Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) will expand its support of military aviators when the depot takes on maintenance, repair and overhaul duties for Navy and Marine Corps C/KC-130J Super Hercules and C/KC-130T Hercules aircraft. Navy officials announced March 17 that FRCE will serve as the designated repair point for the platform. The depot could begin the new workload as soon as the end of fiscal year 2026.

The first time Maj. Brittany Fayos walked through the H-53 line at Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE), she was surprised by what she saw.

“It was a bit eye-opening because I'd never seen them taken apart like that before,” said Fayos. “These were truly stripped down H-53s, down to bare airframes.”

Since that first visit to the hangar, Fayos has not only seen these aircraft stripped down, she’s seen them completely overhauled and reassembled, piloted them during test flights, and then delivered the finished helicopters to their units.

A new asset in the Transportation Branch at Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) is helping reduce turnaround times by simplifying aircraft movement between depot sites.

Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) gave students throughout Eastern North Carolina a hands-on look at careers in engineering as part of the depot’s 2023 National Engineers Week outreach efforts.

Engineers from the depot visited four elementary schools, 18 middle schools and four high schools and engaged with more than 2,700 area students.

More than 30 FRCE engineers participated in the outreach efforts, visiting area schools to discuss science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) as well as the role engineers play at the depot.

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.