NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The 14th annual NAVAIR Commander’s National Awards ceremony, held here June 10, was a chance to recognize the importance of teamwork in advancing NAVAIR’s mission and goals.

NAVAIR’s highest team awards celebrate technical, business and leadership excellence in support of NAVAIR’s focus areas: increase speed to the fleet, consistently deliver integrated and interoperable warfighting capabilities, and improve affordability. This year, there were 65 nominations in a year that NAVAIR Commander Vice Adm. David Dunaway said tested NAVAIR’s ability to adapt and execute under pressure because of an ongoing budget battle, government shutdown, sequestration and furloughs.

“This organization has performed magnificently,” he said, citing NAVAIR’s employees, culture and infrastructure as being key to its success in an uncertain world. “I am grateful for what you do and excited about the potential and where we are headed. We are on the right path to take naval aviation to the next level.” 

The winners are, by category:

Business Operations: The MQ-8C Rapid Deployment Capability Team, led by Cmdr. James Borghardt and Douglas Detwiler in Patuxent River, completed multiple complex contract awards and modifications successfully, tailored and completed multiple systems engineering technical reviews, achieved first flight within 18 months of development contract award, increased MQ-8 system affordability, established an initial developmental test capability at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division and prepared acquisition planning in support of a future program of record.

Energy: The Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRCSW) Energy and Water Conservation Team, led by Matthew Schreck at Naval Air Station North Island, has reduced energy consumption by more than 43,820 MMBTUs annually, achieving a cost avoidance of more than $4.2 million per year. FRCSW’s Building Energy Monitor Team includes 20 employees who monitor their assigned buildings for steam, compressed air and water leaks, and abnormalities such as process equipment and inefficient electrical sources. By mitigating problems before they occur, this team of artisans and managers has saved the command hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

Logistics and Industrial Operations: Fleet Readiness Center Western Pacific (FRC WESTPAC), led by Cmdr. Mark Nieto, completed 31 scheduled aircraft within the Pacific theater for 22 different squadrons, completed 668 unscheduled In-Service Repairs (ISR) worldwide and performed nearly 500 engineering disposition responses this year. Headquartered in Atsugi, Japan, with permanent locations in Afghanistan, Singapore, Korea, Japan and Guam, the team represents a co-located capability for deployed forces postured in the center of the Department of Defense’s rebalance to the Pacific.

Program Management: In response to an urgent operational needs statement, the Digital Rocket Launcher Rapid Deployment Capability Team, led by Cmdr. Alexander Dutko and John Male in Patuxent River, delivered a digital rocket launcher capable of employing 2.75-inch rockets to enhance the ability of MH-60S armed helicopters to counter the fast attack craft/fast inshore attack craft threat. The team designed, developed, fabricated, integrated, tested, delivered and deployed 22 launchers with an MH-60S squadron onboard a carrier strike group within 24 months. The team resolved numerous challenges throughout production, integration and testing to ensure the digital rocket launcher met fleet requirements on schedule and within budget.

Quality of Service/Customer Service: The Navy Common Munitions Built-In Test/Reprogramming Equipment Team, led by Jason Zehendner in China Lake, California, managed a cross-competency and joint-service (U.S. Navy/U.S. Air Force) effort for the reclamation and repair of 148 missile reprogramming assets (the ADU-891/Sidewinder mid-body interface). The team used “just-in-time” inventory management and repair practices, permitting the warfighter to maintain 100 percent readiness throughout the reclamation and repair process. By using business rules and best practices, innovative technical methodologies, engineering rigor and effective inventory management, the team achieved a reproducible cost savings of $523,000 and completed the project in nearly seven months, under schedule and under budget.

Research, Development, Test and Evaluation: Developed using a rapid prototyping approach and going from concept to deployment in just one year, the Tactical Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Processing Exploitation and Dissemination Systems (TIPS) Team, led by Steve Metcalf in St. Inigoes, Maryland, was the first approved cross-domain solution for digital, streaming full-motion video in the Department of Defense. TIPS deploys alongside multiple land- and ship-based unmanned systems, enabling warfighters to access, exploit and share tactical unmanned air systems ISR data across a communications challenged battle space.

Science and Technology: The Information Operations (IO) Team, led by Steven J. Walker in China Lake, provided IO electronic warfare systems, including more than 50 deliverable payloads, ground stations and data links, to forward-deployed forces in both U.S. Central Command and U.S. Africa Command theaters. These systems were essential in providing crucial in-theater capabilities supporting tactical operations. Working under difficult and compressed timelines and schedules driven by fleet operations, the team developed and supplied hardware at a significantly reduced cost when compared to commercially available solutions. They designed all delivered products with interoperability and fleet integration as a primary driver through the conceptual design phase, which led to systems that perform seamlessly with other deployed capabilities.

T. Michael Fish Quality of Worklife Award: Adriana Martinez of Patuxent River has successfully run a national branch associated with the policies, tools, guidance and procedures used in the acquisition, development and delivery of training and training support products. She helped develop the national strategy and definition of the training and training support skillset. She has proposed research projects that are executed in a timely fashion; information is categorized and implemented into briefs in a manner that best communicates the Training Division's roles and responsibilities. She has identified the requirements and overarching policy documents that illustrate AIR-6.7's technical authority in training and training support, providing traceability back to the Department of Defense and Assistant Secretary of the Navy level for all required skillsets.

Edward H. Heinemann Award: Charles A. Crisman of Patuxent River led a multidisciplinary team of fleet, NAVAIR and Boeing personnel in a troubleshooting process improvement effort to increase the reliability of Super Hornet and Growler aircraft. He helped identify processes that were incorrectly identified, confusing or not used as intended, including five safety-related items that potentially saved Sailors from serious injury or death. In addition, he provided information to the fleet that allowed increased administrative accuracy, greater cooperation between repair facilities and operational units, and efficiency in the squadrons.

Small Business Advocacy Award (Team): The Range Technical Support Services Acquisition Team, led by Gregory Havens at Patuxent River, was formed early in the acquisition process to develop a strategy for awarding a follow-on contract for range technical services that had been held by the same large business incumbent for more than 25 years. Over the course of a year, the team conducted extensive market research, resulting in the breakout of the requirement that supports the Aircraft Vehicle Modification and Instrumentation Group as a small business set aside competition valued at $91 million. The team’s effective acquisition management practices led to enhanced competition, resulting in better buying power for the government. By building performance partnerships, the team enhanced, promoted and initiated acquisition opportunities for small businesses as prime and subcontractors.

Small Business Advocacy Award (Individual): Under the leadership of Donna Moore of Patuxent River, NAVAIR was responsible for 45 percent of the fiscal year 2013 small business innovation research (SBIR)/small business technology transfer contracts awarded across all Navy systems commands. Thanks to Moore, NAVAIR received an additional 16 percent in 2013 funds, helping offset the sequestration cuts. Moore also educated NAVAIR employees on the benefits of small business participation, developing the “MySBIR” SharePoint site to provide information regarding schedules, processes, funding and SBIR training. 

“The nominated teams and individuals, representing a broad spectrum of programs, exemplify the dedication, innovative spirit and drive for results that enable us to accomplish our mission effectively on behalf of our warfighters,” said NAVAIR Command Master Chief Bret Joel.