Photo by Chrystal Smith Keeping a level head - NAVAIR · Photo by Chrystal Smith Keeping a level...

Photo by Chrystal Smith

Keeping a level headWearing the Ergodyne Skullerz bump cap, Raymond Toler, aircraft mechanic, works to change out a longeron on an H-1 helicopter frame in Fleet Readiness Center East Building 137, Hangar 1, Aug. 10. Read more about the trial safety specialists are conducting to find a suitable option to protect against head injury for artisans who work in restricted spaces in hangars.

Volume 36, Issue 8 September 2016

Fleet Readiness Center East, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C.

2 September 2016 Readiness Reader Newsletter

Commanding Officer: Col. Vincent E. Clark, USMCExecutive Officer: Col. Clarence T. Harper III, USMC

Public Affairs Officer: John Olmstead ....... (252) 464-9111Editor: Chrystal Smith ............................. (252) 464-7353

Photographer: Dave Marriott .................. (252) 464-7028Videographer: Kim Walker ...................... (252) 464-7230

Readiness Reader and Readiness Reader Lite are publications of the Fleet Readiness Center East Public Affairs Office, located on Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C. The editorial content of this newsletter is approved by the Corporate Communications Division of FRC East. This newsletter is an authorized publication for members of the Department of Defense. Its contents does not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. Government, the DoD or the Department of the Navy, and do not imply endorsement thereof. The editor reserves the right to edit submissions to conform to editorial policy and Associated Press Style Guide. The editorial staff is located in Building 137, Room 1049. Publication of hardcopy content occurs once monthly. Submissions are due at least two weeks before publication.Call 464-7353 for more information.

“Generating Combat Air Power for America’s Marines and Naval Forces”

Commentary by James OgburnFleet Readiness Center East Senior Civilian

Our command operating policy identifies safety, quality, throughput and cost-effectiveness as core tenets of our strategic leadership model. Working together, the guiding prin-ciples of SQTC are critical to FRC East’s mission accomplishment. But what does this really mean, and how do we incorporate SQTC into our dai-ly routine and work habits? How do these tenets help in generating combat air power for our nation’s Marines and Naval forces?

Without doubt, safety is the most im-portant of the four. We value the health and well-being of our coworkers and team-mates as our top priority. We want to have the safest work environment possible, free from hazards in our facilities and our work practices. We want to proactively identify and eliminate these hazards. Not only are we accountable for our own safety, but to-gether we are collectively accountable for the safety of the entire FRC East team. Ev-ery day, we want to ensure that all of our FRC East teammates make it home safe and sound. We make a commitment to safety first; knowing that this will help us achieve our goals for quality, throughput and cost.

It’s not just our integrity and reputa-tion that is on the line. The products and

services we provide the warfighter must be complete and correct — when our Marines and Sailors go into harm’s way, their lives depend on the work we do at FRC East. For that reason alone, we must make sure that we do our work

right the first time. We cannot accept, cre-ate or pass along any defects. Our standard is: First-time quality that meets all techni-cal requirements. The quality of our work makes us worthy of the trust that our cus-tomers place in us.

Consider through-put from the perspec-tive of dropping your car off for repairs with a mechanic who prom-ises to complete the work by a given time. It’s not a pleasant ex-perience when he or she calls to tell you it’s going to be late. What if we do the same thing to our fleet cus-tomers? Our customers need the assurance that products — aircraft, engines and com-ponents — will be delivered when we say they will, to support operational require-

ments. On-time delivery that meets the customer’s needs is what throughput is all about.

For the past several years, we have all read the headlines about shrinking defense budgets. We have experienced sequestra-tion and shutdowns. Now more than ever, we must provide maximum value at the best cost. We must live within our operat-ing budgets, and know our business so we can identify opportunities to advantage our customers for every dollar they spend at FRC East. When we provide more value and cost-effectiveness, the fleet benefits with more sustainment — keeping ready aircraft on the flight lines.

