Changing Hands
FACSFAC lax/ VP-16 Get New Leaders
 Page 3


Serving The Fleet
 AIMD Jax Keeps Warfighters Ready
 Pages 8-9


 Save A Life
Bone Marrow Registration Drive
 Page 11


THURSDAY, MARCH


www.jaxairnews.com


17, 2005


TOUHING Boots hit the ground at NAS Jax
 By101 Mike England and the sea wall before head-
 Assistant Editor ing over to the galley for
 lunch. The BOG team then


 Reminder!
 Anyone visiting Building
1 is reminded that there is
limited visitor parking. This
parking area is marked
with signs in the parking
lot. All other parking areas
are for those personnel
working in Building 1 who
have an orange placard
designating them a park-
ing space. This placard
must be visible in their
vehicle. There is also a
designated parking area
specifically for government
vehicles. Tickets will be
issued for those who park
illegally in designated
parking areas.

 Celebrate
 women's history
 The NAS Jacksonville
Multi-Cultural Awareness
Committee is hosting a
Women's History
Observance March 23 at
the All Saints Chapel at 11
a.m. Jacksonville City
Council Chairwoman
Elaine Brown will be the
guest speaker. Everyone
is also invited to have
lunch with Brown at the
galley after the program.
For more information, call
JO1 Mike England at 542-
4877.


 The sixth annual Jack-
sonville Acquisition Excel-
lence Conference and
Trade Show, hosted by the
Jacksonville naval commu-
nity, will take place at the
University of North Flori-
da's University Center on
April 13-14. The theme for
this year's conference is
"Transformation: The Pur-
suit of Excellence through
Joint Capabilities.:'
 Dave Carey, acclaimed
motivational speaker and
author, will kick-off the
event. Director of Defense
Procurement and Acqui-
sition Policy, Deidre Lee, is
the keynote speaker. This
two-day conference pro-
vides a one-stop educa-
tional opportunity for gov-
ernment and industry per-
sonnel to exchange the
most up-to-date informa-
tion on technical innova-
tions in program manage-
ment, logistics, engineer-
ing, contracting, and budg-
eting through a number of
classes on both days.
 Department of Defense
acquisition workforce
members will receive 16
continuous learning points
for participating in both
days of the event. For in-
formation and registration,
go to www.acqconf.com.


 Uniform shift
 The shift to summer uni-
forms for all personnel in
the Commander, Navy
Region Southeast area of
responsibility is April 4.
The uniform of the day will
be: service dress whites,
summer whites or service
khakis for officers and
chief petty officers and
service dress whites or
summer whites for E6 and
below.


Key leadership from
 the Naval Aviation
 Readiness Integra-
ted Improvement Program
(NAVRIIP) toured facilities
at NAS Jacksonville March
9 as part of the Navy "Boots
on the Ground" (BOG) proj-
ect.
 Flag officers attending
the tour included Rear
Adm. Wally Massenburg,
Naval Air Systems Com-
mand (NAVAIR) assistant
commander for Logistics,
Rear Adm. Michael Roes-
ner, commander, Naval In-
ventory Control Point and
Rear Adm. Peter Williams,
NAVAIR assistant com-
mander for Industrial Op-
erations.
 The distinguished visitors
began their tour at the
Aircraft Intermediate Main-
tenance Detachment (AIMD),
where they received firsthand
accounts of readiness prob-
lems from military and civil-
ian maintainers. The team
reviewed the S-3B Flight
Control Systems leading edge
flaps and associated struc-
tures, the H-60 Automatic
Flight Control System, and
the S-3B AN/APS-137 Radar
System. The tour continued
with stops at the aviation
support detachment, VP-161


headed to VP-30 hangar for a
tour of the flight line before
concluding their tour with a
social at the T-Bar.
 "These Sailors deserve
everything we can possibly
get to them," explained
Massenburg. "What we've
failed to do in the past 10
years is to get them the
tools. This is part of what
we want to do here with the
BOG project."
 Each of the admirals has
a leadership role as a part
of the Naval Aviation
Readiness Improvement
Team (NAVRIT). NAVRIT
is a cross-Navy implemen-
tation team directing
NAVRIIP, a systemic ap-
proach to improving naval
aviation non-deployed
readiness through integrat-
ed requirements, supplier
and budget solutions.
 "BOG is a product that
delivers many attributes to
improve non-deployed
readiness. It gives the type
wing commodore another
strong, cross-functional tool
to manage and optimize
available resources,"
Massenburg said. It sup-
ports the fleet and is exact-
ly why this is such an excit-
ing opportunity for us all."
 The NAVRIIP program


