VCNO Discusses Readiness and Lethality with West Coast Commands

30 April 2021

From Vice Chief of Naval Operations Public Affairs

WASHINGTON - Adm. Bill Lescher, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, visited multiple commands in the western U.S. this week to engage with the fleet on readiness and lethality topics spanning a number of functional areas.

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Vice Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. William K. Lescher visits Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) for a round table discussion.

SLIDESHOW | images | 210429-N-NH199-1015 SAN DIEGO (April 29, 2021) Vice Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. William K. Lescher visits Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) for a round table discussion. Lescher's visit with NMCSD's Mental Health department is one of two visits to a Military Treatment Facility (MTF) to discuss mental health. NMCSD's number one priority is providing the safest, highest quality patient-centered medical care for our veterans, service members and their families. NMCSD is committed to operational readiness, outstanding customer service and always delivering world-class health care. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Harley K. Sarmiento)

BREMERTON, Wash. – Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Bill Lescher, visited Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility, April 27, 2021, to tour PSNS & IMF facilities and discuss how the Public Shipyard Improvement Planand the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program will enable PSNS & IMF to fully support the Navy the nation needs.(U.S. Navy photo by Wendy Hallmark)

SLIDESHOW | images | 210427-N-GD259-002 BREMERTON, Wash.(April 27, 2021) Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Bill Lescher, visited Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility, April 27, 2021, to tour PSNS & IMF facilities and discuss how the Public Shipyard Improvement Plan and the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program will enable PSNS & IMF to fully support the Navy the nation needs. (U.S. Navy photo by Wendy Hallmark)

SLIDESHOW | images | 210427-N-GD259-005 BREMERTON, Wash. (April 27, 2021) Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Bill Lescher, visited Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility, April 27, 2021, to tour PSNS & IMF facilities and discuss how the Public Shipyard Improvement Plan and the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program will enable PSNS & IMF to fully support the Navy the nation needs. (U.S. Navy photo by Wendy Hallmark)

Cmdr. Rob Patchin, commanding officer of Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Squadron (UUVRON) 1, explains the capabilities of a Razorback unmanned undersea vehicle to Capt. Lincoln Reifsteck.

SLIDESHOW | images | 210427-N-CE703-0039 KEYPORT, Wash. (April 27, 2021) Cmdr. Rob Patchin, commanding officer of Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Squadron (UUVRON) 1, explains the capabilities of a Razorback unmanned undersea vehicle to Capt. Lincoln Reifsteck, commodore of Submarine Development Squadron (COMSUBDEVRON) 5, and Adm. Bill Lescher, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, during a visit to Naval Undersea Warfare Center Keyport, Washington, April 27, 2021. Lescher visited multiple commands in the Northwest region including Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor. (U.S Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ian Zagrocki)

Cmdr. Rob Patchin, commanding officer of Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Squadron (UUVRON) 1, demonstrates battery endurance of a small-class unmanned undersea vehicle to Capt. Lincoln Reifsteck.

SLIDESHOW | images | 210427-N-CE703-0026 KEYPORT, Wash. (April 27, 2021) Cmdr. Rob Patchin, commanding officer of Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Squadron (UUVRON) 1, demonstrates battery endurance of a small-class unmanned undersea vehicle to Capt. Lincoln Reifsteck, commodore of Submarine Development Squadron (COMSUBDEVRON) 5, and Adm. Bill Lescher, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, during a visit to Naval Undersea Warfare Center Keyport, Washington, April 27, 2021. Lescher visited multiple commands in the Northwest region including Naval air station Whidbey Island and Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor. (U.S Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ian Zagrocki)

Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO), Adm. Bill Lescher, right, participates in a tactical operational flight training simulation with Lt. Zach Roecker, a Weapons and Tactics instructor assigned to the “Seahawks” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 41.

