NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – Dennis J. West was selected to the Senior Executive Service and subsequently appointed as Deputy Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers (COMFRC) and Director, Industrial Operations on Feb. 26, 2012.

In his new position as Deputy COMFRC, West is responsible for approximately 16,000 FRC personnel and provides execution oversight for the $4.5-billion COMFRC maintenance programs. As the Director of Industrial Operations, West will lead the five industrial competencies of Business Operations, Production, Production Support, Quality, Safety and Environmental.

Rear Adm. Jeff Penfield, COMFRC, said that West has an excellent background for this job and that his “extensive engineering, logistics and production experiences, combined with his knowledge of the COMFRC transformation will be a huge contribution to our team”.

Garry Newton, the deputy assistant commander for NAVAIR’s Logistics and Industrial Operations, is also pleased to have West as part of his AIR 6.0 team. “Mr. West brings a broad range of experiences and skills across NAVAIR. He has experience in leading industrial operations, logistics and engineering functional areas over his career. He is highly accomplished and focused and will be a great asset to naval aviation as the Director of Industrial Operations as well as the Deputy Commander for Fleet Readiness Centers,” said Newton.

West looks forward to his new responsibilities and challenges. “As the Deputy Commander for Fleet Readiness Centers, the challenge is to wield 16,000 maintenance professionals as if they are one in getting the fleet the aircraft, engines, components and field services they need globally, at a price they can afford. To do that we will pick up the pace in our integration efforts between level II and level III maintenance activities, and take every opportunity to move more capability closer to the fight,” said West.

“As the Director of Industrial Operations, the challenge is to, once and for all, properly align our industrial competencies and headquarters staffs to build a stronger and more cohesive team, and to build better defined career paths and employee development programs within the industrial ranks.”

With nearly 28 years of federal service, West spent most of his career at FRC East, where he joined the team as an aerospace engineer after graduating from North Carolina State University. As their Director of Logistics in 2005, West was deeply involved in Navy depot and intermediate level maintenance transformation into the FRC construct, and served as the national logistics lead for the in service support center stand-up and implementation team. In 2010 West led the FRC East Production Department, and in 2011 assumed the role of the Industrial Operations Group Head, directing competency efforts focused on industrial execution, logistics, quality and compliance.