Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) has earned Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star recognition from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in a third application area, becoming the only Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) facility to achieve VPP Star recognition in three areas, reinforcing its position as a national leader in defense industrial safety. 

VPP Star recognition represents OSHA’s highest level of achievement for workplace safety and health, awarded only to organizations that maintain rigorous injury-prevention standards and demonstrate exemplary safety cultures. 

“Achieving VPP Star recognition in a third area is a tremendous accomplishment for FRC East and a reflection of our workforce's commitment to safety,” said FRCE Commanding Officer Capt. Randy J. Berti. “This designation shows that safety is not simply a requirement for us. It is part of who we are. Keeping our team safe isn’t just a priority; it is the foundation of our entire operation.” 

Application Area Foxtrot extends FRCE's safety protocol beyond the hangar floor to include Fleet Support Teams (FSTs) and Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul Engineering (MRO-E). In total, engineers and logisticians make up nearly half of FRCE’s workforce. 

David Keeling, Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, commended the command’s proactive approach to hazard elimination.  "You have joined an elite group of organizations that provide exemplary occupational safety and health protection and serve as a model for others," Keeling stated in confirming the designation. 

The decades-long safety transformation 

This VPP Star designation reflects a decades-long overhaul of workplace practices at the depot. By aggressively identifying root causes and eliminating hazards before incidents occur, FRCE reduced its annual number of OSHA-recordable injuries from approximately 830 in 2002 to just 34 by 2024. 

FRCE first made history in 2019 by becoming the first naval aviation command to achieve VPP Star recognition in two application areas, earning recertification in 2023 while remaining NAVAIR's sole VPP Star site. 

In 2024, FRCE was recognized by the Department of War as the best of the best in safety and occupational health, receiving the Safety and Occupational Health Management System Award for the second time in three years. That same year, the command received its seventh Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Aviation Safety Award. In 2025, FRCE earned its second consecutive CNO Shore Safety Award in the Large Industrial Category. This year, the depot added its eighth CNO Aviation Safety Award to its record of achievement. FRCE has also received multiple Gold Awards from the North Carolina Department of Labor. 

“In launching this Star journey, we took a hard, aggressive look at our workplace injuries to identify and eliminate their root causes,” said FRCE Occupational Safety and Health Specialist Stephen Schmidt, who spearheaded the application. “We refuse to accept the narrative that working on aircraft makes injuries an inevitable part of the job."