NAE Leadership Visits MCAS Iwakuni for Boots on the Ground

Photo By Lt.j.g. Gulianna Dunn | 180806-N-RE636-0058 IWAKUNI, Japan (August 6, 2018) Aviation Electronics Technician 1st Class David Bohorquez, from Charlotte, N.C., discusses an issue related to consumable aircraft parts with Commander, Naval Air Forces (CNAF) Vice Adm. DeWolfe Miller during a Boots on the Ground event at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Iwakuni. Boots on the Ground program’s goal is to resolve interdependent Naval Aviation issues by conducting site visits to Navy/Marine Corps aviation sites, aircraft carriers and L-class ships. These events allow NAE leaders to engage with Sailors and Marines to sustain focus on readiness and quality of life. (U.S. Navy photo by Gulianna Dunn/Released)  

IWAKUNI, YAMAGUCHI, JAPAN

08.07.2018

Story by Petty Officer 1st Class Gulianna Dunn 

Naval Air Systems Command

Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE) senior leadership visited various commands aboard Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Iwakuni as part of the Boots on the Ground (BoG) program, August 6 and 7.

Those in attendance included the Commander, Naval Air Forces (CNAF) Vice Adm. DeWolfe Miller, Commander, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Vice Adm. G. Dean Peters and Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers Rear Adm. Michael Zarkowski.

NAE leaders attended briefs presented by Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, Marine Corps Air Group (MAG) 12, Fleet Readiness Center West Pacific (FRCWP) Detachment Iwakuni and Commander, Fleet Air Forward (CFAF) Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Detachment (AIMD) Iwakuni.

The visit provided NAE leadership with the opportunity to see first-hand readiness degraders, command challenges and how maintenance and supply improvements and/or efficiencies have been incorporated into their work centers.

“I thought today was outstanding,” said Miller. “We had an opportunity to hear a lot of presentations at such a rapid pace, but I think it shows the power of these [BoG events] which is to bring our Sailors and Marines results. These results will occur as we collect action items to actually make those changes happen.”

The series of visits at multiple commands aboard MCAS Iwakuni focused not only on challenges and successes, but also on finding innovative ways to increase efficiency throughout Naval Aviation.

“Our move from [Naval Air Facility] Atsugi to [Marine Corps Air Station] Iwakuni came with a lot of challenges and limitations that we predicted, but others we did not, explained CVW-5 Commander, Captain Forrest Young during a brief to leadership. “Our relocation does present training opportunities which were unavailable in Atsugi and opens the door for a readiness generation model which could meet Forward Deployed Naval Forces (FDNF) training requirements while remaining on station in 7th Fleet.”

Briefs conducted throughout the day highlighted reoccurring themes in manning and training requirements unique to Sailors, Marines and civilians living in Japan.

“This has been a great opportunity to get the providers together along with the unique local talent to look at the unique issues for this area of operations,” said Peters. “We looked at the 30, 60, 90-days plan and we realized we need to focus on the near-term piece – not to get caught up in all of the different taskers – but to handle what we can handle in our positions now. How we as a group can fix some of the issues now instead of trying to tackle them all at once.”

Boots on the Ground allows Marine Corps and Naval Aviation to implement the best practices across the board, improving not only the readiness and quality of life of service members but also saving money throughout Naval Aviation Enterprise.

The Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE) is a cooperative partnership of naval aviation stakeholders focused on sustaining required current readiness and advancing future warfighting capabilities at best possible cost. It is comprised of Sailors, Marines, civilians, and contractors from across service branches and organizations, working together to identify and resolve readiness barriers and warfighting degraders.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Naval Aviation Enterprise, visit www.navy.mil/local/NAE/ or www.nae.navy.mil.

• Date Taken: 08.07.2018
• Date Posted: 01.22.2019 15:37
• Story ID: 287737
• Location: IWAKUNI, YAMAGUCHI, JP