By Mike Barton
Public Affairs Specialist

Naval Air Depot Cherry Point was one of two winners of the 2004 Naval Air Systems Command Aviation Safety Award, announced March 15 by NAVAIR Commander Vice Adm. Walter Massenburg.

According to a message published that day, NADEP Cherry Point shared the award with Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 30 (VX-30), located on Naval Base Ventura County at Point Magu, Calif.

Deliberations for the award included an in-depth review of each unit’s operational achievements versus its operational exposure to risk, and its safety record. The board reviewed proactive efforts to mitigate risk and how each unit reacted to safety challenges. Each unit’s safety culture and leadership participation in safety was considered as well as compliance with Navy safety programs. Both awardees edged out the competition through their superb management of risk.

NADEP Commanding Officer Col. John D. Gumbel praised depot employees in the write-up that was submitted for the award. “A proactive safety culture prevails throughout the nearly 4,000-employee work force and a direct concern for quality is evident 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he wrote.

The write-up highlighted many depot safety accomplishments, including a total of more than 3,700 mishap-free flight hours over the last five years. Also listed were aircrew safety stand-down procedures, recurrent flight and ground safety training for aircrews and production personnel associated with flight operations, foreign object damage control and tool control, employee participation in the newly established Anymouse program, and the newly implemented Safety Professional of the Month award program – including brief synopses of award winner accomplishments during the year.

Finally, the depot’s safety vision for the future focused on maintaining aircrew proficiency, employee individual responsibility to uphold the standard of safety in all tasks, and constant vigilance “to ensure that safety through operational risk management is the continuous foundation for effective production throughout the scope of depot operations.”

According to the commanding officer, NADEP Cherry Point “emphasizes building quality into its products, vice inspecting quality into its products, directly contributing to fleet readiness and safety.”

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