{"id":26731,"date":"2018-09-24T18:25:35","date_gmt":"2018-09-24T18:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/24\/bullets-bold-blueprint-to-save-navy-aviation\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:27:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:27:18","slug":"bullets-bold-blueprint-to-save-navy-aviation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/09\/24\/bullets-bold-blueprint-to-save-navy-aviation\/","title":{"rendered":"Bullet\u2019s bold blueprint to save Navy aviation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s not every day that the man in charge of Navy aviation gets to meet a \u201cFrankenfighter,\u201d but that happened on Sept. 17 at Fleet Readiness Center Southwest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two decades ago, the depot on Naval Air Station North Island near San Diego likely would\u2019ve scrapped a heavily damaged Hornet strike fighter already past its prime, but an ongoing readiness crisis in carrier aviation changed all that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mechanics decided to try to salvage the mess by stitching two crumpled planes together and cannibalizing parts from a jigsaw puzzle of other junked jets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s taken more than two years and it\u2019s still not quite ready to fly but the fighter was close enough to completion that depot workers showed it to the commander of Naval Air Forces, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navy.mil\/navydata\/bios\/navybio.asp?bioID=639\" target=_blank>Vice Adm. DeWolfe Miller III<\/a> \u2013 a career strike pilot known to fellow aviators as \u201cBullet\u201d and pretty much everyone else in the Navy as \u201cAir Boss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And Miller hates the very idea of cannibalizing planes for parts, much less a \u201cFrankenfighter\u201d that\u2019s been fleshed out with borrowed bits of other jets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNext thing you know, you have an airplane that has no parts,\u201d Miller boomed at the recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tailhook.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">Tailhook Association<\/a> reunion in Reno. \u201cThey\u2019re called \u2018long-term down\u2019 airplanes. And we have created way too many of them throughout our Navy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If there\u2019s such a thing as an aircraft readiness war, Miller is leading the Navy\u2019s charge; the repair depot is its center of gravity; and the \u201cFrankenfighter\u201d is its unknown soldier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because it was pieced together, it doesn\u2019t even have an identification number like every other military jet.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/09\/11\/watchdog-report-the-latest-to-sound-alarm-over-military-aviation-readiness\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/20180723_FLP_MIL_04.JPG.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Watchdog report sounds alarm over military aviation readiness<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The report found most types of planes surveyed failed to meet availability goals.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How the Navy got so desperate for fighters that it would weld two wrecked Hornets together isn\u2019t a mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Testimony by military leaders and multiple reports from federal watchdog agencies detail how 17 grinding years of air missions over Afghanistan \u2015 then Iraq and Syria \u2015 drastically hiked the hours airplanes operated, wearing them out along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the first production F\/A-18A Hornet flew in 1980, the Pentagon estimated it would spend about 6,000 hours in the air before joining the scrapyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The wars and then long delays with the jet\u2019s stealthy replacement \u2015 the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/04\/03\/navy-fighter-squadron-begins-switch-to-the-f-35\/\" target=_blank>F-35C Lightning II joint strike fighter<\/a> \u2015 pushed the Navy to extend the lives of legacy Hornets to 10,000 flight hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then came deep defense spending cuts triggered by the so-called \u201cSequestration\u201d deal in 2011 between Capitol Hill and the White House, slashing military maintenance budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Between 2011 and 2016 the Navy\u2019s Hornet inventory slumped from 581 jets to 537.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And it hasn\u2019t been much better for other planes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Less than a year ago, the outgoing Air Boss, Vice Adm. Mike \u201cShoe\u201d Shoemaker, warned Congress that just a third of the Navy\u2019s 542 F\/A-18E\/F Super Hornets could \u201cfight tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Only half could even fly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A sobering September probe by the Government Accountability Office revealed similar problems with the Navy\u2019s E-2C Hawkeye Early Warning and Control Aircraft, their E-2D replacements and the C-2A Greyhound Logistics Aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By 2016, the typical Greyhound had flown for nearly three decades, piling up 10,117 hours. It suffered from worn out propeller systems and outer wing panels; a lack of depot and field maintenance personnel to repair them; and a shortage of parts because no one manufacturers the monoplanes anymore, according to GAO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Navy plans to replace its 27 remaining Greyhounds with 38 new tiltrotor V-22 Ospreys but that won\u2019t be completed until 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Navy\u2019s typical E-2C Hawkeye in 2016 was 16 years old, long past its planned service life. It still faces long delays inside repair depots, often because of an acute shortage of spare parts, GAO determined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On average only three years old, the E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes were experiencing faster failure rates than anticipated in 2016, largely because the avionics system proved too heavy for the airframe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While it\u2019s still in production, the E-2D also is plagued by too few spare parts, forcing depots to scavenge from other Hawkeyes, GAO found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe still have a long way to go,\u201d Naval Air Forces spokesman Cmdr. Ron Flanders told Navy Times. \u201cBut we\u2019re now at that point where we can say that there\u2019s light at the end of the tunnel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To learn how the service plans to fix its readiness woes, Navy Times followed the Air Boss to Reno, where carrier aviators at the Tailhook Association convention dish candidly every year about their challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In panel discussions and private powwows between Sept. 6 \u2013 9, Miller and the rest of the brass passionately vowed to end the era of the cannibalized jet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They\u2019re optimistic because the operational tempo in the Middle East and Afghanistan has waned. Federal funds are flowing again to the Navy\u2019s depleted maintenance coffers. And now Air Boss has a free hand to remedy aviation\u2019s woes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But it all starts with money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Overall Navy spending on all operations and maintenance is poised to reach $48.9 billion next year, $3.6 billion more than in 2018, according to a bill already passed by the House of Representatives and Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their legislation earmarks roughly $1.25 billion for the Navy\u2019s aircraft repair depots next year, $338 million more than lawmakers supplied in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About $644 million will go to airframe work, a jump of more than $155 million compared to what the Navy requested in 2106.