the San Diego Naval Station, the Southwest Regional Maintenance Center (SWRMC) provides maintenance support and maintenance training to more than 50 surface ships, aircraft carriers, and submarines of the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. This is a weighty responsibility for Captain Kevin Gannon, Commander of the SWRMC — as is the complement of roughly 3,000 sailors and civilians under his command.

位在圣地牙哥海军基地，美国海军西南区维护中心（ SWRMC ）提供维护支援和训练给美国海军 50 多艘船只、航空母舰、潜水艇以及美国海岸巡防队。这对美国海军西南区维护中心的指挥官 Kevin Gannon 上校来说，是相当重大的责任，因为大约 3000 名海军士兵和平民所需的补给都在他的管辖之下。

Captain Gannon, who describes himself as a “lifelong learner,” holds an undergraduate degree from Tulane University in mathematics, an MS in mechanical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey , and an MS in systems engineering from University of Virginia . But he is quick to point out that his education is not confined to formal schooling; in each of his positions in the U.S. Navy, Gannon has worked to keep abreast of new developments in his fields of expertise.

Gannon 上校形容自己是位“终身学习者”，他自 Tulane 大学数学系毕业，在 Monterey 海军研究所取得机械工程硕士学位，并且在 Virginia 大学取得系统工程硕士，他很快地指出他所受的教育并不限于正式的学校教育而已，无论 Gannon 在美国海军的任职为何，他总是努力保持他的专业能跟上最新的发展。

Gannon describes his main responsibilities at SWRMC as overseeing lots of industrial processes (anything from fixing a pump to overhauling a gun) — and he is constantly looking for ways to streamline these processes. This quest led him to OpenCourseWare several years ago, while browsing for information on LEAN manufacturing.

Gannon 在 SWRMC 主要的职责是监督多种制造作业流程（例如从帮浦修理到枪支检修），他不断的寻找改善这些作业流程的方法。这样的需求，在几年前当他在浏览精实制造（ lean manufacturing ）相关资料时，带领他进入了麻省理工学院开放式课程。

“ LEAN is a tool that industry has been using for the last couple of years,” explains Gannon, “ focusing on process improvement, and minimizing waste. I was looking generically for LEAN information, and stumbled across OCW. I was really impressed. This site is a true intellectual gem. They have a couple of LEAN classes in the engineering section, such as ‘Course ESD.60 – LEAN/Six Sigma Processes,' that were very useful.”

“精实（ Lean ）是一套近几年工业界普遍使用的工具” Gannon 解释着，“它针对制程加以改善并且减少报废情况的发生。当我在找精实的资料并驻足于开放式课程时，我对它真是印象深刻。这个网站真可说是一颗智慧的宝石，他们在工程领域部分有很多精实的课程，像是 Course ESD.60 – Lean/Six Sigma Process （ 6 个标准差制程），非常地实用。”

OCW has also proved helpful in other areas of Gannon's job. For example: leadership training for the sailors under his command is one of his major concerns. So, soon after discovering the OCW Web site, Gannon browsed through the MIT Sloan School courses on OCW to see if any of these courses could be helpful. “The Leading Organizations course [‘Course 15.322' ] has turned me on to all sorts of useful references,” Gannon says. “We've used a bunch of books mentioned in the syllabus. And the lecture notes are also an important tool. They include documents on the problems and prospects of a changing organizational world, and models of organizational change. We've used these for our discussion and our teaching here.”

麻省理工学院开放式课程也提供了 Gannon 在其他方面的工作有效的协助，例如他最关心的其中一件事就是他麾下海军士兵领导能力的训练，在他发现了麻省理工学院开放式课程网站后不久，他浏览遍网站上史隆学院的课程，寻找是否有哪些课程能派得上用场；“这些领导组织的课程（ Course 15.322 ）引导我到各类有用的参考资料，我们采用了一堆课程大纲里提到的书籍，课堂讲稿也是很重要的工具，内容包括改变中组织的问题、前景，以及组织变化的模式；我们采用了这些资料在课堂中讨论及作为教学的主题。”　

“ OCW has definitely accelerated our ability to train,” Gannon continues. “As far as I'm concerned, these courses are already tried-and-true. They've worked with a high-performing group. They're a nicely bundled package, and they're free. How can you beat that?”

Gannon 接着说：“麻省理工学院开放式课程确实加速我们训练的能力，就我而言，这里的课程都已经先试过而且得到证实的结果，这些课程已经由一群高效率的团队经营，它们是一套装束扎实的完整课程，并且免费开放使用；你怎么比得过它呢？”