SQTC means we work safely to pro-vide quality products and services on time at the right cost. We are all a part of SQTC. A right command cli-mate and organiza-tional culture support these principles. Our employees must feel empowered to speak up when something’s not right, and our man-

agers must do everything possible to make things right. It’s not an easy job; there is no “Easy” button in aviation maintenance. But it’s a job that’s worth doing and our cus-tomers deserve the best.

Incorporating SQTC into our daily routines

“Safety, Quality, Throughput and Cost-

effectiveness means we work safely to provide quality products and

services on time at the right cost.”

Make your voice heardFleet Readiness Center

East leaders are seeking your help in improving the quality of the work envi-ronment. Make your voice heard by submitting feed-back on how to improve processes, culture, environ-ment and even workforce morale.

Use the Beneficial Sug-gestion Program to sub-mit process improvement

ideas that enhance FRC East’s goals and objectives. The program is designed to motivate employees to increase productivity and creativity by rewarding the suggestions that benefit the government. Cash awards are paid to those whose suggested improvement ideas are adopted. Ben-eficial ideas should seek to improve quality, extend the

life of products or reduce operating costs.

Use the Digital Sug-gestion Program to submit quality of work life ideas such as improving em-ployee services, benefits, facility maintenance, safety improvements and more. Access the submission mechanism in quick links on the CPWeb at News and Announcements.

Like the official page today.

Readiness Reader Newsletter September 2016 3

How do you support the command’s recycling effort?

Walter BryantV-22 Airframe Worker

“As parts come in, in boxes, I take time to break the

cardboard boxes down and take them out to the recycle

bin. It frees up space in the shop and mitigates foreign

object debris, as well.”

Chase BectonPowered Support Systems

Mechanic“We recycle anything and

everything that can be recycled. We use the blue

containers for cans, bottles, plastics, paper and card-

board, and have additional containers for recycling

any fluids we replace and a bin for scrap metal.”

Dan TaylorPlane Captain

“I always recycle my bottles and cans. It saves on trash. I even encour-

age others to recycle like me.”

Ronnie ShepardSheet Metal Mechanic“I dispose of things in their proper places, such as hazardous materials in the specially marked bins.”

Steve ClemenicAircraft Painter“I just make sure we’re putting all the right stuff into the appropriately labeled container.”

Kenneth JonesAircraft Mechanical Parts Repairer“We (the shop) support recycling efforts daily. We have containers for bottles and cans. We always strip the packaging, break down and recycle our cardboard boxes and products. For us, it’s an ongoing effort, it’s second nature. When we get new employees, we immediately try and get them in a recycling mind-set, so it’s as natural as drinking water.”

Johnny Bastin Jr.Powered Support Equipment Repairer“Recycling is good for the environ-ment and the economy. It brings money back to FRC East. I always recycle my aluminum cans, plastic bottles and paper products, and we always recycle our cardboard items and recapture any chemicals we use and recycle them through (Hazardous Materials).”

Joyce PressleyAircraft Production Controller“I try not to have any trash at the end of the day, I try

to recycle everything. I think recycling. I also try to do my

job without using paper, by sending or filing electronic copies as opposed to hard

copies. ... Recycling is impor-tant to me, I don’t want to

fill up landfills.”


By Chrystal SmithFleet Readiness Center East

Public Affairs Office

Fleet Readiness Center East has “Authority to Operate” its manufacturing Research, De-velopment, Test and Evaluation Network, and the new capabil-ity and infrastructure enables the depot to provide optimal fleet support in the area of man-ufacturing, especially on newer platforms.

FRC East has had seamless, end-to-end accredited network connectivity among its engi-neering and manufacturing de-partments since May 11, and the achievement is being heralded as a trailblazing benchmark for fleet readiness centers and other Department of Defense indus-trial activities.

