U.S. Marine Corps Col. William R. Dunn speaks to NAVAIR’s Logistics and Industrial Operations workforce (AIR 6.0) during AIR 6.0’s Hot Topics Forum at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., July 14. Dunn shared the warfighter perspective from his real-world operational experience. (U.S. Navy photo)
Patuxent River, MD — Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Logistics and Industrial Operations (AIR 6.0) Hot Topics Forum, held July 14, gave the workforce a glimpse of Navy and Marnie Corps operations and maintenance from a fleet point of view.
Speakers for the event, titled “Supporting the Fleet,” included U.S. Marine Corps Col. William R. Dunn, who discussed the warfighter perspective from real-world operational experience through the eyes of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) perspecive; and Capt. Timothy H. Pfannenstein, commanding officer of Fleet Readiness Center Southwest, San Diego, California, who shared with the group — that included sites that joined thru video teleconferencing — the 411 on depot planning and operations.
“We have done a great job in the acquisition of new stuff,” Pfannenstein said. “With aging platforms, we need to alter our focus to “sustainment,” and the first step to truly understanding the co-dependencies and leveraging them is to see and understand what they are, what entities own them and then connect those co-dependences to one another in order to attain sustainment excellence.”
During Pfannenstein’s presentation, he told the participants that depot production is enabled by workforce support in engineering, logistics and material.
“If this message is not heard/understood and the NAVAIR/NAE co-dependencies are not recognized, leveraged and acted on accordingly, long-term sustainment will suffer for both aircraft and components,” he said. “Very few folks have ever served in a depot, so the ‘lens’ through which many view the depot sustainment world is limited. My intent was to expand the view of things folks see through their lens of sustainment experience.”
Pfannenstein said his goal was to show attendees how they fit into the overall picture and let them know that their support of the depots is critical to depot success.
“The depot is as dependent on NAVAIR and the NAE [Naval Aviation Enterprise] as is any aircraft TMS [type/model/series],” Pfannenstein said. “If I altered that lens and expanded the field of view, I was successful. The message I hoped to convey was that if we do not understand how depots operate and how they are resourced, our ability to sustain aircraft platforms and components into the next decade will be impacted.”
Pfannenstein said he enjoyed speaking with the workforce and wants everyone to understand how important they are to depot success.
“I also want the folks in both the NAVAIR and depots to know they are a national treasure of skill and talent. Our nation’s military could not do what they do if NAVAIR and the depots did not do what they do,” he said. “This often leaves me wondering, ‘what would it be like if we did not have NAVAIR or the depots at our side as we prosecute the fight?’”
Hot Topic Forums begin in January 2014 and are structured to better inform the logistics workforce on AIR-6.0/COMFRC happenings and provide direction. “They are a way to show our workforce where our attention needs to be focused and our effectivity as a competency,” said Mike Overs, forum organizer.
The next Hot Topics Forum is scheduled for early 2016. According to Overs, ideas for forum topics are welcomed.
“This is an event for the workforce,” Overs said. “So, we want to ensure we present topics that are timely and meet the need.”
For more information on Hot Topics Forums or to suggest a topic, contact Mike Overs at 301-757-9710.