Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Atlantic named Eric Heinbach, P.E. its top engineer Oct. 10 for efforts supporting the command’s worldwide mission.

NAVFAC Atlantic Commander, Rear Adm. Darius Banaji, announced Heinbach as the 2019 NAVFAC Atlantic Engineer of the Year, calling him a catalyst within NAVFAC Atlantic’s Facilities Management Sustainment Product Line.

“Eric is a driving force for change in our Facilities Management and Sustainment Product Line,” said Banaji. “He has made significant process improvements to our preventative maintenance and service call programs and how our in-house shops forces function at the local Public Works Departments. These changes have had a profound impact for the hundreds of tenants at every one of our 71 Navy bases.”

Banaji also thanked Heinbach’s spouse Krisan for her support.

"His successes are her successes,” declared Banaji. “We expect a great deal more from our Naval engineers than a traditional engineering firm and Naval service is a team sport; Eric could not do what our Navy and Nation expects without her and his family's support." 

This selection places Heinbach in the running for consideration at NAVFAC Headquarters’ nominee for the Federal Engineer of the Year Award, placing him in competition against, in Banaji’s words, “the best of the best.” Sponsored by the Professional Engineers in Government, this honor is awarded to an engineer of a federal agency that employs at least 50 engineers worldwide.

Heinbach is a proven leader in the critical field of Facilities Engineering Management and a driving force within the NAVFAC Facilities Management & Sustainment (FM&S) Product Line.  He's made significant impact across the preventive maintenance, service calls, and in-house projects programs.

His influence is far-reaching on a global scale, as Heinbach leads international teams in identifying, analyzing, and implementing mobile technology advancements for efficient delivery of workload for military customers. He designed and communicated standardized methodology and tools to capture integrated priority workload, assisting Public Works Departments in communicating priorities to their installation commanding officers and ensuring alignment with the CNO’s Targeted Investment. 

Heinbach standardized rate structure and elements throughout the Maintenance and Repair commodity, which enabled increased transparency to supported commanders and enhanced analytic decision making in the Working Capital Fund Facilities Management and Sustainment Product Line. 

“Eric consistently integrates his experience from working in the field and his working knowledge of Public Works Departments (PWDs) with his engineering and business education to provide high quality solutions that have been leveraged across the entire NAVFAC enterprise,” said Don Alkire, Heinbach’s supervisor. “He combined his business acumen and facilities engineering principles to lead initiatives that supported complex resourcing discussions for PWDs in support of Navy installations throughout the world.”

In addition to his work for NAVFAC Atlantic, Heinbach has been certified as an Energy Manager by the Association of Energy Engineers and is a member of the Defense Acquisition Corps. He also served as a committee chairman, committee member and Cubmaster in the Boy Scouts of America, mentoring two Packs of Scouts between the ages of 5 and 11 while organizing adult volunteers supporting 60 boys. 

In reflecting on the award, Heinbach drew a parallel between the NAVFAC journey which led him to this recognition to that of another journey described by one of his favorite authors, J.R.R. Tolkien in “The Fellowship of the Ring.”

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door,” quoted Heinbach. “You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” 

Naval Facilities Engineering Command: The Facilities and Expeditionary Combat Systems Command:  NAVFAC is the Systems Command that delivers and maintains quality, sustainable facilities, acquires and manages capabilities for the Navy's expeditionary combat forces, provides contingency engineering response, and enables energy security and environmental stewardship. Additional updates and information about NAVFAC can be found on social media sites Facebook and Flickr. Become a fan at www.facebook.com/navfac, view our photo stream on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/navfac, and read Seabee Online at http://seabeemagazine.navylive.dodlive.mil/.  Follow the activities of NAVFAC Atlantic at www.facebook.com/navfacatlantic

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