“The network will serve as the foundation for our next steps that are already underway,” said Russell Padgett, Systems En-gineering Department head, of the network that functions in-dependent of the Navy Marine Corps Intranet. “This includes the fiscal year 2016-17 imple-mentation of our Team Center data management environment including data migration and workflow development, as well as the organizational develop-ment and implementation of the processes, training and posi-tions required to fully actualize this new capability.”

Members of the Advanced Technol-

ogy Integrated Product Team, which includes the RDTE team, have been relentless, since 2013, in working to get an authorized network estab-lished that links solitary, legacy manufacturing computer work-stations, automated test equip-ment and high-performance computing resources and sys-tems throughout the FRC East infrastructure.

“The network was necessary to increase efficiency in data utilization, and for functional-ity and high-end requirements in engineering and manufactur-ing — a functionality that far exceeds what is currently pro-vided by the standard NMCI,” said Angela Padgett, Advanced Technology IPT lead.

Prior to the RDTE Net-work, users were operating in a “sneaker” network, where work would be produced on one system or network and transferred between accredited networked computers to stand-alone or legacy networks by external hard drives or discs. During the transfer process, us-ers were discovering that the stand-alone systems had out-of-date or varying versions of software, inhibiting seamless transfer of information and in-troducing opportunities for loss of data control or configuration management.

“One of the necessary steps for getting manufacturing on to an accredited network was comprehensive-

ly upgrading the

software to the latest version,” said Tommy Greene, explain-ing that the effort was “such an undertaking” for his team of “knowledgeable and hardwork-ing” professionals who worked through the “technical complex-ities of establishing and proving credibility of the network.”

The network includes con-nectivity for and between nu-merous competencies.

The In-Service Support Center includes automated test equipment — consolidated au-tomated support station, electri-cal sub-assembly test sets and other like support equipment — and test program sets; and the Finite Element Analysis Lab, which has high-perfor-mance computing requirements for various types of analy-sis that can take considerable time to run, even on high-end computers.

The Structural Modeling Simulation Lab provides re-search, testing and prototyp-ing necessary to develop and deploy technically capable and cost-effective structural, mod-eling and simulation methods, processes, and tools to platform engineers.

The manufacturing network comprises systems from the Industrial Execution Depart-ment and the Quality Assurance Department. The departments include such users as manu-facturing planners, the Digital

Data Center personnel, the computer numerical con-trol machine programmers, artisans and quality assur-ance personnel.

The achievement under-scores a major milestone for the Model-Based Defi-nition initiative, which has been underway since 2013. The initiative is a

project designed to bring the organization up to date with current technology for managing three-dimen-sional data from engineer-

ing to manufacturing. “It allows us to

maintain configu-

ration management all the way to production and quality as-surance of the part,” said Justin Reynolds, Digital Data produc-tion support engineer.

“If we had not done this, we would not be able to keep pace with data delivery from the original equipment manufactur-ers,” said A. Padgett, explain-ing that current OEM standard business practices are produc-ing 3-D models rather than the schematics and diagrams of old, and the previous FRC East set-up was not designed to support such practices.

“It’s going to allow us to manufacture parts like a mod-ern facility,” added Greene. “It’s how aircraft will be done in the future. This is great for the facility, as it brings us up to speed with how manufacturing is done in private industry.”

This effort is also founda-tional for a future Navy Avia-tion enterprise digital thread.

“The network is the ground-work for everything — digital thread, model-based definition, configuration management,” said Greene.

“Eventually digital thread will provide Naval Air Systems Command the ability to com-municate and workflow data throughout the enterprise,” said A. Padgett.

FRC East continues to lead the way in the effort among fel-low fleet readiness centers and among the services. Members from the Office of the Secre-tary of Defense are scheduled to visit to look at how Com-mander, Fleet Readiness Cen-ters is using the model-based definition project for sustain-ment and manufacturing. The local teams are working closely with the Air Force to learn more of its model-based definition process, as the Air Force gleans information about the RDTE Network configuration. Also, representatives from the Army are scheduled to visit FRC East to capture lessons learned, as it begins to break ground to create its own manufactring network.

