(Note to editors: See sidebar titled "NAVAIR supports fleet with modernization, upkeep, education."

By Eddie C. Riley
Focus Group Executive Secretariat

Passion and wisdom epitomize the demeanor of the admirals charged with leading the Naval Air Systems Command’s support to the fleet amid a national wartime crisis.

“My passion for the Sailor and my passion to support the fleet hasn’t changed one dimension because of the terrorist activities,” said RDML Wally Massenburg. “I’m no less directed. I’m no less focused than I was before because I saw deficiencies in the fleet that need to be addressed. But, I lost two good friends at the Pentagon and that puts a real face on a tragedy that means our job is that much more important.”

RDML Gib Godwin offered another perspective on NAVAIR’s responsibility to the fleet with an analogy between aging aircraft and a classic car. “We have to recapitalize ourselves over time, otherwise, we’ll just keep driving 1957 Chevrolets the rest of our lives.

"A ‘57 Chevy is a really nice thing to own because it’s a classic; however, you can put a new engine in it and you can put a new transmission in it, but it’s still a 1957 Chevy. That’s not going to work long-term. We have to look out another 30-40 years,” he said.

With this fusion of emotion and insight, the co-leaders of the NAVAIR Warfighter Focus Group pursue transitioning the command to becoming fleet driven from fleet focused. They describe this task as changing the concept of operation from just “paying close attention to fleet operations and desires” through the eyes of NAVAIR to actually interacting with fleet members at all levels in a way that “we now feel their pain.”

“We’ve got to be there with them to better understand where they are, what they are going through and then have that transferred into the systems we acquire for the warfighter,” Godwin added. He said NAVAIR is to naval aviation what the integrated program team is to platforms.

“Like in the IPT process where the leader has to pull together the logistics, the engineering, the dollars, the requirements and everything for a system, NAVAIR pulls all these aspects together to acquire aircraft and support equipment for naval aviation,” he said.

The admirals believe they are “immanently qualified” for the job.

Commissioned in 1970 and designated as naval aviator in 1971, Massenburg has flown on Atlantic and Mediterranean deployments, worked on various staffs at the Pentagon and commanded the Maritime Surveillance Aircraft Program Office, PMA-290, before becoming the NAVAIR assistant commander for Logistics, AIR-3.0, in February 1999.

Godwin was commissioned in 1973 and earned his naval aviation wings in 1975. His resume boasts more than 2,000 flight hours in the A-7 and 2,000 in the F/A-18 along with 915 carrier arrested landings and 34 Desert Storm missions. Before his appointment as the program executive officer for Tactical Aircraft Programs, PEO (T), he managed the F/A-18 program, held air wing positions such as landing signals officer and mentored aviators as an instructor pilot.

“Both of us have commanded squadrons and bring that operational background with us as acquisition professionals with a warfighter designator,” Massenburg said.

He believes overcoming challenges when something goes awry and experiencing the rewards of success on the deck plate instilled warfighter discipline that helps them understand the process of becoming fleet-driven.

It is this understanding of the fleet and their desire to make a difference that took the admirals independently to Vice Adm. Joseph W. Dyer, the NAVAIR commander, to volunteer to co-lead the focus group.

“We stepped forward because it (the passion for being part of the Navy) burns inside of us,” Godwin said. “I’m in the Navy because it’s something that burns inside of me; this is something I need to do.”

For more information on this release, contact Eddie Riley at 301-757-5136 or [email protected].

See photos below of RDMLs Massenburg and Godwin.