Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) marked a milestone in its support of the F-35 Lightning II program when the depot recently inducted and completed modifications on its 150th F-35 and returned the aircraft to the Fleet.

FRCE is the lead site for depot-level maintenance on the F-35B Lightning II and has conducted modifications and repair on the Marine Corps’ short takeoff-vertical landing variant of the aircraft since 2013. The depot has also worked with the F-35A (conventional takeoff and landing) and F-35C (carrier) variants.

“The F-35 plays such a crucial role in our national defense,” said FRCE Commanding Officer Capt. Randy Berti. “It is the next-generation strike aircraft weapon systems for the Navy, Air Force, Marines and our allies. It gives our warfighters unprecedented capabilities. We’re extremely proud of the support we provide for this aircraft.

“The F-35 was completely new when the first aircraft was inducted in 2013,” continued Berti. “There were a lot of unknowns. Inducting our 150th F-35 highlights how far we’ve come and how dedicated and innovative our people are. They were constantly breaking new ground and they continue to do that today.”

Dustin Schultz, an aircraft planner and estimator with FRCE’s F-35 team, was one of those trailblazers.

“Everything was brand new in the beginning,” said Schultz. “From engineering support to tooling and logistics, we were starting from scratch. We had one aircraft with six of us working on it. Now we have 130 artisans working on the F-35 alone. That's a lot of growth.

“We have other aircraft programs that are sundowning,” he continued. “The F-35 is filling that gap now as we move forward.”

According to Ike Rettenmair, FRCE’s F-35 branch head, the depots F-35 workload has grown exponentially over the years and is expected to expand further.

“I was in the hangar as a Harrier mechanic when the first F-35 rolled in,” said Rettenmair. “We’ve grown from that one stall to what will soon be multiple hangars of F-35s. The F-35 plays such a significant role in the U.S. military with more and more continuing to enter the Fleet. The number of F-35s used by international partners is also growing. Our F-35 workload goes hand in hand with all of this.”

As the F-35 program continues to grow at the depot, Rettenmair said FRCE continues to expand and develop key F-35 support elements.

FRCE declared capability on its first F-35 component - meaning FRCE is now a verified source of repair and testing for that item – in 2020. Since then, the depot has declared capability on approximately 76 different components for the Lightning II and continues to stand up capability.

In 2023, FRCE personnel became the first within the Department of Defense to perform the successful assembly of a lift fan clutch for the F-35B Lightning II aircraft outside of the original manufacturer’s facility. Additionally, F-35B vertical lift fan testing and processing facilities are scheduled to come online at FRCE in early 2025.

The depot is also capable of bringing F-35 support to the warfighter when and where it’s needed. FRCE’s F-35 Rapid Response Team, made up of highly skilled, cross-trained aircraft maintenance professionals, can deploy at a moment’s notice to any location, from a Marine Corps Air Station halfway around the globe to a Navy aircraft carrier afloat in the Indo-Pacific region.

FRCE’s F-35 support isn’t limited to aircraft repair and modification or component capabilities. Don Werner, an aircraft planner and estimator with FRCE’s F-35 team,  said the lessons learned and the innovation that occurred over the years while expanding FRCE’s F-35 program have also found their way to the warfighter.

“There are so many entities within FRC East working on things you would never even think of,” said Werner. “They create things and come up with ideas that enable us to get aircraft to the warfighter even faster while saving money in the long run. They create things that make the job easier and these go out to the whole Fleet.”

In addition to mechanics, Werner said the team includes quality assurance personnel, parts and logistics experts, planners, engineers and even fabric workers who design and produce heavy-duty protective covers for the aircraft’s tires, intakes and other parts.

“You can see people right here at the depot working on all these things,” said Werner. “They’re designing it, going down to manufacturing and coming up with the tools or equipment our people need because there's nobody out there that's going to get it to us in such a timely manner.”

Schultz said the warfighter benefits from the innovative processes and procedures the depot’s F-35 team has come up with over the years.