SLIDESHOW | images | 210429-N-EV253-1024 SAN DIEGO (Apr. 29, 2021) Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO), Adm. Bill Lescher, right, participates in a tactical operational flight training simulation with Lt. Zach Roecker, a Weapons and Tactics instructor assigned to the “Seahawks” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 41. VCNO visited multiple commands in California including the Naval Postgraduate School, Navy Medical Center San Diego, Naval Special Warfare, and Naval Air Forces. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Sara Eshleman)

Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO), Adm. Bill Lescher and Sailors assigned to the “Merlins” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 3 discuss mission capabilities of the MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter.

SLIDESHOW | images | 210429-N-EV253-1052 SAN DIEGO (Apr. 29, 2021) Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO), Adm. Bill Lescher, and Sailors assigned to the “Merlins” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 3 discuss mission capabilities of the MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter. VCNO visited multiple commands in California including the Naval Postgraduate School, Navy Medical Center San Diego, Naval Special Warfare, and Naval Air Forces. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Sara Eshleman)

Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO), Adm. Bill Lescher, is greeted by Capt. Dewon Chaney, commodore, Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Wing (center), Capt. Jeffrey Melody, commodore, Helicopter Maritime Strike Wing Pacific (left), and Capt. Edward Weiler, deputy commodore, Helicopter Sea Combat Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet (right) during a visit to Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI).

SLIDESHOW | images | 210429-N-EV253-1009 SAN DIEGO (Apr. 29, 2021) Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO), Adm. Bill Lescher, is greeted by Capt. Dewon Chaney, commodore, Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Wing (center), Capt. Jeffrey Melody, commodore, Helicopter Maritime Strike Wing Pacific (left), and Capt. Edward Weiler, deputy commodore, Helicopter Sea Combat Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet (right) during a visit to Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI). VCNO visited multiple commands in California including the Naval Postgraduate School, Navy Medical Center San Diego, Naval Special Warfare, and Naval Air Forces. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Sara Eshleman)

Admiral Bill Lescher, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, speaks with maintainers from Patrol Squadron (VP) 1 at Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island about their participation in the Maintenance Operation Center (MOC) Aircraft-on-Ground (AOG) Cell April 26, 2021.

SLIDESHOW | images | 210426-N-EX167-1082 OAK HARBOR, Wash. (April 26, 2021) Admiral Bill Lescher, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, speaks with maintainers from Patrol Squadron (VP) 1 at Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island about their participation in the Maintenance Operation Center (MOC) Aircraft-on-Ground (AOG) Cell April 26, 2021. Lescher visited multiple commands in the Northwest region including NAS Whidbey Island, Naval Station Everett, and Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Dylan Sharp)

Admiral Bill Lescher, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, talks with leadership from Patrol Squadron (VP) 1 at Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island on April 26, 2021.

SLIDESHOW | images | 210426-N-EX167-1032 OAK HARBOR, Wash. (April 26, 2021) Admiral Bill Lescher, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, talks with leadership from Patrol Squadron (VP) 1 at Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island on April 26, 2021. Lescher visited multiple commands in the Northwest region including NAS Whidbey Island, Naval Station Everett, and Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Dylan Sharp)

At every stop, Lescher thanked Sailors for their exceptional leadership through the challenge of COVID.

Aviation Maintenance

Lescher visited Patrol Squadron (VP) 1 and Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 139 at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington, and Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadrons (HSM) 35 and 49 at Naval Air Station North Island, California, where he spoke with maintainers about their strong progress in bringing increased velocity to aircraft repair.

He talked to maintainers about the Maintenance Operations Center / Aircraft on Ground (MOC/AOG) Cell best practices rolling out across the Naval Aviation Enterprise and its impact on maintenance turnaround times and the number of mission-capable aircraft. MOC/AOG spotlights and eliminates barriers keeping an aircraft from being mission capable.

“The MOC/AOG concept played a critical role in Naval Aviation’s F/A-18E/F and E/A-18G readiness recovery success,” said Lescher. “The Air Boss, Vice Adm. Kenneth Whitesell, is scaling MOC/AOG across naval aviation and we continue to see its impact in raising readiness.

