NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Md. --- Aubrey Dennis, Naval Air System Command (NAVAIR) Aviation Logistics and Maintenance Analysis Division (AIR-6.8.2) division head, was presented with a DoN Superior Civilian Service Award Dec. 6 for his work on Vector, a web-based data analysis tool that moves Naval Aviation closer to predictive capability.

Vector pulls from more than 20 maintenance, supply and inventory reporting systems, providing analysts, providers and other Naval Aviation stakeholders with a single source analytical tool which depicts actionable data, reducing the time to identify readiness degraders from several months to minutes. Dennis, who headed the team that created Vector, was recognized for his tenacity in pursuit of funding to incorporate future enhancements and instruct more than 1100 military and civilian users across the NAE on its use.  Additionally, he and his team trained the Type Model Series teams of over 600 personnel in 2 months on the tool and its uses.   

Roy Harris, director, Aviation Readiness and Resource Analysis Department, NAVAIR (AIR-6.8), said Vector was a game changer for the Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE).  “With little staff and no money, Dennis and his team created Vector, which is now the go-to tool for not only program managers at NAVAIR, but also for [type/model/series] leads and others in the fleet who need to see the status of their platform at any given moment,” he said.

Harris also commended Dennis on his vision and foresight before Vector was released in July 2016. “Before this summer, Vector was known as ILSMS [Integrated Logistics Support Management System] and was primarily being used by program managers at NAVAIR.  Dennis believed that others in the fleet could use the same aggregated data to better manage their readiness.

“He pursued funding through a NAE Future Readiness initiative to make Vector accessible through the web so that everyone in the enterprise could have visibility,” he said.

“But he didn’t stop there,” Harris said. “Dennis travelled to the fleet to personnally train them on Vector and to ensure its proper implementation and use.”

Dennis’ foresight also extended beyond today’s use of the analytic tool.  Its components are modular, Dennis said, so that updates can be incorporated by section.  “This way, the entire tool does not have to be recreated as technology updates.”

Vector is scheduled to incorporate other reporting databases over the next three fiscal years from supply, engines, support equipment, weapons and the P-8 Logistics Cell, a cross-functional collaborative organization.

Later this month, Dennis will be taking on a new challenge as the National Director of 6.3 (Industrial Operations Management Department) at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast in Jacksonville, Florida.  Dennis said while he was the one recognized with service award, the success of Vector is a reflection of the teamwork and creativity residing in AIR-6.8.2.  “I didn’t do this alone,” Dennis said.  “This award is just as much theirs as well.”