Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) marked a milestone in its support of the F-35 Lightning II program when the depot recently completed its 100th F-35 parachute repack.

According to Fleet Readiness Center East Commanding Officer Capt. James M. Belmont, the depot inducted its first F-35 parachute in February 2022 and quickly established an efficient workflow.

Following years of rigorous testing and evaluation, a cold spray metallization technology that was initially demonstrated at Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) is now being fielded on the H-1 line at the depot’s detachment on board Marine Corps Air Station New River.

The new system will aid in reducing aircraft maintenance turnaround times and decreasing costs, said Jessica Templeton, the Air Vehicle and Materials Engineering lead with the Naval Air Systems Command Fleet Support Team’s Advanced Technology and Innovation Team at FRCE.

Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) recently secured designation as the Depot Source of Repair (DSOR) for 81 major structural and dynamic components of the U.S. Air Force MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopter, the planned replacement for the UH-1N Huey. FRCE performs maintenance, repair and overhaul of the legacy UH-1N platform at its North Carolina Global TransPark detachment in Kinston. Current projections place the start date for the new work in fiscal year 2028.

The U.S. Air Force recently selected Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) as the stateside depot source of repair (DSOR) for the HH-60W Jolly Green II, the air service’s new combat rescue platform. FRCE will conduct all helicopter airframe programmed depot maintenance for Jolly Green II aircraft located within the continental United States, which represents about 70% of the platform’s total expected workload.

When Nikki Gill began her career at Fleet Readiness Center East 14 years ago, she never planned on being a supervisor. After several years doing technical work as a production support engineer, however, a management opportunity arose within the depot’s Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) Engineering Department – and Gill felt ready to take on a new challenge.

Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) wrapped up a successful process improvement project which enhanced the depot’s ability to deliver parts, components, and aircraft to the warfighter.

With the aid of data visualization tools, supervisors and machinists within the command’s Repair Machine Shop successfully reduced the turnaround time for parts and components coming out of the shop.

As an active-duty Marine Corps pilot, Capt. Matthew Pitts fell in love with testing helicopters in a maintenance environment. He discovered a passion for working as part of a team that returned aircraft to the sky.

Two new programs at Fleet Readiness Center East are adding to the opportunities available for potential employees who want to gain work experience at the aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facility while earning pay and benefits.

Fleet Readiness Center East’s (FRCE) Bearing Shop is a place where success or failure can be measured in thousandths of inch. In this shop, bearings are inspected, measured and analyzed with a painstaking attention to detail by a small team of highly trained professionals.

These artisans refurbish hundreds of bearings each week, turning out several thousand each month. The Bearing Shop handles nearly 5,000 different part numbers. These bearings are used on vehicles that operate in the air, on land, and at sea.

When it comes to providing first aid and initial care during an emergency, seconds count. The amount of time it takes to begin care can mean the difference between life and death.

A training program at Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) aims to equip its workforce with the skills and training to respond quickly and effectively to emergencies. The depot is providing its personnel with lifesaving knowledge and skills in the form of training in first aid, CPR and use of an automated external defibrillator (AED).