Each year the DON AEAs recognize individuals and teams who contribute outstanding achievements to Navy and Marine Corps programs throughout the fiscal year. The competition was particularly tight this year, as dozens of participants from NAVAIR, NAVSEA and NAVSUP competed.
"This award recognizes the amazing work by the P-8 FST and PMA-290 to keep these Patrol aircraft mission-ready," said Steven Faulk, FRCSE's P-8 FST Lead. "When we talk about turn-around-time (TAT), we don't take it lightly – it is not weeks or days, but hours that matter. Every sustainment team is tracked to a sustainment product baseline (SPB) and is also indirectly measured by the number of mission-capable aircraft. We have performed exceptionally well at both of those measures this past year."
According to the DON AEA program criteria, the Sustainment Team of the Year Award recognizes groups that depict exceptional strides in sustainment and life-cycle logistics of a weapon system or product by improving readiness, processes and supportability or reducing sustainment costs.
The program benchmarks further state that the team must exemplify a culture that leverages sustainment as a strategic advantage, establishes advances in sustainment management or life-cycle logistics, and adopts inventive approaches to overcoming unusual barriers or obstacles.
The collective team, composed of 119 members with a program consisting of over 100 aircraft throughout the world, were cited for their dedication and hard work in making every dollar count, as well as achieving the Fleet's best readiness benchmarks at 87 mission-capable (MC) and 58 full mission-capable (FMC) aircraft against goals of 80 and 56 respectively.
"We contribute our success to a dedicated team working toward a common goal," Faulk said. "The P-8 Fleet utilizes the Maintenance Operations Center (MOC) approach to readiness. All non-mission capable (NMC) aircraft are briefed during a daily conference call, and partially mission capable (PMC) calls occur weekly. All key players participate in the conferences, which allows all parties to ask questions, receive answers and solve problems in real-time. Before the P-8 program initiated the MOC process, we were nowhere close to the numbers we are today."
Each year the award ceremony has been traditionally hosted at Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers (COMFRC) in Patuxent River, Md. However, due to lingering concerns related to COVID-19, the ceremony will take place virtually on November 4.
"Our P-8 Team engineering and logistics professionals represent the best in the business and exemplify what every FST member strives to accomplish," said Tim Pfannenstein, FRCSE's FST Site Director. That goal is to deliver superior engineering and product support to all of our program office sponsors and the warfighters."
About Fleet Readiness Center Southeast
Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) is Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia's largest maintenance, repair, overhaul and technical services provider, employing approximately 5,000 civilian, military and contract workers. With annual revenue exceeding $1 billion, the organization serves as an integral part of the greater U.S. Navy, Naval Air Systems Command, and Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers by maintaining the combat airpower for America's military forces.