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Addressing existing technical deficiencies
Naval aviation is expensive ... very expensive. On the upper end, the cost per flight hour can be as high as $13,000 and on the lower end, it hovers at approximately $4,000 per hour.1 The Marine Corps is a forcein-readiness, and Marine Corps aviation must have a high state of aircraft readiness at all times. With our current fiscally constrained environment expected to continue for the foreseeable future, maintaining a high state of aircraft readiness is and will continue to be extremely challenging. Optimizing our logistics and ensuring the "biggest bang for our buck" is paramount if we will continue to be ready to answer our Nation's call. This optimization, essentially, is why the Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE) exists. The NAE's main mission is to "Advance and sustain Naval Aviation warfighting capabilities at an affordable cost ... today and in the future," which drives the need to constantly evaluate new methods to improve our current processes and leadership approaches.2 This article will highlight the merits of a new leadership approach, combining the 6002 aircraft maintenance officer (AMO) MOS and the 6602 aviation supply officer (ASO) MOS.
The NAE is based on a partnership of key naval aviation stakeholders from the Navy and the Marine Corps. The Enterprise framework brings together the many parts that make up naval aviation in order to foster better decision making that benefits naval aviation as a whole. By partnering in a collaborative manner, naval aviation is better able to produce warfighting readiness in the most cost-effective manner.
Of the multiple components of the NAE strategic model, this article will focus on the cost-wise current readiness component, which according to the NAE website, "drives actions to achieve required levels of future readiness at optimized cost." For each type/ model/series (TMS) of aircraft, a TMS team has been created consisting of fleet requirements, providers, and resource sponsors. In the Marine Corps, there are 13 Active and Reserve Marine aircraft groups (MAGs). Commanding officers from eight of them serve as TMS team leads which ultimately represent the fleet requirements.3 The COs of the Marine aviation logistics squadrons (MALS) supporting those MAGs serve as the logistics lead for the TMS teams. Providers include Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), Fleet...