In the News

As a Jackson County native, lifelong resident, and sheriff, Mike Ezell had made many visits to Ingalls Shipbuilding, but never as a congressman.

That changed Thursday, when Ezell, now a U.S. Representative from Mississippi’s 4th Congressional District, took his first official tour of the Pascagoula shipyard as a member of congress.

Ezell spent the day meeting with Ingalls leadership and touring the shipyard, including a stop at the amphibious transport dock Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29), currently under construction.

“As a native of Pascagoula, I’m proud of the work that Ingalls has done and continues to do to equip our armed forces,” Ezell said. “South Mississippi shipbuilders are always up to the challenge of outfitting our military with state-of-the-art technology and the best ships in the world.”

Ezell was elected to Congress in November, unseating incumbent Rep. Steven Palazzo in the Republican primary. He took office in January and his initial committee assignments including a seat on the Homeland Security and Transportation, and Infrastructure committees.

“We appreciated Representative Ezell investing his time to see firsthand the quality work that our shipbuilders do every day for our Navy and Coast Guard partners,” said Ingalls president Kari Wilkinson. “Touring the shipyard brings perspective to the scope, scale and significance of what we consider a privilege to do for our country every day.”

With roughly 11,500 employees, Ingalls is the largest manufacturing employer in Mississippi and a major contributor to the economic growth of Alabama. For nearly 85 years, Ingalls has designed, built and maintained amphibious ships, destroyers, and cutters for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Mississippi Press Article