Austal USA Elects Kruger As President

 Mobile-based Austal USA has announced that Michelle Kruger has been elected president of the Mobile-based shipbuilder after serving as interim president since August 2023. Kruger is a marine engineer with more than 25 years of maritime industry experience in new construction, repair and maintenance operations. Before coming to Austal in 2022 as vice president of global services and support, she had worked in a variety of leadership positions at General Dynamics. Her duties there included work supporting the Virginia-class submarine program, benchmarking for facility upgrades, oversight of new construction planning and leadership of a program building Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. She earned a bachelor’s degree in marine engineering from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, was commissioned into the U.S. Navy reserves in 1987 and earned a master’s degree in marine engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1995. Kruger became interim president of the Mobile shipyard in August 2023, along with the announcement of the resignation of Rusty Murdaugh.