Agility: Responsiveness Within the Naval Aviation Enterprise

Wings of Gold, Fall 2004 by Massenburg, Walter

Agility empowers NAVAIR to make rapid decisions in support of emergent Fleet requirements, and facilitates action before circumstances beyond our control dictate otherwise. At the Naval Air Systems Command, one of our five strategic goals is to improve agility, which encompasses several initiatives aimed at improving responsiveness and adaptability. But the health of Naval Aviation depends on more than NAVAIR alone - it depends on the vision, strategy, and actions of the entire Naval Aviation Enterprise.

The leadership of the Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE) is aligned to Commander, Naval Air Forces. Decisions regarding the future of Naval Aviation are brought before the NAE Board of Directors and discussed from the standpoint of their impact on the entire Naval Aviation Enterprise. This strategy encourages horizontal decision-making, fosters cohesive thinking, and thereby enhances the agility of the entire organization.

At NAVAIR, such stakeholder involvement is an essential element of our own executive decision-making process. We operate with an Executive Decision Board (EDB) comprised of a core group of NAVAIR leadership and Program Executive Officers, including key stakeholders who directly support mission success. The EDB process drives informed, fact-based decisions, reviews alternatives, conducts cost benefit analyses when large investments are required, and weighs the expected benefits of every decision to ensure the direction of the NAE remains aligned with CNO's goals and Sea Power 21. Complementing the EDB are the Council of Program Executive Offices (CPEO), focused on programmatics and rapid response to Fleet requirements, and the Council of Competencies and Business Units (CCBU), who are accountable for the overall efficiency of business and technical processes. The NAVAIR War Council, comprised of highly focused action stakeholders across the enterprise, is a conduit through which Fleet issues demanding immediate action are resolved. During Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), the War Council quickly met the Fleet's request for additional weapons by funding the acceleration of depot level repairs on rockets and missiles. The EDB, CPEO, CCBU, and War Council all focus on making decisions with speed and agility, for the "greater good" of Naval Aviation.

The NAE measures success by one Fleet driven metric: "Aircraft ready for tasking at reduced cost." This means faster, cost-wise product delivery - a critical synergism to supporting current and future readiness. NAVAIR is streamlining and improving its processes through a transformation initiative known as AIRSPEED, and we are already reaping the benefits of reduced turnaround time, increased delivery speed, and reduced cost.

Depot AIRSPEED and Enterprise AIRSPEED are at work in our Naval Aviation Depots and Fleet maintenance and logistics programs. In turn, the implementation of NAVAIR AIRSPEED will bring agility and efficiency to our Corporate Operations, Test and Evaluation, Research and Development, and Acquisition endeavors.

Our decision-making construct and world-class process improvement initiatives, such as AIRSPEED, give the NAE more operational agility. And the more agile we are, the faster we can react to and resolve Fleet problems. For example: During OIF, an emergent requirement surfaced for JDAM software support for the F-14D Operational Flight Program. Our F-14 " Software Support activity professionals at NAWC China Lake responded in record time. Range testing was completed and upgrades were sent to all F-14D squadrons on three aircraft carriers in two oceans, just 30 hours from the time the initial request was received.

Another example of NAVAIR's agility lies in our improved ability to expedite operational flight clearances. NAVAIR's Airworthiness Office has reduced the flight clearance processing cycle time by over 65%. More than 4,100 clearances have been processed this year, and engineers and systems experts are available 24×7×365 to support combat forces stationed around the world.

Improved customer service, like that provided by our Naval Aviation Help Desk (NAHD), builds a bridge be- > tween our warfighters in harm's way, and those of us responsible for providing them with fast, reliable answers. The NAHD is an expansive network of Naval Aviation experts available 24×7×365 who provide maintenance, logistics, and technical support services to our Fleet warfighters. Here is just one example of what they do:

When an Aviation Ordnanceman second Class from HC-4's detachment in Iraq needed technical publications on the HH-60H's M240 gun mount, he called NAHD. The customer service representative referred the case to the Guns APML (Assistant Program Manager for Logistics) and the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in Point Mugu, CA. They contacted the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, IN who provided the Petty Officer with the correct technical publication. The entire process took just one day.

Improved efficiencies, leaner operating processes, effective executive leadership, and aligned decisionmaking enhance NAVAIR's agility and facilitate flexible reaction and rapid responsejxxemergent Fleet requirements. We continue to enhance our agility by improving our responsiveness and adaptability, streamlining decision-making, reducing organizational layers, reinforcing executive accountabilities, and improving our product-delivery processes. We continue to strengthen our communications with the Fleet so that we know the issues and can act quickly and decisively to render solutions on an enterprise-wide basis for the good of the warfighter.