Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition Frederick J. Stefany visited Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) Jan. 27 to meet with command leadership and see firsthand the maintenance, repair, and overhaul services performed at the depot.

During the visit, FRCE Commanding Officer Col. Thomas A. Atkinson hosted a briefing highlighting the depot’s facilities and infrastructure, the organization’s work with the F-35 program, and the ways the command is overcoming challenges it faces as facilities age.

A supply shortage of clutch servo-valve filters for V-22 Osprey auxiliary power units (APU) threatened to keep a number of aircraft on the ground, until the APU group of the V-22 Fleet Support Team at Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) found a way to clean the disposable filters and reinstall them on the aircraft.

Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) marked a milestone in its support of the F-35B Lightning II aircraft when it successfully completed verification of the laser shock peening process and returned the first aircraft to undergo the procedure to the fleet.

Materials engineers at Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) faced a dilemma. Artisans must remove paint from an aircraft before it can be serviced, but exposure to harsh chemical stripping agents can damage the composite materials that make up the V-22 Osprey. Meanwhile, hand sanding methods are time consuming and physically demanding for workers.

With the signing of a partnership agreement between Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) and Craven County, the U.S. Navy established its latest addition to a program designed to bring together regional government, industry and academia to expand an ecosystem focused on innovation.

A Vietnam-era aircraft platform facing a challenging supply posture seems an unlikely candidate for an underdog victory story.

The AV-8B Harrier program at Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) reached a milestone on the aircraft’s journey into the sunset as the line delivered the final aircraft it will service for one of the Marine Corps’ last Harrier squadrons.

A partnership between Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) and Sikorsky is helping meet the fleet’s needs for critical parts for CH-53E Super Stallion and MH-53E Sea Dragon heavy-lift helicopters.

In military aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul operations at Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE), the workforce is accustomed to seeing oversized dimensions: the 79-foot span of an H-53 main rotor, for example, or the 84-foot spread of a fully expanded V-22 Osprey. But smaller measurements are common, too – and for those, the depot relies on the team at its Precision Measurement Center (PMC), which routinely works in increments as small as a ten-thousandth of an inch.

Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) hosted an Oct. 5 visit from the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy office responsible for the construction and maintenance of installations.