The Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE) conducted its first Boots on the Ground (BoG) event of 2018 at Naval Base Ventura County, California, March 7.

Many of the flag and general officers who make up the NAE met with Sailors at the base's Fleet Readiness Center Southwest Det. Point Mugu, at an event that was designed to both bring high-level attention to readiness challenges and showcase the accomplishments of workers on site.

"All the Sailors were just so impressive, it just reinvigorates your confidence in our Navy," said Vice Adm. De Wolfe Miller, commander, Naval Air Forces. "To be here and interact with Sailors, it just pumps you up because they're so good."

The event got under way at the command's Power Plants workcenter, which was recently tasked with doubling its production of engines for fiscal year (FY) 18. Aviation Machinist's Mate 1st Class Ada Jurado presented the workcenter's challenges via storyboards, which included specific ways that leaders from the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force - all of whom were present as NAE representatives - could help bring about solutions.

"Having face-to-face communication with the folks, the process owners of all the things that are going on within the enterprise, is huge," said Air Force Brig. Gen. Linda Hurry, who, as commander of Defense Logistics Agency-Aviation, was attending her first BoG event. "The fact that folks who can actually make decisions are sitting side by side, and can look each other square, eyeball to eyeball, I thought it was a great opportunity."

NAE leaders also visited a brand-new composite shop, with Vice Adm. Miller and Rear Adm. Michael Zarkowski cutting the ribbon to make its debut official. The building will allow Sailors at Point Mugu to better support the Triton unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program, and includes curing ovens, a setup area, deep freezers for hazardous-material storage and a sanding booth.

The command tour included a stop at a workcenter dedicated to parts repair, where Aviation Structural Mechanic 2nd Class Jesus Mata laid out the need for newer parts and tools, as well as manpower. In spite of current constraints, workers have achieved success by refusing to simply discard parts to beyond-capable-maintenance (BCM) status. Their ingenuity has resulted in nearly $5 million of cost savings.

"We want to be able to show that off. That's a lot of good stuff that's going on," said Cmdr. Shannon Thompson, the detachment's officer in charge. "Other facilities aren't doing that. These Sailors' mindset is, before they BCM it, they say, 'How do we get to yes?'"

At the site's new Test Cell facility, NAE leaders got a firsthand look at how Sailors' creative thinking enabled them to fit an eight-blade propeller through a doorway measured to accommodate a four-blade model. And at the site's Support Equipment workcenter, Aviation Support Equipment Technician 1st Class Maria Ancho, who earlier in the day had been presented with an NAE Excellence Award, showed how a new approach to corrosion control could lead to prolonging the life of parts and equipment.

The NAE team also toured the flight line, getting a firsthand look at E-2C aircraft attached to Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 115, which recently relocated to Point Mugu from Japan. Crews are facing a huge challenge in turning around two planes with major maintenance issues that have kept them grounded for years, but their hard work made an impact on their visitors.

"I was very impressed with VAW 115, and the significant Herculean effort that those maintainers are doing, building those two aircraft," said Rear Adm. Duke Heinz, who leads Naval Supply System Command-Weapon Systems Support. "We've got the same effort, except it's 125 long-term down aircraft at [Naval Air Station] Lemoore. So another opportunity for the enterprise to learn collectively and apply those lessons."

By the time the event had ended, NAE leaders had already fixed some of the issues raised, and generated and assigned action items for others that could not be handled on the spot. Vice Adm. Miller, who was attending his first BoG event since becoming the Navy's "Air Boss" in January, was pleased, but not surprised, by what was accomplished.

"Because we had the right people here, we were able to fix some problems, and then take others for action that we'll work on," he said. "And that is the whole idea of pushing away from your desk, getting boots on ground, and seeing and observing. So now I see why the Boots on the Ground program has had the reputation it's had. I'm leaving here very pleased with what we accomplished, but even more excited with some of the challenges that we're going to bring back and work."

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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