NAVAL AIR WEAPONS STATION CHINA LAKE, Calif. — Vice Adm. David Dunaway, commander, Naval Air Systems Command, toured Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division at both China Lake and Point Mugu from Nov. 12-14. Dunaway briefed all hands at both locations, and participated in a series of department and project updates during the three-day stop.

During the China Lake tour, Dunaway met with senior leadership, and participated in briefings covering:

• Adaptive Combat Environment Systems.
• NAVAIR weapons strategy session.
• New research on pyrolized bone derived materials.
• Business leadership.
• Customer service.
• Energetics revitalization plan.

The admiral also led a discussion with Weapons Division engineer and scientists development program participants at both sites. He offered advice for the assembled ESDPs.

“We are in a unique time,” said Dunaway. “The demand for our work is off the charts, and it is not going to slow down. The money supply is coming down. When those two things occur, either you will go away or you will learn to do a lot more with a lot less. This is a great opportunity for technical people.”

The theme of doing more with less was part of the admiral’s message to the all hands audience at both China Lake and Point Mugu. While explaining the Commander’s Guidance strategy, he spoke of working within a budget-cutting environment.

“These are the times when we get really good at our jobs,” said Dunaway. “That is because we care about the outcome of our work and it makes us think. We are at a point we can get into our processes and modify them so we can in fact serve the warfighter better in the future with a much higher end product, and much lower overhead rates.”

The stops at Point Mugu included:

• A facility tour of MQ-8C
• F-35 FMS Reprogramming Laboratory update.
• Tour of IR Measurements Facility.
• Tour of Intrepid Tiger Lead System Integration facility.
• Tour of High-Power Electronic Attack Technique Radiation laboratory.
• Tour Control Room Mike at Kenneth I. Lichti Range Operations Center.

“We are not going to shrink. We are not going to grow,” said Dunaway to the Point Mugu all hands audience.  “We are going to get more production from the time we spend on the job. We are going to move forward by being more productive every day.”