By Renee Hatcher
NAWCWD Public Affairs

With three months as the NAWCWD commander under his belt, Rear Adm. David Dunaway likes what he has seen so far and is excited about the opportunities here to make significant contributions to warfighting capabilities.

“The Weapons Division is running very well,” Dunaway said. “I don’t expect the work force will see a big rudder change, but as with anything we can always improve.”

Dunaway said one of his priorities is positioning the command for the future to lead naval aviation and the Navy in efforts directed at warfighting capability. He wants to showcase WD’s proven skills in horizontally integrating world class systems, developed by command programs, into warfighting effects desperately needed by the warfighters in the field. Stringing systems together has always been a great skill within the Weapons Division, he said.

“We tend to focus on programs of record because that’s how money comes to us from Congress,” Dunaway said. “The warfighters don’t really care that much about programs of record; they care much more about warfare capability. I want to emphasize a discipline of engineering here that looks horizontally and takes stovepiped programs of record and focuses on turning them into warfighting capabilities.”

Dunaway has built his career on independent thinking and said he is the type of person who likes to take care of business for himself but is adjusting to having Lt. Eddie Whitley as his aide.

“He takes good care of me and helps to relieve the day-to-day time consuming work load,” Dunaway said. “We’re working out a good relationship.”

Both are originally from Texas, are Cowboys fans, and graduates of the Naval Academy.

“Eddie’s a hard-charging fleet aviator,” Dunaway said. “He came to the job not knowing a thing about being an aide, and I didn’t know a thing about being an admiral so we’re working that out together.”

This is Dunaway’s fifth assignment with the Weapons Division and his third time living at China Lake.

“I have a lot of fond memories of China Lake,” he said. “My wife and I raised our babies here and I love the outdoors so I was very excited to come back.”

A passionate hunter and outdoorsman, Dunaway has already managed to fit in two hunts since he received orders to NAWCWD. He got a bull elk in Colorado, and a bear near Chimney Peak Road from nearly 400 yards away.

“My passion is hunting,” said Dunaway, whose call sign ‘Decoy’ came from his love for duck hunting. “I’ll just about hunt anything.”

A typical work day for the WD commander is a busy one that requires him to plan his day around a few constants like about two hours of email, as well as existing day-to-day issues. Dunaway said he also depends on Whitley and Marci Burnett, his executive assistant, to manage the conga line of folks who all want a piece of his day.

He has a demanding schedule but takes time to work out his mind and body every day. For physical exercise, Dunaway likes to go for a run at lunchtime, lift weights or hike B mountain. And he always makes some time during the day to spend on strategic thinking.

“What I like best about this job is that a lot of what we do at NAWCWD deals up close to the warfighting effect,” said Dunaway, who recently took an impromptu tour through Michelson Lab where he saw someone working on a semi-conductor laser, another person using nano-technology, and yet another working with a fuel cell.

“These are the people making the next generation inventions happen,” said Dunaway, who is very clear on what his role is. “My job for them is like a captain of a football team; I block, I tackle, sometimes I punt, sometimes I throw the long ball. I have to protect my people in the backfield. My job is to get them resourced, and make sure they are well-directed so that the products that come out of here are useful when they are integrated into a warfighting capability.”

On Sept. 18, Vice Adm. David Venlet, NAVAIR commander, was the guest speaker at the WD change of command ceremony. He said that Dunaway “is a man of high integrity, enormous energy, and is greatly respected in the naval aviation community.”

Dunaway said he strives to be someone who is fair, who will always take care of business, whose actions are well thought out, and who is compassionate when needed. He calls on that compassion for what he says is his “second most important job after the Navy” - a backstage manager for his wife’s ballet company.

“It’s certainly different,” he said of going from his day job to his support role at the ballet. “I have to watch my language and be extra nice to the young ladies.”

Whether he’s working with dancers or Sailors and Marines, Dunaway knows how important it is for a leader to set the course for his troops. As the NAWCWD commander, one of the most important things to him is defining a clear vision of WD’s core functions and capabilities that’s in complete alignment with NAVAIR.

“That would go a long way in relieving some of the competitive tensions that can occur within an organization,” Dunaway said. “While I’m here, I want to help the Weapons Division work force see the same picture. If everybody sees the same picture the same way, then it’s easier for us all to march in an organized fashion in the same direction.”