By Vicky Falcón
NAVAIR Public Affairs Office

Three NAVAIR AIRSpeed Black Belts are the first within the organization to have attained NAVAIR Certification as Black Belts. Criteria for the certification process (Black Belt training and project completion) were established by the Navy, creating a common standard.

The three Black Belts – Jeff Flesher, from NAVAIR Patuxent River, Md., John Gatt, from NAVAIR Depot Cherry Point, N.C., and Randy Stone, also from Patuxent River – were each approved for certification last month by a five-member board (led by RDML Walter Skinner, NAVAIR AIRSpeed Champion).

“We’ve trained 183 men and women as Black Belts,” said Allen Heim, NAVAIR AIRSpeed training coordinator. “But these are the first Black Belts we have certified.”

Randy Stone was a Assistant Acquisition Executive within PEO(W) prior to becoming a NAVAIR AIRSpeed Black Belt. In speaking of his recent certification, he said, “I really think there should be more of us.”

“I enjoy the respect and the recognition from my peers that I’ve accomplished something,” he said, “but I’m hoping to push some of the other Black Belts to keep going.”

Flesher, who was Integrated Support Manager for Mission Assets prior to becoming a Black Belt, agrees. “I am committed to doing all I can to assist other Black Belts towards certification,” he said. “I think it is important to us as an organization to professionally recognize those talented Black Belts who have been working on continuous Process Improvement for the last two years.”

Flesher says he is proud of his recent certification.

“Certification is a form of peer recognition for the knowledge and experience we have,” he said. “The certification process afforded us the opportunity to forge a path for those that will follow us and be certified.”

Flesher (a part of Wave 2 Black Belt training) and Stone (who was part of Wave 1), are both hoping to eventually become Master Black Belts.

“Certification as a Black Belt and certification by the American Society for Quality are the first two steps for any Black Belt who aspires to one day become a Master Black Belt for the Naval Aviation Enterprise,” said Flesher. “I certainly hope that is in my future.”

Black Belts are high-performing, strategic thinkers selected by Level 1 supervisors to lead projects, mentor Green Belts, lead teams using Lean Six Sigma and Theory of Constraint activities and tools, facilitate and instruct project teams as a full time, two-year position. Following their two years of service, a Black Belt may return to his or her previous assignment or may pursue a career as a Master Black Belt.

According to Heim, in order for a Black Belt to be eligible for a Master Black Belt position, he or she must be a NAVAIR certified Black Belt.

“In theory our Black Belts are first trained and then certified by NAVAIR as Black Belts prior to their ASQ (American Society for Quality) certification at the Navy level,” said Heim. “ASQ certification proves that our Black Belts have been tested in a common, broader way. Some of our Black Belts have already been ASQ certified prior to receiving their NAVAIR certification.”

John Gatt, formerly an aerospace engineering supervisor within the Research and Engineering Department at Cherry Point, hopes to someday become a Master Black Belt. He recently committed to a new position as the 6.2 Industrial Production Department Head at Cherry Point, which may delay his pursuit of Master Black Belt.

“I am excited about this new challenge and the opportunity to apply my skill set to our production side of the business,” said Gatt, who was also part of the Wave 1 Black Belt training.

“Being one of the first certified NAVAIR Black Belts is an extreme honor and privilege,” he said. “I jumped into the AIRSpeed arena with both feet and any initial trepidation was quickly alleviated as I learned more about the tool set and learned how practical application had such a dramatic impact. The tool set has become an integral part of my thought and decision-making process.”

For more information about NAVAIR AIRSpeed, and to find out more about Black Belt training and certification, go to http://www.navair.navy.mil/navairairspeed/.