NAVAIR Commander Vice Adm. David Venlet presents the Commander’s Award for Program Management to E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Program Management Team members Janice Zilch, Cmdr. Scott Porter, and Douglas Shaffer.

Venlet hosted the ceremony from the Rear Adm. William A. Moffett atrium (2272), along with NAWCAD Commander Rear Adm. Stephen Eastburg and Deputy Program Executive Officer PEO (A) Rear Adm. (Select) Paul Grosklags. NAWCWD Commander Rear Adm. David Dunaway joined the ceremony from Pt. Mugu, Calif., by video teleconference, along with other participants from all major NAVAIR sites.

‘‘This is our mission,” Venlet told the gathering. ‘‘Sailors and Marines armed with confidence because arming them is what we do. In their shadow, we provide war fighting capability and reliability which allows our technical, business and leadership excellence to shine — through them.”

“When you hear a 19-year-old Sailor say thank you because from your office, your lab or your test range, you made her job in the fleet a little easier — it’s worth it,” he said. ‘‘What you do for naval aviation melds into the precious mettle of America’s defense.”

Awards were presented in five categories: business operations; industrial operations; program management; research, development, testing and evaluation⁄science and technology; logistics and industrial; and quality of service.

The Naval Air Technical Data and Engineering Service (NATEC) won in the business operations category.

The team’s efforts over the last year focused on transforming technical support, technical data delivery, delivery processes and delivery infrastructure, as well as regionalizing technical support.

The NATEC team improved processes to eliminate 20 million duplicate aperture cards, allowing the team to reduce storage costs. The team also reduced cycle time for technical directives by more than half.

The award for logistics and industrial operations went to the Maintenance and Supply Integration Performance Improvement Team.

This team trained and mentored more than 3,500 fleet Sailors and Marines in continuous process improvement tools, institutionalizing business best practices and creating a culture of cost-wise readiness within the fleet.

The team’s work enabled maintenance and supply systems to effectively meet the demand of operational squadrons with fewer resources.

The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Program Management Team received the Commander’s National Award for program management.

The team achieved first flight within two days of the integrated master schedule and subsequent flights within the next four months. The team decreased the estimate to complete the program by $97 million over prior years, a NAVAIR first for a mature program.

The PMA-202 Helicopter Egress System for Passengers (HESP) team won the quality of service⁄customer service award. The HESP includes a flotation device, a self-contained breathing device, a mobile refill stations, tools, support equipment and training units for use by all helicopters in the Navy and Marine Corps fleet.

The team delivered products six months ahead of schedule and saved more than $8 million in procurement. The team’s improvements in reliability and program sustainment are expected to yield an additional annual savings of $1.87 million and 30,000 man hours.

The final award, in the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation⁄ Science and Technology category, went to the EA-18G Integrated Product Team for ‘‘exemplifying sound engineering and acquisition” and successfully managing ‘‘cost, schedule and performance,” according to the award citation.

The team saved approximately $200 million in acquisition costs by minimizing the aircraft’s logistics footprint ashore and afloat. The team also partnered with industry and incorporated lessons learned from the F⁄A-18 program to deliver the first production Growler ahead of schedule and within budget.

During the ceremony, Venlet also presented the Edward Heinemann award from the Association of Naval Aviation to Adolph Ragghianti.

The award cited Ragghianti’s identification of a ‘‘series limited cycle oscillation program with the proposed VH-71 increment 1 tail rotor design.” He worked as part of the NAVAIR structures engineering team to prove the flaw and change the design, ensuring aircraft and personnel safety.

The T. Michael Fish award for commitment to improving the quality of work life at NAVAIR went to Robert Hanley, AIR-4.0P. The award was presented by Fish himself, former head of NAVAIR’s Research and Engineering Staff Office.

Other NAVAIR teams nominated for Commander’s Awards are: