By Lt. Mike Randazzo, Air Systems Program Public Affairs Officer

In what can be best described as a model case of Active-Reserve component integration, the officers and enlisted members of Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIRSYSCOM) 0109 have coordinated and managed three projects that resulted in a direct cost savings of $500,000 to the Navy, inventoried over $19 million of equipment, and returned of $8 million in aircraft parts back to service in the fleet.

NAVAIRSYSCOM 0109, based in St Louis, Mo., has ten officers and eight enlisted members. As part of the Air Systems Program (ASP), the reserve component of the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), the unit's strategic and tactical planning goals and objectives are driven by NAVAIR's single fleet-driven metric of "aircraft ready for tasking at reduced cost."

Augmenting NAVAIR’s Program Executive Office for Tactical Aircraft Programs (PEO-T), the unit provides engineering, logistics, and program management operational support to continuously augment NAVAIR in developing, acquiring, and supporting naval aeronautical and related technology.

PMA-231 Fleet Logistics Supply Support Naval Air Depot, located at Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island, San Diego, contacted the unit for qualified personnel to remove all E-2C Hawkeye and C-2A Greyhound repairable avionics, hydraulics, and structural components, as well as numerous consumable aircraft components, from warehouses scheduled to be leveled as part of the base's modernization program.

In requesting NAVAIRSYSCOM 0109 support the NADEP/NAS North Island E-2/C-2 Fleet Logistics Supply Support Logistics Manager, Jim Hawks remarked, "We knew that we could rely on the Air Systems Program to surge their manpower and expertise to meet this emergent demand."

This request was based on a highly successful May 2002 NAVAIRSYSCOM 0109 Annual Training (AT) detachment to Naval Aviation Depot (NADEP) NAS North Island, San Diego, in support of the PMA-231 E-2C and C-2A Fleet Support Team’s Parts Obsolescence Program. During this active duty period, unit members successfully stripped over $1 million serviceable avionics, hydraulics, and structural repairable components from stricken E-2C Hawkeye aircraft and returned these components to the Naval Supply System for use on Navy fleet aircraft.

The PMA-231 Fleet Logistics Supply Support Team had an undetermined amount of E-2C and C-2A replaceable repairable and consumable aircraft parts in multiple states of serviceability that needed to identified, categorized, and inventoried for return to the supply system and fleet aircraft, or the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service for recycling.

In response to the customer’s request, NAVAIRSYSCOM 0109 marshaled a team of three enlisted personnel led by ATC (AW) Michael Fischlein for a two-week AT period in May 2003 to answer the call for help. This team successfully categorized, inventoried, packaged, and returned eight pallets and ten 4-cubed foot cardboard (tri-wall) containers of 354 replaceable repairables and over 5,300 consumables at a combined value of over $7.8 million. In addition, his team removed three more of these 4-cubed feet tri-wall containers of parts to DRMO providing a labor cost savings of over $28,800.

During this AT period the Navy Primary Standard Lab Metrology/Calibration Program at NAS North Island became aware of the value of NAVAIRSYSCOM 0109’s successful assistance through Hawks. A secondary project for NAVAIRSYSCOM 0109 was identified to assist with auditing the Navy Primary Standard Lab Metrology/Calibration Program at NAS North Island for inventory accuracy and the identification of laboratory tools.

In August 2003 NAVAIRSYSCOM 0109 sent a second team of one officer and two enlisted personnel led by Lt. j.g. Joseph Bilodeau. Bilodeau reached out and leveraged the additional support of three enlisted Naval Reservists at the St. Louis Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center assigned to the Naval Supply Systems Command's Fleet and Industrial Support Center Yokosuka Detachment. The team provided the NAVAIR Metrology/Calibration Program the added experienced and knowledgeable manpower to successfully complete 129 backlogged work-in-progress Visual Information Display System/Maintenance Action Forms. What's more, they inventoried and accounted for over $500,000 of high-value metrology/calibration equipment, which was returned to the supply system for future use.

In January 2004, NAVAIRSYSCOM 0109 sent a third team, led by AM2 Robert Castor, consisting of five additional enlisted personnel from NAVAIRSYSCOM 0195, another Air Systems Program Unit located in Dayton, Ohio. This team provided the NAVAIR Metrology/Calibration Program the skill sets to execute the physical inventory of over 3,000 pieces of laboratory equipment, accounting for 95.4% of the total NAVAIR Metrology/Calibration Program Office inventory at NAS San Diego, valued at $19.8 million. Furthermore, the team identified over 200 additional items not currently listed on the Navy Primary Standard Lab Metrology/Calibration Program Office inventory.

"These teams met the challenge and exceeded all customer expectations," said Rear Adm. James B. Godwin III, Program Executive Officer for Tactical Aircraft Programs. “Their perseverance, self-motivation, and 'Can Do Attitude' have defined how our ASP forces can be successfully integrated with the Tactical Aircraft Programs active duty component."

"The way that these projects were managed and executed is proof positive that intra-unit and intra-component team dynamics work. These are the best characteristics of team dynamics between the active and reserve components that I have ever seen," commented CMDCM (AW) David McArtin, Command Master Chief, Naval Reserve Readiness Command Midwest.
Future customer operational support has been requested by PMA-231 Fleet Logistics Supply Support Naval Air Depot. At the time of this writing, a team of three enlisted members led by SKC Keith Rosenkrans is assisting PMA-241 in the disposal of F-14 aircraft manufacturing tools and test equipment stored in warehouses at Granite City, IL. This project should be completed in Oct. of 2005.

"The talent coming from the Air Systems Program units is nothing but outstanding and noteworthy," Hawks added.

The Naval Reserve Air Systems Program provides qualified and diverse civilian and military experience in operational support of NAVAIR research and development, engineering, program management, logistics, and industrial capability activities. The 650 Naval Reserve officer and enlisted men and women of the ASP train constantly to respond to evolving NAVAIR missions enabling the organization to harvest tangible cost reductions for fleet recapitalization. The ASP is comprised of 32 units that are based in 14 states.

For more information, contact Lt. Mike Randazzo via e-mail at [email protected].