Released by NAVAIR Weapons Division China Lake Public Affairs Office

By Cliff Lawson

In mid March, the F/A-18 Software Development Team at NAVAIR Weapons Division, China Lake, Ca., achieved the highest rating possible on the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Software Capability Maturity Model (SW-CMM). The Team thereby becomes only the fifth U.S. government organization—and the first in the Navy—to achieve that prestigious rating.

The F/A-18 Team is responsible for the software in 80% of the aircraft on a carrier flight deck. That enormous responsibility creates a great pressure for perfection.

SEI, headquartered at Carnegie Mellon University, is a federally funded, Department of Defense-sponsored research and development institute. Its mission is to help organizations make measured improvements in their software engineering capabilities and, in the words of SEI’s vision statement, to help them “develop the right software, delivered defect free, on time and on cost, every time.”

To earn the SEI Level 5 rating, the F/A-18 Team underwent a rigorous and comprehensive appraisal. Over a period of two weeks, five evaluators led by Rushby Craig of Hill Air Force Base, examined virtually every aspect of the Team’s operations.

“The appraisal is very much like an audit,” commented Charles Bechtel, Chief Engineer of the F/A-18 Advanced Weapons Laboratory. “It is pretty intense.”

As well as interviewing many of the F/A-18 Team’s 60-plus contractors and civil servants, the SEI group closely scrutinized the software development processes and products. Among the areas investigated were product engineering, quality assurance, configuration management, defect prevention, and quantitative analysis. Each was evaluated in great detail.

“They look at everything you need to do well—not just to develop world-class software, but to develop software in a world-class manner,” Bechtel explained. “To receive a Level 5, you need to have a check in every box.”

The SEI Level 5 rating means more than just formal recognition of the highest quality in software development. To current and prospective customers, it means they can rest assured that when the F/A-18 Team puts together a schedule and a cost estimate, the Team will meet that schedule and estimate—not a common occurrence in the complex world of software development.

The Level 5 rating also underscores the F/A-18 Team’s commitment to defect prevention. Preventing software problems during initial development is far less expensive than reworking software downstream to correct the problems. “The Level 5 rating is a recognition that we are preventing defects from occurring in the first place,” said Bechtel.

Who is responsible for the Team’s Level 5 rating? The F/A-18 Software Development Team itself, of course. But notable for leadership in bringing the Team to this point are Sharon Juarez, the Process Lead, and Claire Velicer, the Software Development Team Lead. “Their persistence and vision kept the team moving forward to achieve this goal,” said Bechtel.

Barry Douglas, F/A-18 and EA-18G IPT Lead, had this to say about the team’s achievement. “I could not be prouder of this group. A while back I asked the team to consider striving for this goal. My specific request was for the team to “institutionalize” the Key Process Areas. I told them that being rated would be icing on the cake, as I was more interested in the team working toward defect prevention and the ability to integrate new technologies and process improvements. This group has done both. What an accomplishment! The AWL F/A-18 Software Development Team is now the only organic Level 5 in the Navy. This achievement provides the entire F/A-18 community, domestic and FMS (foreign military sales), with the best software developers in the world. This team, NAVAIR, and the Navy have a right to be proud. I am honored to be associated with this group.”

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PHOTO CUTLINE: Claire Velicer, Team Lead, and Sharon Juarez, Process Lead, gather with the F/A-18 Software Development Team to celebrate achieving the highest Software Capability Maturity Model rating in the Navy.
PHOTO BY DAN O'CONNOR