Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE) leadership named U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. David Smay a winner of the Outstanding Performance Award during an NAE Air Board video teleconference, Oct. 13.

Smay was recognized for his role as the Air Vehicle A-D Integrated Product Team lead for the F/A-18 and EA-18G, which manages more than 1,600 domestic and international aircraft.

Smay's work was crucial to the overall effort to reduce the backlog of F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet aircraft, according to the letter of appreciation signed by Vice Adm. David Dunaway, former Commander, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).

"You set the standard in the management of aircraft Out of Reporting (OOR) to maximize fleet readiness at minimal cost," Dunaway said. "Your commitment to fully mitigating current and future readiness challenges, despite significant enterprise engineering, production and material constraints, is supremely important to the health of Naval Aviation."

Since Smay assumed his current role in November 2014, he has established and led many NAE initiatives, including the establishment of an execution team to reduce F/A-18 A-D in OOR status by better understanding the comprehensive life cycle support constraints at the depot level, according to the letter of appreciation. As a result of these efforts, an average of 23 fewer aircraft have ended up in "work stop" for material and engineering requirements across all the Fleet Readiness Centers.

Smay's leadership has also contributed to the successful execution of a $1.7 billion Service Life Extension Program to extend the service life of 621 F/A-18 A-D aircraft beyond 8,000 flight hours.

Smay said he was honored to accept the award and acknowledged that the award reflects not only his work but also the efforts of his team.

"This award wasn't really written for me; it was written for the entire team of people across the enterprise that I am fortunate enough to work with," Smay said. "I have worked on many different programs in my career, but the level of focus, talent and energy that is being brought to bear on solving the F/A-18 Out of Reporting problem today is truly amazing."

For Smay, it is important for Sailors and Marines at the deckplates and flight lines to understand that stakeholders across the Naval Aviation Enterprise are working to support them.

"For the folks in the fleet - of whom I was one myself not too long ago - please understand that there are a lot of people behind the scenes within NAVAIR and the other related support commands (like Naval Supply Systems Command and Defense Logistics Agency) that are working extremely hard on your behalf," Smay said. "They are proud of the fact that they are supporting you, they know what challenges you face - including many that you are not aware of - and they work very hard to make things better for you."

The NAE Air Board, composed of leaders partnering to pursue the best interests of Naval Aviation, recognizes typically one Sailor, Marine or civilian employee each month for his or her outstanding enterprise-centric contributions to Naval Aviation.

Award winners serve as positive examples of the enterprise approach at work. They routinely illustrate a commitment to the NAE principles of process improvement, a willingness to challenge assumptions, a focus on effectiveness and efficiency and a commitment to the greater good of Naval Aviation.

Naval Aviation leaders have distributed the monthly NAE Outstanding Performance Award since 2008 to promote a culture of cost-wise readiness.

For a full listing of monthly award winners since 2008, visit www.nae.navy.mil.

For more information, contact the NAE at nae@navy.mil.