Capt. James Woolway and Joe Caiole hold the glass California Award for Performance Excellence. Photo by Joe Feliciano

NAVAIR Depot North Island wins coveted state award
By Bill Bartkus
NAVAIR Depot North Island

CORONADO, Calif. – The NAVAIR Depot North Island Team accepted it 5th California Award for Performance Excellence during the 10th annual California Council for Excellence ceremony last. Depot Commanding Officer Capt. James Woolway, and Joseph Caoile, deputy for Industrial Quality, accepted the California-shaped glass award on behalf of all Depot employees.

“The men and women of NAVAIR Depot North Island overhaul aircraft which enables the warfighter to fight and win,” said Woolway in his acceptance remarks. “We are very proud to have this honor to serve our country.”

The Depot won the Silver Level Award within the large manufacturing division of the U.S. Senate Productivity Award category.

The California Council for Excellence, which was established in 1992, sponsors CAPE. Its mission is to help California’s private and public sector achieve world-class results through the principles and criteria of the Malcolm Baldridge Award for criteria and performance excellence.

The Malcolm Baldridge Award Criteria for Performance Excellence is a national standard that helps businesses, educational institutions, and healthcare organizations assess their performance and find ways to continuously improve. Baldrige was President Ronald Reagan’s secretary of commerce from 1981 until his tragic death in 1987.

Caoile organized and coordinated the application package. Various Depot representatives wrote their sections: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis and knowledge management; human resource focus; process management; and business results. Jaye Kinchen-Schneider, public affairs specialist with Code 7.5, published the application.

“I see the CAPE award as a validation of the Depot’s commitment to long-term organizational excellence. It is not about winning the award. It is about everyone understanding the organization’s vision and direction, and all of us demonstrating that vision in everything we do,” said Caoile. “The award also tells us that we are willing to open ourselves and our process to the scrutiny of industry and win. While we recognize that we have a lot to improve on, we also recognize that we are on the right path.”

There is a gold level in the Productivity Award category and while it wasn’t awarded again this year, the Depot is knocking on the golden door.

NAVAIR provides cost-wise readiness and dominant maritime combat power to make a great Navy and Marine Corps team better.