“We've had many modifications that come through here that we were performing for the first time ever,” said Schultz. “The manufacturer would say this mod is going to take 10,000 hours and our artisans and engineers would go look at it and end up saving thousands of hours because they came up with a new way to do the job that nobody else had thought of.”

According to Rettenmair, the success and expansion of the F-35 program at FRCE, lies with the depot’s personnel. He credited their dedication and innovation as instrumental in establishing the reputation of FRCE’s F-35 program.

“We’ve made a name for ourselves as the F-35 facility for depot maintenance,” said Rettenmair. ”It shows the trust and confidence the enterprise has in FRC East to do this work. That trust is a testament to the people working here who’ve earned us this reputation.”

He said everyone at FRCE, no matter what their job, is committed to supporting the Fleet by providing the highest quality, combat ready aircraft and components.

“Every day when we come to work, we know why we’re here,” said Rettenmair. “We deliver product back to the Fleet so the warfighter has what he or she needs to fight and win. The people working here take a lot of pride in that.”

FRCE is North Carolina's largest maintenance, repair, overhaul and technical services provider, with more than 4,000 civilian, military and contract workers. Its annual revenue exceeds $1 billion. The depot provides service to the fleet while functioning as an integral part of the greater U.S. Navy; Naval Air Systems Command; and Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers.

Learn more at www.navair.navy.mil/frce or https://www.facebook.com/FleetReadinessCenterEast.

The Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) F-35 Lightning II aircraft modification line continues to grow with the recent addition of a new storage system that will improve safety and efficiency.

As part of the F-35 modification line’s transformation efforts, FRCE has installed three new vertical lift modules – also referred to as vertical stackers – that act as a centralized storage unit for aircraft parts and components. The system effectively consolidates items that have traditionally been stored in various areas throughout the facility.

According to F-35 Branch Head Ike Rettenmair, the vertical stackers offer additional storage, safety improvements and time savings benefits, all of which allow FRCE to support the fleet more efficiently.

“Our main goal is to support our nation’s warfighters by providing quality, combat-ready aircraft,” said Rettenmair. “With the F-35 platform continuously growing, we need to do everything we can to deliver on our promise. That means constantly looking for ways to maximize efficiency, which is exactly what the vertical stackers do.”

FRCE’s F-35 modification line installed its first set of vertical stackers in 2020. Rettenmair said going up instead of out in search of storage solutions allows for more effective use of the limited space in the aircraft hangars, a strategy that proved successful with the initial set of stackers.

“Real estate is prime around here, so the only place we can really store is up,” said Rettenmair. “The vertical stackers help us make the most out of the space we have in our hangars. We saw how well they worked in our other hangar, so we put in a request for more. Now, instead of having parts stored throughout the area, we can put them all in one, organized place. They truly are a worthwhile investment.”

The vertical stackers feature a welded frame, integrated tray locating system and trays with a maximum load of up to 1,000 pounds each.

Measuring 13.5 feet wide by 27 feet tall, each stacker contains 18 trays set at varying heights, customized to their contents. The flexible configuration allows artisans to store aircraft parts and hardware, big and small, with their locations documented in a database that is updated whenever items are added or removed. This makes it easy to quickly locate items as needed. Artisans can access the tray retrieval system using a touchpad located on the front of the module. Once a specific tray is selected, the system directs the lift platform to the appropriate height to retrieve the tray and position it in the retrieval window, similar to the way a vending machine functions. Artisans can then move the tray clear of the column using the column’s pick and delivery system, an integrated carriage that facilitates convenient access to the tray and its contents.

F-35 Overhaul and Repair Supervisor Brent Ward said not only will the vertical stackers remedy a good portion of the line’s storage constraints, but they will also save time.

“The lack of storage space in the hangar forced us to store most of our aircraft parts and panels in another building, while keeping some larger components and engines in the hangar,” said Ward. “The engines and larger components took up a good amount of space in the hangar, making things quite difficult at times. We basically had to shift everything in the hangar just to move one thing, which is a very time-consuming and laborious task for our artisans.

