FLEET READINESS CENTER MID-ATLANTIC, OCEANA, Va. – Fleet Readiness Center Mid-Atlantic (FRCMA) was recently recognized by the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) for spearheading an innovation initiative aimed at empowering Sailors to assist with finding solutions to complex issues.

The initiative, which was devised Aug. 2014, facilitates communication from the deck plate up in an effort to make a positive impact on the Navy’s future, is executed by using two separate, but collaborative, teams -- the Junior Innovative Think Tank (JITT) and Senior Innovative Think Tank (SITT).

“We have started an initiative at FRCMA to leverage what we have the best of and endear most ... Our Troops,” said Capt. Joseph Rodriguez, FRCMA commanding officer.

Sailors in the JITT provide a fresh creative perspective when looking at issues, while the experience and expertise from the SITT Sailors are used to focus on the practicality of project implementation.

“The purpose of the teams is to brainstorm and contribute improvements toward an existing process or product,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Richard Walsh, FRCMA innovation coordinator. “We are working with leadership and other external organization to shape concepts that will have a great potential to scale enterprise wide.”

Work from the teams is already on the path to making a difference.

The JITT team at Oceana is finalizing the universal breakout box prototype for the Chief of Naval Operations’ (CNO) Rapid Innovation Cell’s statistically driven maintenance analysis and reporting, or SMART, project. SMART takes maintenance trends found in historical corrective action data and puts them into an intuitive interface for improved technician troubleshooting. The prototype will consolidate and replace several units currently being used to troubleshoot current and legacy avionics systems. The team at Patuxent River, Maryland, is working on funding for glow in the dark tools for ease of spotting lost or broken tools.

Another innovative idea, launched May 22, is a smart phone/website application that provides new FRCMA personnel with access all applicable check-in information, directions and necessary resources. FRCMA leadership collaborated with FRCMA Oceana JITT team members with coding experience to create the app. The JITT team also developed a presentation explaining the concept of incorporating mascots and slogans to inspire camaraderie and teamwork within the workplace.

These innovative ideas are coming into place due to the JITT/SITT teams’ motivation, Rodriguez said.  Each implemented plan is intended to build a stronger Navy by creating a more productive workplace, in turn boosting the morale of our Sailors. The JITT/SITT teams have already made a powerful mark in FRCMA, and it has only just begun.

Support for this initiative is gaining momentum, and FRCMA encourages Sailors of all backgrounds to join the JITT/SITT teams. More variety in the think tanks is projected to initiate more unique ideas, Walsh said.

“Sailors are the Navy’s greatest asset,” Rodriguez said. “The FRCMA innovation teams will leverage all levels of command, from the bottom up.”

Rear Adm. Paul Sohl, Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers, and Assistant Commander for Logistics and Industrial Operations at Naval Air System Command, recently endorsed and praised FRCMA’s efforts.

“The leadership team, the Sailors and civilians at FRC Mid-Atlantic continue to blast out of their comfort zone in regards to innovation,” Sohl said. “It's incredibly empowering to give Sailors and civilians a safe place to try things. When you do that, the increase in speed to solutions that work can be explosive. Keep running as fast as you can in this area. Well done and keep pressin!”

To read more about FRCMA’s innovation achievements, visit http://www.secnav.navy.mil/innovation/Pages/2015/05/FRCMA.aspx