At the national Air Vehicle conference in San Diego, Calif., NAVAIR honored the winners of its first Air Vehicle Engineering Department Achievement Awards.

In this first year of the awards, NAVAIR had 56 nominees from six sites. More than 875 non-supervisory employees from AIR-4.3 and AIR-4.7.6 were eligible for nomination. Apprentice Category awards go to Air Vehicle members with three or fewer years of experience, and Professional Category awards go to members with more than three years of experience.

The awards recognize not only the winners' achievements in 2001, but also how well their behavior reflected AIR-4.3's approach of "Keeping the Promise" to the warfighter. The attributes evaluated included professional demeanor, integrity, creativity, perseverance, results driven, competence, motivation, solution centered, respected by peers and customers, dedication, and team orientation.

The winners of the Air Vehicle Achievement Awards are listed below.

Professional Category:
· Don Bein, 4.3.5, Lakehurst
· John Lamkin, 4.3.4, Jacksonville
· Bill Leach, 4.3.5, Lakehurst
· Eun Lee, 4.3.4, Patuxent River
· Tom Manney, 4.3.3, Cherry Point
· John Poole, 4.7.6, China Lake
· Roger Stensland, 4.3.5, North Island
· Jessica Wilt, 4.3.2, Patuxent River

Apprentice Category:
· Don Courson, 4.3.5, Patuxent River
· Tammy Hallihan, 4.3.2, Patuxent River
· Kristi Kleinhesselink, 4.3.2, Patuxent River
· Tom Sadler, 4.3.3, Cherry Point