“Now, we can consolidate many of those parts and panels into the stackers, giving us the room we need to move the larger components, engines and landing gear out of the hangar,” Ward continued. “The stackers make it much easier to access commonly used parts and panels and allow us to avoid using extra time and manpower to move things around just to work a task.”

The vertical stackers will also bolster safety, said Rettenmair.

“With the limited space available, the hangar could easily become cluttered with tools and aircraft parts,” Rettenmair said. “The stackers mitigate that; they optimize our hangar space, creating a more efficient environment for our aircraft mechanics and artisans. With the additional room, they can maneuver more freely and perform maintenance tasks more effectively.”

F-35 Overhaul and Repair Supervisor Rusty McCoy added that the vertical stackers will also improve parts management.

“Previously, we didn’t have a designated space to store some of our tools and smaller aircraft parts or panels,” said McCoy. “With the stackers, everything will have a home; we will be able to assign designated spaces for all of our parts, making them easier to locate every time we need them.”

According to Rettenmair, there are plans to incorporate the vertical stackers throughout the depot’s F-35 facilities.

“We are planning to add more stackers as we continue to build and renovate,” said Rettenmair. “We want other people to see how helpful the stackers are and hope to convince folks that this is the way to go for parts storage. They aren’t just for aircraft parts – they can be for side shops, too. They really are so helpful.”

FRCE is North Carolina's largest maintenance, repair, overhaul and technical services provider, with more than 4,000 civilian, military and contract workers. Its annual revenue exceeds $1 billion. The depot provides service to the fleet while functioning as an integral part of the greater U.S. Navy; Naval Air Systems Command; and Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers.

Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) met a new milestone with the induction of its first Navy CMV-22B Osprey for maintenance Aug. 21. With receipt of this aircraft, the depot now services all three variants of the V-22 platform, which also include the Marine Corps MV-22B and the Air Force CV-22.

The CMV-22B is the newest member of the Osprey family, entering service in June 2020 on the West Coast and April 2024 on the East Coast. In comparison, the Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey has been in use since achieving initial operational capability in 2007, and the Air Force CV-22 variant has been in operational use since 2009. FRCE will take on responsibility for the Navy’s East Coast-based CMV-22B fleet.

FRCE Commanding Officer Capt. Randy J. Berti said the new workload comes in as a direct result of the quality workmanship the command is known for across the board.

“FRC East’s maintenance of all three variants of the V-22 Osprey, for three different branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, really highlights the reputation for excellence our artisans, engineers and support staff have built,” Berti said. “I couldn’t be more proud that the Navy is entrusting us with this new mission. Every day, our workforce strives to provide high-quality service to the fleet at the best possible cost, and our success in that effort leads to the mutual trust and respect we have with our customers – our nation’s warfighters. The work we do here makes a real-world difference for them.”

The Navy is fielding the CMV-22B for long-range, medium-lift aerial logistics capabilities, including the carrier onboard delivery (COD) mission. Like all V-22 aircraft, the tiltrotor, vertical/short takeoff and landing aircraft can take off and land as a helicopter but transit as a turboprop aircraft, and is capable of shore-based, “expeditionary” or sea-based operations. Its features include an extended operational range compared to the MV-22B, and the aircraft offers increased mission flexibility over the Navy’s legacy C-2A Greyhound, which it is replacing.

FRCE V-22 Branch Head Allen Williamson said the depot will provide Planned Maintenance Interval (PMI) 1 service to the CMV-22B aircraft. He anticipates the work scope will closely mirror the PMI-1 evolutions already performed on the MV-22B, which the depot has serviced since 2009, at Marine Corps Air Stations Cherry Point and New River, and the Air Force CV-22 variant at FRCE’s detachment at Hurlburt Field, Florida. 

“While the CMV-22B does have some additional capabilities, the maintenance specifications largely remain the same between the Navy and Marine Corps variants of the Osprey,” he said. “The CMV-22B aircraft is structurally identical to the MV-22B, with the exception of the stub wing fuel tanks. Those tanks on the Navy aircraft are actually quite a bit larger, to provide that extra flight range needed for carrier delivery operations.