Maintainers talked about how the MOC/AOG improved visibility into the supply chain, improved maintenance planning, and increased aircraft readiness.

At each location, Lescher also met with Wing leaders and Command Triads to hear their views on the most consequential barriers to be attacked in order for them to achieve their highest priority outcomes.

Shipyards

Lescher visited Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF) where he spoke with key managers and influencers in the yard about the process for accelerating improvement in the Navy’s ability to deliver aircraft carriers, ships and submarines on time to the fleet.

Lescher also had the opportunity to discuss how Naval Sea Systems Commander Vice Adm. Bill Galinis’ Public Shipyard Improvement Plan and the Navy Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP) will enable PSNS & IMF to better support the Navy’s future fleet.

“We are applying strong Navy learning, achieved through hard work in the Naval Sustainment System (NSS) Shipyards and Performance to Plan (P2P) programs, to reinforce strong leadership behaviors, make it easier for mechanics to do their work well, and bring velocity to improvement in the yards,” said Lescher.

Undersea

While at Naval Base Kitsap Keyport VCNO visited Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Squadron (UUVRON) 1 to talk with leaders about the quickening pace of learning taking place in autonomous undersea vehicle development and experimentation, and the role of this learning in the context of the Navy’s broader Unmanned Campaign Plan. UUVRON 1 is actively developing and testing new unmanned vehicle capabilities around the world.

NAS Fallon

Lescher visited the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center (NAWDC) at Naval Air Station (NAS) Fallon to discuss progress in advancing new concepts, tactics and training, and the power of fully integrated warfighting approaches that will be supported by the Integrated Training Facility (ITF) under construction. When fully operational, the ITF will provide an enhanced training venue to accelerate the development and reinforcement of advanced integrated carrier strike group (CSG) combat tactics that are driven by experimentation and strong analytic support to field high-confidence winning teams in high-end combat.

Installations

Installation leadership from NAS Fallon, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Naval Station Everett, and Naval Magazine Indian Island briefed Lescher about their efforts to improve installation resilience and plans for future infrastructure development. The base commanders outlined a broad scope of facility improvement and maintenance to enhance the resiliency of Navy installations.

Special Warfare

While in Southern California, Lescher visited the Silver Strand Training Complex at Naval Base Coronado to learn about Human Performance Optimization initiatives for Navy Special Warfare (NSW) Operators. This effort takes a holistic approach to personal wellness across the continuum of their Naval service, from before they arrive at initial training until they transition back to civilian life. Lescher and NSW leadership also discussed the strong pace of thinking and development associated with the NSW approach to Great Power Competition, and the substantial opportunities identified for consequential NSW contributions to the high-end fight.

Mental Health

VCNO met with the mental health teams in Naval Hospital Bremerton, Naval Medical Center San Diego, and Navy Special Warfare Center Coronado to discuss the latest approaches to force resilience and the critical role of mental health care in contributing to improving the Navy’s overall readiness.

“Getting bottom-up feedback from the fleet is extremely valuable, and enables us to understand best practices and accelerate progress in providing a comprehensive approach and continuum of mental health care across the Navy” said Lescher.

Topics discussed included destigmatizing help-seeking for mental health care, increases in demand for mental healthcare nationwide, new initiatives to optimize readiness, and providing continuing mental health resiliency training throughout a service member’s career.

Naval Postgraduate School

While at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) Lescher visited the NPS additive manufacturing (AM) lab, the Center for Cybersecurity and Cyber Operations, and the Center for Autonomous Vehicle Research (CAVR), with NPS students briefing their ongoing research-oriented to solve key operational problems.

“Today’s operational environment is growing in complexity,” said Lescher. “We are leveraging the thinking and creativity of the Navy’s future leaders to improve fleet readiness today and drive innovation that will improve our lethality and readiness for future combat.”

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