The Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE) conducted its first Boots on the Ground (BoG) event of 2019 at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) aboard Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., June 6.

BoG is an event designed to bring high-level attention and experience to readiness challenges and also showcase the accomplishments of workers on site. Many of the flag and general officers, and senior executive service who make up the NAE met with artisans and leaders, interacting with them at multiple work sites.

“We have a lot of expertise here at this event,” said Vice Adm. DeWolfe Miller, Commander, Naval Air Forces. People who can make change; it’s an opportunity to make things better.”

The BoG event got under way at FRCSE, as Bruce Crooke presented success stories he was able to implement here, following a three-month trip to FRC West at Naval Air Station Lemoore, where they began applying the concepts of the Naval Sustainment System (NSS) in fall of 2019.

“Having spent three months at Lemoore, I learned about NSS firsthand,” said Crooke. “Applying those principles and implementing changes on the product line conveyed the processes and the successes.”

The goal of FRC reform efforts is to create elite-level organic facilities, adopting proven commercial practices to maximize quality and cost efficiency while minimizing cycle times.

“We are able to put the right people on the right jobs, and all the leads from support groups indicate what needs to be accomplished each day,” Crooke continued. “Every member of the team knows what’s going on, and early indications are that we’re keeping pace.”

Although the NSS hasn’t officially been launched at FRCSE, getting ahead has quickly become a command priority.

"NSS Is clearly benefitting every type, model and series; I was duly impressed with the culture here," said Bill Taylor, assistant deputy commandant for aviation, Headquarters Marine Corps. “They rally around the objective right down to the last artisan, they understand the mission, and they have already embraced the NSS initiative.”

Miller, the Navy’s “Air Boss” closed the event by emphasizing what it takes to make NSS and a return to readiness in naval aviation a success.

“We can do it; we trust each other and we drive results,” he said. “Events like this validate the discoveries we gain from it.”

The Naval Aviation Enterprise is a cooperative partnership of naval aviation stakeholders focused on sustaining required current readiness and advancing future warfighting capabilities at best possible cost. It is comprised of Sailors, Marines, civilians and contractors from across service branches and organizations, working together to identify and resolve readiness barriers and warfighting degraders.

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