He served on USS Macon, a heavy cruiser, and became the ship's legal officer after graduating as an honor student from the US Navy School of Justice in Newport, Rhode Island. He also taught military law and naval orientation at the Officer Candidate School in Newport at which time he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in the US Naval Reserve. Senator Cochran is a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee where he has worked successfully to support the Navy's shipbuilding programs. A traditional keel-laying ceremony marks the first significant milestone in the construction of the ship. Due to Austal's modular approach to ship manufacture, 35 of the 37 modules used to form this 127-metre aluminum trimaran design are already being assembled. For Austal, keel-laying marks the beginning of final assembly. Four modules have been moved from Austal's Module Manufacturing Facility (MMF), three of which are erected in the final assembly bay in their pre-launch position.