CORRECTION TO PREVIOUS RELEASE ---- PHOTO CORRECTION

Story and photo by Adolph A. Mitchell
NAVAIR PAO

Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) commander, Vice Adm. Dave Venlet, presented the coveted Navy Superior Civilian service award to Senior Executive Service member, Paul McQuaide at a retirement ceremony held recently in his honor at Yolanda’s Mexican Café, Camarillo, Calif.
Reported to be the Navy’s second highest civilian service award, the citation read in part, “In sincere appreciation for your superior service and leadership during your federal career of 38 years. You can be proud of your contributions and accomplishments, especially your exceptional, tireless leadership as a senior executive the last 10 years. Your accomplishments reflect great credit upon you, the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, the Naval Aviation Systems Command and the Department of the Navy.”

A graduate of Loyola University where he earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering, McQuaide entered civilian government service in July 1969. He says of his initial government service, “I was not recruited to work here. I simply drove to the area to visit friends, passed the base and thought that looked like a ‘cool’ place to work.” He said there was a human resources office outside the gate at that time so he simply went in, told the personnel specialist he was interested in a job. “They set me up with a tour, gave me a (standard form) 171, I filled it out and they made me an offer, he recounted.”

McQuaide’s illustrious career has been as unique as it has been exciting. He said his initial interest in working at the base was due to his desire to work with aircraft. It was his plan to work here for a short time, to get some experience and move on. Thirty-eight years later, he still has a tone of excitement in his voice as he recalls the varied experiences he has undergone.

From 1969 to 1984, McQuaide served in positions of increasing responsibility, which included flight-testing of the XBQM-34E target and basic design engineering and production support for conventional, unguided weapons.

“I had tremendous responsibilities as a kid coming fresh out of school,” he said. “I worked in what was called engineering support of production which involved all aspects of design, production and field use of conventional bombs. These were manufactured in five contractor plants across the United States and filled with explosives at four different Navy Ammunition Depots.”

He said he worked with the companies and depots to resolve all kinds of production and quality control issues. “During the Vietnam war, there was a single manufacturer in York, Pa., that produced 96,000 bombs a month. So anything that halted production or compromised quality had big repercussions.” McQuaide recalled making plant visits, which often dealt with company management and lawyers as well as the manufacturing staff, which was a tremendous responsibility for a young, junior engineer.

From 1985 to 1988, he served as project manager for the advanced Air-to-Air Missile at which time he became head of the F-14A/B software development branch. This was followed by his promotion to Project Director for the F-14 program.

From 1994 to 1996, he served as the head of the flight test division where he directed an organization that provided integration, flight-testing and performance assessment of aircraft avionics and weapons.

McQuaide was promoted to the Senior Executive Service in 1997 and appointed to the position as director, threat/target systems department, where he lead and provided total management of an integrated civilian/contractor workforce at three major sites and related detachments across NAVAIR.

In retrospect, he said he divided his career into three phases, which included:

1. Work on conventional ordnance, especially leading the weapon thermal protection (cook-off protection) program. This phase involved applying what he learned in school to the ‘real’ world.

2. Leading the F-14 program at Point Mugu. Here he said he had an opportunity to develop technical management skills, as the F-14 was the Navy’s premier fighter at that time.
3. Leading the threat/target systems department as a Senior Executive. In this phase, he said he was given the opportunity to lead and as an executive, influence policy and decision-making at a national level and mentor the diverse and talented workforce that included future leaders of the organization.

“During my time as department head, our folks have continued to provide critical mission support for the OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) and the current war. The fact that this has been done in an environment of constant change, downsizing and BRAC (base realignment and closure) is nothing short of amazing,” he said. “It is a testimony to the fact that our department is focused on our Navy, Marine and other service warfighters and their mission. I am honored to have been a part of this wonderful NAVAIR team,” he concluded.

McQuaide has received numerous performance achievement awards as a manager and supervisor and is co-author of the book Test and Evaluation of the Air Launched Tactical Missile, published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc., Wash., D.C., for which he shares an international test and evaluation association publication award.

Recently retired from Federal service, he said he plans to get back to gardening and working on cars. “I have a 1957 Chevy in my garage that’s been apart for 15 years that I plan to restore,” he said. He also plans to some traveling although he mentioned that during his federal career he did an enormous amount of traveling. He is married to the former Leslie Ann Dufault of Sherman Oaks, Calif., and has two children, Sarah and Eamon.