More than 70 of the Navy's senior aviation commanders gathered at the Admiral Kidd Catering & Conference Center May 19-20 to participate in the O-6 Commanders' Training Symposium hosted by Commander, Naval Air Forces (CNAF).

The event featured discussions on a wide range of topics, including fleet-wide talent management initiatives and the current and future state of Naval Aviation.

Senior leaders from CNAF's carrier air wings, type wings, aircraft carriers, and naval air installations were in attendance.

The conference follows the recent Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) announcement May 13 regarding talent management initiatives, including changes to the Navy and Marine Corps culture of fitness, uniforms, adaptive workforce and performance based advancement.

Capt. Dan Dwyer, director, Aviation Officer Distribution, Navy Personnel Command (PERS-43), spoke about talent and community management changes for Naval Aviation.

"What we've always known is that the way we recruit, develop, retain, and promote Sailors is critical to our success," said Dwyer. "With the SECNAV's new initiative, the Navy is now allocating its personnel assets and modernizing a system to impact the training pipeline, manpower distribution and overall structure."

"We are now implementing the analyzed data and tailoring our programs to be more sufficient in the distribution of personnel in the naval aviation community," continued Dwyer.

Assistant Commander of Navy Personnel Command Rear Adm. Kenneth R. Whitesell offered his views on why the Navy has focused on strategic talent management and workforce planning.

"In 2013, the Navy was able to reverse the downward spiral of manning," said Whitesell. "With our retention at its highest, the opportunity has presented itself for us to review and update our strategic talent priorities. Many of these ideas have been around for years but lack the available technology of today to implement them."

The Navy is adopting methods, such as expanding the Career Intermission Program, providing for more fluid transition from the active duty force to the Reserves, revising the performance evaluation system, expanding education opportunities, and much more.

"This is an important revision to our current system that better supports talent identification and allows Sailors to maximize their talent and options through the use of a transparent, incentivized detailing and flexible personnel management policy," said Whitesell.

For more information on Commander, Naval Air Forces, visit http://www.navy.mil/local/airpac/.