Leadership from across the Naval Aviation Enterprise convened a three-day strategic planning event March 19 at the Naval Postgraduate School designed to help better achieve readiness recovery as part of the Navy Sustainment Systems (NSS).

The NSS leverages best practices from commercial aviation to improve readiness across six pillars: Surge; fleet readiness center reform; O-level (squadron maintenance) reform; supply chain reform; engineering and maintenance reform; and, governance, accountability and organization. NSS pillar leads are located across the U.S., and met in Monterey for the first time as a team.

“In order to accelerate results, we need better alignment. This is the first step to start us down that path,” said Angie Knappenberger, deputy director, Air Warfare (OPNAV N98).

Ultimately, the NSS will drive readiness sustainment across Naval Aviation, but the initial focus is on the strike fighter community, and the goal of achieving 80-percent mission capable (MC) rates across deploying squadrons. The NAE is using a data-driven approach to analyze the best path to achieve the 80-percent goal by Oct. 1, the deadline given by the Secretary of Defense.

“We need to look at all of our MC degraders, including our maintenance planning process. We need a maintenance plan designed to keep aircraft in the air,” said Vice Adm. Dean Peters, Commander, Naval Air Systems Command.

Coming together for NPS’s Strategic Planning for Execution, Assessment and Risk (SPEAR) workshop was an opportunity for NSS pillar leads to share data and metrics and meet face-to-face. 

“We never got those pillar leads together — until now,” said Vice Adm. DeWolfe H. Miller III, Commander, Naval Air Forces.

“Coming here was a chance for us to better understand the interrelationship between the pillars and how together they drive what matters — our MC rates. After SPEAR, everybody understands the other pillars’ metrics, we’ve come up with ways to communicate across the pillars, and we’ve aligned ourselves,” Miller said. “There is greater trust between pillar leads, more trust, sense of purpose and more of a sense of urgency to help each other. It’s been pretty powerful.” 

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