“There are very, very low flight hours on these initial CMV-22 aircraft we’ll be receiving, so they’re essentially in new condition,” Williamson continued. “We presume the work scope is going to build in the future, based on the theater they’ll be operating in. The Navy has indicated they plan to deploy the aircraft on ships, which is a harsh environment, and they will be high-use aircraft. With that in mind, I believe there will be a learning curve in regard to what condition we can expect to see these aircraft in as they come in for maintenance in the future, based on the environmental factors.”

Williamson said his guidance to the artisans on the production line is to approach the CMV-22B maintenance as if it were a new capability, rather than an extension of the familiar workload. This will give the team the opportunity to look at the aircraft and its needs with fresh eyes, rather than with preexisting expectations, he added.

“Obviously, the instructions should marry over fairly well – everything, we presume, is the same,” Williamson explained. “But especially with this first aircraft, we’re emphasizing to the team that they should take their time and really explore whether there are any additional differences in the aircraft itself, of the way we work it versus how we would work an MV.”

At the moment, Williamson said, the biggest difference in CMV-22B depot-level maintenance appears be the aircraft’s paint job – the newer variant uses a different type of paint than the standard MV-22B and, as a Navy aircraft, has different markings than the Marine Corps version.

“The aircraft uses a high-gloss paint, so the prep and the application are going to be a little bit different than what we’re used to with the standard MV-22B,” said Paint and Clean Branch Head Matt Sinsel. “There will be some differences in the masking process, because the paint scheme is a little higher-profile than the standard grey Ospreys.

“Spraying high gloss is nothing new for the our team; we do it with the Marine Helicopter Squadron 1 Ospreys, and we do it with the white-top H-1 helicopters for the Air Force, and the State Department H-46 helicopters,” he added. “But there will be some differences, and there will be some learning involved.”

Sinsel said the unique paint scheme of the CMV-22B also gives his team another opportunity to use the laser projection system the depot began using in January to streamline the final finish process, during which an aircraft’s insignia and other markings are applied to the finished base paint. The system acts as a guide for the precise placement of the markings without having to use paper stencils.

Despite the anticipated challenges that come along with learning the ins and outs of maintaining a new aircraft – even one so similar to familiar products – leaders believe the new workload offers FRCE a chance to shine by rounding out its support of the entire V-22 family.

“The V-22 program at FRCE has received its accolades,” Williamson said. “We’re known for what we do, and not just within the brick-and-mortar site at Cherry Point. We have our detachment at New River, which is revered in its own light for the way they conduct a PMI. We have the In-Service Repair team down at New River that is making depot-level repairs while embedded with the Marine squadrons. And we have Hurlburt Field, where we support Air Force Special Operations Command. This isn’t a totally new workload, but it adds a new capability.

“I don’t think the Navy would have considered us for the CMV-22 workload if we didn’t have that track record of superior performance with the products we return to the fleet, and didn’t have the good rapport that we already have with our current customers,” he continued. “I think this is a chance for us to succeed. This is an opportunity to show the Navy that we own the maintenance process on the MV-22s, now let us keep this CMV business for a while and show them our success in providing the fleet with a quality product that we know is going to make that next flight window with no issues.”

FRCE is North Carolina's largest maintenance, repair, overhaul and technical services provider, with more than 4,000 civilian, military and contract workers. Its annual revenue exceeds $1 billion. The depot provides service to the fleet while functioning as an integral part of the greater U.S. Navy; Naval Air Systems Command; and Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers.

At Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRCSW), Model Maker, John Cardenas, separates the newly printed F/A-18 button plug from the build sheet, preparing for a precise fit check. Leveraging advanced 3D printing technology like the Stratasys F-900, FRCSW is reducing supply chain delays and enhancing fleet readiness. By creating a qualified, stop-gap solution to backordered parts, teams across FRCSW, FRC Mid-Atlantic, and NAVAIR’s Additive Manufacturing IPT are accelerating repair timelines, ensuring mission-critical components are ready when needed. 

FRCSW is the Navy’s premier West Coast aircraft repair, maintenance, and overhaul organization specializing in the Navy and Marine Corps aircraft and their related systems.