Vice Adm. David Venlet honored hundreds of Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) personnel during a June 17 presentation of the eighth annual NAVAIR Commander’s National Awards.

Venlet hosted the ceremony from the Naval Air Systems Command headquarters at Patuxent River, Md., along with Rear Adm. Stephen Eastburg and Rear Adm. (Select) Paul Grosklags. Rear Adm. David Dunaway joined the ceremony from Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Pt. Mugu, CA, by video teleconference, along with other participants from all major NAVAIR sites.

“This is our mission,” Venlet told the gathering. “Sailors and Marines armed with confidence because arming them is what we do. In their shadow, we provide warfighting capability and reliability which allows our technical, business and leadership excellence to shine — through them.”

"When you hear a 19-year-old Sailor say thank you because from your office, your lab or your test range, you made her job in the fleet a little easier — it’s worth it,” he said. “What you do for Naval Aviation melds into the precious mettle of America’s defense.”

Awards were presented in five categories: business operations; industrial operations; program management; research, development, testing and evaluation/science and technology; logistics and industrial; and quality of service.

The Naval Air Technical Data and Engineering Service (NATEC) won in the business operations category.

The team’s efforts over the past year focused on transforming technical support, technical data delivery, delivery processes and delivery infrastructure, as well as regionalizing technical support.

The NATEC team improved processes to eliminate 20 million duplicate aperture cards, allowing the team to reduce storage costs. The team also reduced cycle time for technical directives by more than half.

The award for logistics and industrial operations went to the Maintenance and Supply Integration Performance Improvement Team.

This team trained and mentored more than 3,500 Fleet Sailors and Marines in continuous process improvement tools, institutionalizing business best practices and creating a culture of cost-wise readiness within the Fleet.

The team’s work enabled maintenance and supply systems to effectively meet the demand of operational squadrons with fewer resources.

The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Program Management Team received the Commander’s National Award for program management.

The team achieved first flight within two days of the integrated master schedule and subsequent flights within the next four months. The team decreased the estimate to complete the program by $97 million over prior years, a NAVAIR first for a mature program.

The PMA202 Helicopter Egress System for Passengers (HESP) team won the quality of service/customer service award. The HESP includes a flotation device, a self-contained breathing device, a mobile refill stations, tools, support equipment and training units for use by all helicopters in the Navy and Marine Corps fleet.

The team delivered products six months ahead of schedule and saved more than $8 million in procurement. The team’s improvements in reliability and program sustainment are expected to yield an additional annual savings of $1.87 million and 30,000 man hours.

The final award, in the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation/ Science and Technology category, went to the EA-18G Integrated Product Team for “exemplifying sound engineering and acquisition” and successfully managing “cost, schedule and performance,” according to the award citation.

The team saved approximately $200 million in acquisition costs by minimizing the aircraft’s logistics footprint ashore and afloat. The team also partnered with industry and incorporated lessons learned from the F/A-18 program to deliver the first production Growler ahead of schedule and within budget.

During the ceremony, Vice Adm. Venlet also presented the Edward Heinemann award from the Association of Naval Aviation to Adolph Ragghianti.

The award cited Ragghianti’s identification of a “series limited cycle oscillation program with the proposed VH-71 increment 1 tail rotor design.” He worked as part of the NAVAIR structures engineering team to prove the flaw and change the design, ensuring aircraft and personnel safety.

The T. Michael Fish award for commitment to improving the quality of work life at NAVAIR went to Robert Hanley, AIR-4.0P. The award was presented by Mr. Fish himself, former head of NAVAIR’s Research and Engineering Staff Office.

Other NAVAIR teams nominated for Commander’s Awards were:

• TH-6 Helicopter Replacement Analysis Study Team
• E-2C FMS Team
• Core Avionics Integrated Product Team
• Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance (MPRA) Acoustic
Systems Commonality Team
• Persistent Maritime Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Program Management Team
• National Airworthiness Team
• Comprehensive Automated Maintenance Environment
• Optimized Development Team
• CH-53K Drive Systems Team
• C-2 NP2000 Integrated Test Team
• Aviation Personnel Hearing Protection Team
• Naval Aviation Enterprise S&T Lean Six Sigma Team
• Propulsion Readiness Steering Committee
• S-3B Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared
for Night (LANTIRN) Team
• Program Performance Team
• Programmable Acoustic Processor Stimulator
• FRSCE Industrial Manufacturing Strategic Business Team
• PMA 231 NCW NC-130 Test Team
• H-1 Weapons System Support Activity (WSSA)
• PMA209 Legacy Avionics Systems Team
• Integrated In-Service Reliability Program
• P-8A Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft System
Development and Demonstration Team
• Navy Simulator Master Plan (NASMP)

For more information about the NAVAIR Commander’s Awards, contact the NAVAIR Total Force Strategy and Management Dept. (7.3) awards coordinator.