 Photo by PH2 Greg Hathaway
(From left) Rear Adm. Michael Roesner listens as AT1 (AW/SW) David Covington explains the
processes involved in getting a piece of equipment repaired and back into an aircraft March 9
at the Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Detachment, Jacksonville.


began in August 2001 when
the Chief of Naval Opera-
tions tasked Commander,
Naval Air Forces Pacific
with the responsibility for
overseeing all of naval avia-


tion. This responsibility
includes implementing a
comprehensive program to
make fundamental process
changes in the way the
Navy provides manpower,


By Miriam S. Gallet
Editor


ore than 60 runners from various commands )
 aboard NAS Jacksonville joined runners from
 all over the world, including six Olympians, in "
this year's 15K Gate River Run. ^,


 The annual
event began
with a bang at
8:30 a.m. last
Saturday and
took the 9,269
participants
through old
neighborhoods,
along the St.
Johns River
and for those
who were fortli-
nate enough to
complete the
race, to the top
of the Hart
Bridge, where
they had a sce-
nic view of
downtown
Jacksonville.


 Photos by Miriam S. Gallet
NAS Jax Morale Welfare and
Recreation Fitness Instructor Cecille
"Cici" Hartsell stretches her legs a few
minutes before the start of the race.
"Stretching before beginning any athletic
activities is the best way to prevent
injuries," said Hartsell.


Some ran with local news anchor Donna Hicken in
 See RIVER RUN, Page 14


AFCM(AW) Pedro Donate and his wife, Miriam, do a light
jog around the Jacksonville Expo Center prior to the
beginning of the annual 15K Gate River Run Saturday.


Inspector general to visit NAS Jax


From staff
Naval Inspector General (NAVINS-
 GEN) Vice Adm..Ronald Route will
 visit NAS Jacksonville, NS Mayport
and NSB Kings Bay, Ga. April 5-22 to review
a wide range of areas, including mission
readiness, fleet support, work environment,
training quality of life programs, facilities
and environmental management.
 An advance team will visit each of the
three installations April 5-8 to conduct mili-
tary and federal civilian employee focus
groups. As part of the preparation for the

 See IG, Page 14


 Take the survey by today!
 All military, civilian and contractor personnel aboard
NAS Jax are reminded to please go online and take the
anonymous survey on the Navy IG Web site -
http://www.ig.navy.mil/southeastregion.htm. This sur-
vey is very valuable to the Navy IG in determining
what's going well in support to the fleet and tenants
and what needs improving. During the week of April 5-
8, Navy IG will hold focus groups meetings here with
Sailors and civilians in all paygrades/ranks.


equipment and training-to
stateside naval aviation
commands between deploy-
ments.

 See BOG, Page 14


North Gate now

open to only

commercial

inbound traffic

From the NAS lax Security
Department
Last Saturday, the NAS
 Jacksonville Commercial
 Gate was officially closed
 to all privately owned vehicles
 (POVs). There is a two-week
 grace period underway for peo-
 ple to get used to this change.
 During this period, drivers
 will be informed that they are
 not to use the Commercial Gate
 in the future. POVs can still exit
 the base through the
 Commercial Gate during its
 hours of operation, but due to
 staffing and traffic require-
 ments, those times are restrict-
 ed to 4:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday
 to Friday. The gate is closed
 weekends and holidays.
 During the construction phase
 of Birmingham and Yorktown
 Gates, POVs had access to the
 Commercial Gate to expedite
 the traffic flow into the station,
 especially during peak hours.
 With the changes made to
 Birmingham Avenue and with
 the way the new gates are con-
 figured, those accommodations
 are no longer needed.
 The Commercial Gate is
 designed to accommodate Base
 Security's need to search the com-
 mercial trucks and evaluate the
 driver's paperwork. It is a slow
 process that requires personnel to
 walk back and forth from their
 vehicles to the guard house and
 back without the threat of POVs
 trying to move quickly through
 the gate. The gate's closure to
inbound POV's will allow security
personnel to perform their job of
keeping you and the base safe
from terrorists, while providing a
safe location for both themselves
and the drivers of the commercial
vehicles who make deliveries to
the station.


d7:7~~t ~ $-.-.


Sailors, civilians


 Acquisition f
 conference and face nOtOriOuS
trade show coming .


Axrceltl IVIlulls ter -