Tag Archives: Mission Capable

Mission Capable: How More Ready Jets Is Helping the Navy Create Deadlier Pilots

Mission Capable: How More Ready Jets Is Helping the Navy Create Deadlier Pilots

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Sailors inspect an F/A-18E Super Hornet, assigned to the ‘Blue Diamonds’ of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 146, on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) on March 23, 2020. US Navy Photo

This post is the second in a two-part series on the naval aviation community’s effort to build better readiness and how that is changing the future of naval aviation.

“It was, quite frankly, a little scary.”

In 2015, Rear Adm. Rich Brophy was a captain who had just taken command of Carrier Air Wing 9 and was trying to usher the unit through pre-deployment training, while sitting at the bottom of a bathtub in naval aviation readiness. Read More →

Mission Capable: How the Navy Harnessed Its Data to Achieve 80% Fighter Readiness

Mission Capable: How the Navy Harnessed Its Data to Achieve 80% Fighter Readiness

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Vice Adm. DeWolfe Miller III, commander of Naval Air Forces, addresses T-34C Turbo Mentor aircraft maintainers and midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy at Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI) before taking a flight with Lt. Jason “JB” Ely of Strike Fighter Squadron 122 (VFA-122) on Aug. 6, 2019. US Navy photo.

This post is the first in a two-part series on the naval aviation community’s effort to build better readiness and how that is changing the future of naval aviation.

This post has been updated to note that the readiness push resulted in 90 more mission capable Super Hornets in March and 340 more aircraft overall compared to the same time last year.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – “I love data, it’s just awesome.”

When Commander of Naval Air Forces (CNAF) Vice Adm. DeWolfe Miller took command in January 2018, years of tight budgets had robbed the naval aviation community of maintenance and spare parts funds, leaving some squadrons with just enough flyable aircraft to keep their pilots qualified but not enough to do any kind of sophisticated training. Read More →