RICHMOND, Va. –
Defense Logistics Agency Aviation employees gained insight into the operations of Fleet Readiness Center Southeast during a special all-hands Leadership Working Group forum June 4 at Defense Supply Center Richmond.
Although typically only open to supervisory employees, the officers of the LWG wanted to share with the greater Aviation audience what happens at the industrial support activities they support.
The FRCSE team, located in Jacksonville, Florida, presented “A View from the Customer” and provided a breakdown of FRCSE operations, including recent issues and solutions they’ve worked on. The senior leaders who participated in the presentation were Navy Capt. William A. Palmer, FRCSE commanding officer; Navy Capt. Michael Windom, executive officer; and Navy Cmdr. Curtis Ceaser, supply officer.
To kick off the presentation, Palmer explained the importance of the first slide, which read “We are FRCSE,” drawing attention to the term “we.”
“We … as in this whole room … if you’re contributing to our effort, I include you in the ‘we,’” he said. “At Southeast, whether it’s our organic federal employees or contracted support, our partnerships throughout the base, whether you're civilian and never wore a uniform or were one of our shipmates, it takes a village to meet our mission. We can’t do it by ourselves.”
Little more than a decade ago, the FRCSE had more employees than they do now, but they produced fewer products and services at a higher cost, drawing concern from the leaders at the time. They realized the center would be in a death spiral if it continued with no changes. Compounding that, aircraft downtime rates hovered around 50 percent, which was unacceptable to the leadership there.
The FRCSE brought in a consulting firm to guide their improvement process, and since then, they have improved aircraft downtime rates significantly and have shown success throughout the center.
During the presentation, the leadership team from FRCSE shared some of the steps taken to improve their center and answered questions from the audience and virtual participants.
Charlie Lilli, DLA Aviation deputy commander, thanked the group for attending and said it was a valuable introduction to one of Aviation’s primary customers.
“I believe that the readiness centers, our major depots – whether Navy or Air Force – are the heart and soul of service readiness,” he said. “It’s where readiness is actually built, where it’s created and where it’s sustained.”
The team across DLA Aviation is focused on getting the right parts, either by ordering or producing it themselves to get it on the shelves for customers, and Lilli said that every team member at Aviation would go above and beyond for its customers like the FRCSE to make sure they get the items they need.
The LWG intends to have additional presentations for the entire force to help educate the staff on what happens at the customer level.