RDTE Net success integral to 3-D future


By Chrystal SmithFleet Readiness Center East Public Affairs Office

The floor plans around Fleet Readi-ness Center East are changing to facili-tate a more collaborative environment to boost productivity and readiness, while making room for a growing workforce.

Plans will be realized by mid-October to consolidate the Capabilities Establish-ment Team into one office space and re-locate the Administrative and Travel, Hu-man Resources, Business and Workload Management Offices.

“We hope to facilitate better col-laboration and increase communication among the Capabilities Establishment Team. By collocating the team, we be-lieve our productivity will go up expo-nentially,” said Col. Clarence Harper, FRC East executive officer, explaining that the local workforce should expect multifaceted changes for the sake of grasping a number of the organization’s strategic goals.

The Capabilities Establishment Team is a group of Integrated Production Team members, currently located in various places around the organization. The team function is to evaluate and confirm the or-ganization’s capabilities for repairing and overhauling the aircraft and systems touted by FRC East public information and other fact sheets, and establish future capabilities for programs such as the F-35, H-1Y, H-1W and H-53K.

“Capabilities establishment is a huge part of our business,” said Stephen Barrow,

Industrial Operations Management Depart-ment head, “and will be a growing part of our business for the foreseeable future.”

A number of changes will be ongoing over the course of several months. The re-location of Code 7.3, Total Force Strategy and Management Department or HR, and Code 7.1, Administrative Support Office to newly renovated spaces in Building 4034 means that front-door services such as hu-man resources services, checkouts, SF-15 requests, designating beneficiaries, staffing and classification, and government travel credit card, travel, forms and directives change locations and will have a slight im-pact on some of the workforce.

“Yes, the walk may be a little farther to access those highly used services, but the move is necessary for the direction the or-ganization is headed,” said Harper.

After HR and Travel vacate the spaces in Building 137, the Workload Planning Branch, 6.3.2.1 and Business Office will move into those respective spaces. The Ca-pabilities Establishment Team will occupy the spaces freed up by Business and Work-load Planning staff. The N45 Safety/Regula-tory Compliance Department head will move into a newly created space in Building 137.

While the reconfiguring seems to be driven by industrial operations, it also serves to address the influx of new employ-ees brought onboard during that past year.

“We have to create space for the people

we’ve hired,” said Harper.Between February 2015 and June 2016,

730 new employees had been hired. That translates to about 150 additional employ-ees hired above the usual hiring rhythm of backfilling positions — vacated due to at-trition resulting from retirement and other administrative actions.

“We are trying to make maximum use of limited real estate by collocating specific competencies and services,” said Harper.

The Facilities Infrastructure Planning and Engineering Branch was tasked in December with sorting out how everyone would fit into the spaces designated for FRC East at MCAS Cherry Point. The task involved coordination and collaboration with numerous parties; consideration of various proposals; and compliance with es-tablished requirements and regulations.

“We don’t have flex space,” said Bar-row, explaining that the team thought through things such as the baseline facility requirement, onboarding plan for the next five years and how configurations would impact production.

Planning for addressing the workforce influx continues. According to leaders, ar-rangements have also been made to meet FRC East’s needs for engineering, logistics and program management personnel in the way of borrowing temporary space else-where on MCAS Cherry Point and leasing office space in the township of Havelock.

Photo by Dave Marriott

Chris Loges, woodcrafter, and Floyd Bullock, painter and carpentry worker, of Facilities Maintenance and Tooling Shop 33310 work to remove the baseboard from the Public Affairs Office in Building 137 to prepare the room for carpet-ing Aug. 29. Personnel from Shop 33310, Utilities Maintenance Shop 33120 and Plant Equipment Maintenance Shop 33110 have been working around the clock to make renovations to prepare buildings and spaces for upcoming moves.

