by John Goodman, NAVAIR PAO

At a simple ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 3, in NAVAIR’s IPT Building, CAPT Bill Shannon was promoted to Rear Admiral, Lower Half, by VADM Walter Massenburg. Ensign Billy Shannon, his son, administered the oath of office. His wife, Debbie, other family members and many friends attended.

RDML Shannon was born in Massapequa, N.Y., graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1975 with a B.S. in Business Administration, later receiving a Masters in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. He became a Naval Aviator in 1976, flying helicopters and later serving NAVAIR in PEO(A) as MH-60 program manager.

In his remarks, VADM Massenburg noted that RDML Shannon’s new charge is directing Total Force Readiness (TFR) for the Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE), one of its most far-reaching initiatives. “This is a new business paradigm for us, one that will require all of Bill’s considerable talents. We really appreciate his work in NAVAIR.”

Late last month, Shannon sat down to discuss his views on TFR—how he got involved, where he sees the initiative going, what it is all about.

“Total Force Readiness is a Naval Aviation initiative that seeks to better understand the value and cost of our most valuable asset—our people. The term Total Force refers to all our people—military, civilian, and contractor. Most of us in aviation know a lot more about the parts, the logistics and the readiness rates than they do about their own people.

“But the people side is 60% of their costs, at least half their program value, and we just don’t understand it. We need to figure out how to link our biggest asset—so-called human capital, the 189,866 people in Naval Aviation—to readiness.”

The problem, as Shannon sees it, is that we have to better understand what our work is. This means, first, determining exactly who the people are within the organization to best perform a certain kind of work. Understanding the competencies and capabilities of our current workforce, then forecasting future needs, will enable the NAE to meet current and future Fleet requirements.

“One of the Navy’s strategic priorities,” said Shannon, “is to develop 21st century leaders, Navy men and women who achieve their full potential in their work. If we understand the work, then we can work smarter and better match talent to task.”

Photo caption: Flanked by wife Debbie and VADM Wally Massenburg, NAVAIR Commander, RDML Bill Shannon is promoted in ceremony at Pax River, Thursday, Nov. 3. U.S. Navy photo by Mike Wilson.