Aviation Structural Mechanic 1^st Class Michael Hammer achieved a level-two advanced composite material repair certification in January that was previously limited to civilian artisans at depot maintenance facilities.

When first stationed at Fleet Readiness Center West (FRCW) in Lemoore, California, in 2009, Hammer was interested in earning his level-two certification. During his second tour there, the Military Depot Level Certification Program was getting started, and he was the first military member to participate.

Data integrity—internal consistency or lack of corruption—is foundational to naval aviation readiness. That’s according to Jeff Blackstock, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Aviation Readiness and Maintenance Analysis Branch Analytics and Analysis Team lead. Blackstock was named the 2019 Michael G. Simodejka Outstanding Sustainment/Logistics Manager of the Year during an award ceremony at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst on July 31 for his contributions to naval aviation data integrity.

When Kierra Shay, a readiness analyst for the Sustainment Group’s Advanced Analytics and Innovation Branch, first heard about the Department of the Navy’s (DoN) Sustainment Data Challenge in December 2018, she immediately wanted to participate.

More than 40 area middle-schoolers got the chance to learn from working engineers when Fleet Readiness Center East supported the Eastern North Carolina Summer Middle School Engineering Camp June 24-28. The camp, hosted at Craven Community College’s Havelock Campus, challenged rising seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders with tasks including building a robotic arm, engineering a crash-safe car, and using human-centered design to help one engineer with an everyday task.