Reconfiguring to facilitate better collaboration


Jason Schulte, on detail with Shop 33120, works to install ceiling tile in Building 4034 Aug. 29.


By Chrystal SmithFleet Readiness Center East Public Affairs Office

Hoping to see a decrease in head injuries, safety specialists at Fleet Readiness Center East are floating around a prevention idea that could mitigate the heightened statistic.

Artisans are working with Occupational Safety and Health specialists in a voluntary trial to determine the suitability and effec-tiveness of the Ergodyne Skullerz bump cap to find an option for head protection for those who work under and around aircraft in the hangars.

The safety office noticed a surge in head injuries to artisans working on the aircraft production lines and began pursuing a so-lution to prevent additional head injuries. FRC East reported 57 head injuries be-tween July 2014 and August 2016, and 16 of the total head injuries were reported by the F-35 Program within that period, alone.

“We are trying to provide them some-thing to protect their heads from accidental contact with aircraft doors, panels and struc-tures,” said Rodney Troup, Occupational Safety and Health specialist, explaining that

the organization had no specific offering of per-sonal protective equipment for those perform-ing daily work in the hangar areas. “With the proper PPE, we can reduce head injuries.”

According to the product description, the bump cap is not an industrial safety hel-met. It is intended to provide protection to the wearer against the effects of striking his or her head against hard, stationary objects with enough force to cause laceration or other superficial injuries.

He said a few different prevention mea-sures were tried among the artisans for working in the close confinements of air-craft and other equipment and structures in the hangars, but nothing was suitable.

Troup said one area tried using a tem-

porary insert that went into a baseball

cap, but the mea-sure had limited coverage and was

met with some ob-jections. Attempts at

“engineering out” the hazards in the way of buffer-

ing hazardous edges were taken, as well.And while the cranial impact shield is

suitable head protection for some tasks and mandatory in certain conditions, Troup said the feedback from artisans was that using the cranial impact shield while performing work in limited spaces of the aircraft was awkward and hindered steady workflow.

Safety specialists distributed 30 bump caps to mechanics on the H-1, AV-8, F-35 and H-53 production lines. Each participant will complete a survey to provide docu-mented feedback for the organization to consider in making a decision to accept the solution or seek alternative approaches to reduce head injuries.

Safety pros seeking to cap head injuries


Detailed framework Joshua Arthur, sheet metal mechanic, drills a fitting for a bullet fairing on an AV-8 aircraft frame in Fleet Readi-ness Center East Building 188.


Reminder to update NFAASDepartment of Navy civilian personnel are asked to up-

date the Navy Family Accountability and Assessment Sys-tem with applicable information on themselves and family members by Sept. 23. Go to https://navyfamily.navy.mil/cas/ and login to update information. The system is a standard-ized method for the Navy to account, assess, manage and monitor the recovery process for personnel and their families affected and or scattered by a widespread catastrophic event.Seeking Lean Six belts

Leaders are seeking to identify individuals in the work-force with process improvement knowledge, skills and qualifications for assistance in ongoing and future projects. Those individuals coming from other organizations or ca-reer backgrounds who have such credentials comparable to Lean Six Sigma oriented levels of training — green, black and master black — should contact Lori Glass at 464-9718.Travel management program email

Get official travel matters attended to in a timely man-ner and save a call or commute by sending an email in-stead. The new general email address [email protected], managed by the Travel Management Office staff, is established to field general travel questions and inqui-ries. Patrons can use it to submit general inquiries such as creating Defense Travel System or government travel credit accounts, voucher questions and more.Life insurance open season

The open season for the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Program is Sept. 1-30. Federal employees should review individual insurance needs to determine whether to participate. FEGLI is the largest group life insurance pro-gram in the world, covering more than four million federal employees and retirees, as well as many of their family members. During the open season, employees can increase their life insurance without having a qualifying life event or needing to prove insurability. Those close to retirement should contact their local Total Force consultant or benefits counselor to understand financial impact and other related matters.Nominate safety professionals