-USN-

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“Bob’s the Man” says sign displayed by colleagues of Robert Hanley, winner of the T. Michael Fish Award.

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Winner of the Logistics and Industrial Award was the Maintenance and Supply Integration Performance Improvement Team, with members from San Diego, Jacksonville, Cherry Point and Patuxent River. (L-R) Lt. Cmdr Al Olgetree,
Michael Knott, AZC Christopher Moriarty, AVCM Charles (Andy) Seidel, Lieut. (j.g.) Danielle MacAdams, SKC William Conner, AEC Dennis Jackson, ATC James Tantillo, ATCS Donnie Anderson, Lt. Cmdr. Bret Washburn, Ann Wood, Mike Garcia, SKCS Ben Flores, Cmdr. Katherine Erb, Dan Chauncey, ATCS Dean McPherson, Brenda Sanders, AVCM Arnold Skinner, Lauren Eck, Jim Ervin, Steve Simpliano, ADCS Jeffrey Hunsicker, ATCS Dean McPherson, Wade Nevins, Kim Brockington, Cindy Lawrence, AEC Brian Barth, Bahadir Inozu, ATC Bob Hermann, Christine Lawson, Mindy Parks, Jeff Peed, Heather Garvey, ATC Steven Brown, Vice Adm. David Venlet.

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Standing-room-only crowd lines the balconies of NAVAIR headquarters in the Admiral Moffett Building at NAS Patuxent River

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T. Michael Fish (L) presents Quality of Worklife Award named after him to 2008 winner, Robert Hanley

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Program Management Award winner was the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Program Management Team, all at Patuxent River. (L-R) Back Row: Steve Wright, Cmdr. Scott Porter, Doug Shaffer, Bill McDonald, Margaret Budd, Shawn Keller, Tom Maratta, Wes Cory, Judy Lloyd, Kim Davis, Crystal Brensinger. Front Row: Valeria Amadio, Randy Lefler, Rachael Buckner, Janice Zilch (holding award), Lisa Maenza, Lisa Achille, Mary Marinelli, Phu An, Heather Moore

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Quality of Service Award winner was the Helicopter Egress System for Passengers team at Lakehurst and Patuxent River. (L-R) front row: Angela Hall, Dave Borne, Kara Briscoe, Dee Peters, Brian Harvey. Back row: Adm Venlet, Dean Meyer, Bert Polk, Martin Ahmad, Eric Bryan, Gary Loikith, Cleveland Lewis, Lori Bell, Brev Moore, Nick Yandell. Attending by VTC: Mark Desmond, Danielle Hearne, John Reiss, Paul Klein.
On leave: Luis Gierbolini, Mark Mergard, John Cardova, John Strang.

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Vice Admiral David Venlet presents RDT&E/S&T Award to Captain Paul Overstreet and James Smith of the EA-18G Integrated Product Team

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Vice Admiral David Venlet presents the Program Management Award to Janice Zilch, Cmdr. Scott Porter and Douglas Shaffer of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Program Management Team

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Vice Admiral David Venlet presents the Business Operations Award to Lewis Shawn Delaware of Team NATEC – the Naval Air Technical Data and Engineering Service Command at North Island.

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Vice Admiral David Venlet presents the Logistics and Industrial Award to Cmdr. Katherine Erb and Ann Wood of the Maintenance and Supply Integration Performance Improvement Team

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Rear Admiral Steven Eastburg addresses the audience as Vice Admiral David Venlet (L) and Rear Admiral (Select) Paul Grosklags listen.

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Winner of the RDT&E/ST Award was EA-18G Integrated Product Team at China Lake, Pt. Mugu and Patuxent River. (L-R) bottom row - Peggy Heffner, Vice Adm. David Venlet, 2nd row - Capt. Paul Overstreet, James Smith, 3rd row - Sue Fore, Cmdr. Chris Williams, 4th row – Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Cook, Tom Ball; 5th row - Bernie Kneeland, Kim Rock; 6th row -; 7th row - Beth Ann Caccivio, Steve Kapinos; 8th row - Mike Gibbons
Steve Hogan, Larry Davis

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Vice Admiral David Venlet presents the Edward H. Heinemann Award for Outstanding Achievement to Adolph Ragghianti

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Vice Admiral David Venlet presents Quality of Service Award to Tara Capecci and Martin Ahmad of the Helicopter Egress System for Passengers Team.