Fleet Readiness Center East leaders are encouraging Safe Site leads and others to nominate members of the workforce for recognition for commendable professional acts of safety in the workplace. Submit nominations for the Safety Professional Award to Aviation Safety Officer Capt. Aaron T. Whiteman or call 464-5555. Marine Corps ball tickets

Fleet Readiness Center East holds its annual Marine Corps Ball Nov. 4 at Miller’s Landing in celebration of the 241st Marine Corps birthday. The event is open to all government employees, contractors and FRC East retirees. Tickets are $50 (and increases to $55 on Sept. 7) and the cost includes dinner. Contact Cpl. Omar Jaohar in Building 137 in the Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron or call 464-7085.

Things of noteThe Fleet Readiness Center East Hotline Program provides all employees with the opportunity to report instances of fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement. Fraud is any willful taking or attempt to take unfair advantage of the government through deceit, mis-representation or concealment. Waste is any extravagant, careless or needless expenditure of government funds or consumption of government property. Abuse is any wrongful action that violates statutes, regulations or good practice. Mismanagement is any ac-tion that fails to meet the standard for public stewardship of funds, resources and property. Any employee who suspects incidences of fraud, waste, abuse and (or) mismanagement is strongly encouraged to bring this information forward as soon as possible to highlight their concerns.

Allegations outside these categories should be pursued through the chain of command, Equal Employment Opportunity process, bargaining unit or administrative grievance procedures.

Complaints to the FRC East Hotline may be filed by: a Telephone at 464-7208;a Email at [email protected]; a Hotline Drop Boxes — located in Buildings 137, 133, or 4224; a Contacting the Command Evaluation Officer.The FRC East Hotline is not manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a

week. In the event of a situation arising requiring immediate atten-tion — such as theft, improper disposal of property/hazardous ma-terial, workplace violence — employees should contact the Com-mand Evaluation Office directly, their chain of command or FRC East Security.

Employees have the right to remain anonymous when filing. How-ever, without additional information it may be more difficult to deter-mine whether an investigation is warranted. Employees are encour-aged to provide their name and contact information in case additional information is needed concerning their complaint. Also, be sure to an-swer the following when filing a complaint: Who; What; Why; When; Where; and How. If a complaint does not contain enough information about the alleged wrongdoing, it may not be possible to investigate the complaint. (Submitted by the Command Evaluation Officer)

Report issues to Hotline


Photo by Dave Marriott

Maurice Ottinger, Comptroller Group head, honors Rhonda West, financial management analyst, with a certificate for Comptroller Group Code 10.0 Employee of the Quarter. West was nominated by her peers to recieve the award that was pre-sented Aug. 9.


Retired Marine Lt. Col. Dan Willis administers the oath of office to his son Capt. Chris Willis, Fleet Readi-ness Center East Flight Check officer, upon his promotion to major during a ceremony in the FRC East Execu-tive Boardroom before an audience of family members, friends, cowork-ers and fellow Marines Aug. 1.The promotion date fell on the date ex-actly 24 years after his father pinned on the same rank while stationed at Marine Air Control Squadron 6 on Ma-rine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.

Thanks for Job Well Done

Members of the H-53 Production Planned Maintenance Interval Line were presented with a Letter of Appreciation from the Com-manding General of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing for the support they provided Heavy Marine Helicopter Squadron 772 during the recent planned maintenance interval rework of CH-53E, Bureau Number 165346. “Through your diligence and hard work, you completed a 180-day rework process in just 147 days, 33 days ahead of schedule. Your extensive oversight and meticulous attention to detail while working 24 hours, seven days a week demonstrated your dedication to mission ac-complishment.” The line’s efforts resulted in HMH-772 having the necessary aircraft to support an upcoming real-world operation and “significantly contributed to ensuring the Marine Corps has ready and reliable aircraft.”

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