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Engine maintenance will fetch $110 million more than in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And spending on aircraft components is expected to rise to $45 million next year, $13 million more than in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNow we must execute,\u201d said Rear Adm. Scott \u201cSatan\u201d Conn, the Air Warfare director at the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. \u201cWe all must recognize that Congress has gone out on a political limb to give us the money that we need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Conn told Tailhook aviators that the historic spending hikes were necessary \u201cto get out of the historical hole we are in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The man with the shovel is the Air Boss, Miller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBullet owns the recovery plan,\u201d said Vice Adm. Bill Lescher, the Navy\u2019s maestro at integrating capabilities and resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In June, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. William F. Moran fired off a Navy-wide memorandum reminding senior commanders that Air Boss will direct the resources to recover aviation readiness. It\u2019s not that Miller boasts more power than the seven previous Air Bosses, but he can bring more funding and staff attention to bear on the crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miller told Tailhook that \u201cthere is alignment and there is focus\u201d in his leadership team, plus a \u201csense of urgency about moving forward\u201d with a sole goal \u2015 \u201cmore up aircraft that can fight and win tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bullet\u2019s battle plan tackles the Super Hornet fleet first by extending the service lives of its oldest frames, revamping at least 40 fighters annually, initially focusing on the worst jets. But he doesn\u2019t want to stop there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3216\" height=\"2136\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NAVAIR1.JPG.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-55584\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NAVAIR1.JPG.jpg 3216w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NAVAIR1.JPG.jpg?resize=300,199 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NAVAIR1.JPG.jpg?resize=768,510 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NAVAIR1.JPG.jpg?resize=1024,680 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NAVAIR1.JPG.jpg?resize=1536,1020 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NAVAIR1.JPG.jpg?resize=2048,1360 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3216px) 100vw, 3216px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Naval Air Forces commander Vice Adm. DeWolfe Miller receives a brief on F\/A-18 Super Hornet actuators Sept. 17 inside Fleet Readiness Center Southwest\u2019s Building 472. (Christopher Nette\/Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miller and other leaders at Tailhook said that deeper changes are needed throughout Navy aviation to make sure readiness gains don\u2019t erode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re going to continue to buy our way out of this,\u201d Conn cautioned. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to track the processes and find the efficiencies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the helm of Naval Air Systems Command, Vice Adm. Dean Peters wants the service to better screen parts being designed long before they get bolted to a plane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe components on those aircraft are failing much sooner than they were predicted to, so we\u2019re not doing something correct in our design review process and the way we test and field aircraft,\u201d Peters said. \u201cWe have to do better at that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similar to Wal-Mart\u2019s \u201cjust-in-time\u201d delivery system, ongoing Navy efforts help to prevent overstocked parts but Peters believes the future might be 3D printing, with depots fabricating widgets on the spot instead of waiting for factories to make them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Depots print more than 100 types of parts now but they also need more manpower on shop floors for other repairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rear Adm. Michael Zarkowski, head of the Navy\u2019s Fleet Readiness Centers, told Tailhook aviators that he\u2019s hiring more than 1,100 skilled workers, logisticians and engineers to mend aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Navy has launched apprenticeship programs at three depots and will spend $230 million to revamp equipment and facilities nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two years ago, Zarkowski\u2019s repair shops fixed 450 aircraft of all types. That number climbed to 485 last year. It should hit 500 this year and 510 in 2019, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To help clear the backlog of seriously damaged or worn out aircraft, all West Coast fighter squadrons want to lean more on the new Naval Aviation Maintenance Center of Excellence at California\u2019s Naval Air Station Lemoore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The base\u2019s 16 fighter squadrons already haul their long-term \u201cdown\u201d jets here, freeing maintainers to focus on planes in their hangars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lemoore\u2019s replacement squadron once averaged between five to seven \u201cup\u201d aircraft out of 63, Miller said. By reconfiguring the squadron\u2019s size, pushing problem planes to the Center and having enough parts available for repairs, pilots now have at least 20 jets ready to fly every month, according to Miller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A special center for the East Coast is being planned to replicate the reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe know that this works,\u201d Miller said. \u201cWe just have to be disciplined and get after it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bullet\u2019s plan calls for 341 Super Hornets to be ready to \u201cfight tonight\u201d at any given time. Despite the Navy staying \u201claser focused\u201d on the Super Hornet fleet, however, the dismal numbers Shoemaker shared on Capitol Hill remain \u201cessentially unchanged,\u201d Naval Air Forces spokesman Flanders said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That number stood at 280 recently before plummeting to 266, but officials remain bullish on Bullet\u2019s blueprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou can\u2019t watch this like the Dow Jones or you\u2019ll drive yourself crazy looking at the numbers back and forth,\u201d Naval Air Systems Command\u2019s Peters said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But those reforms better work because even Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis concedes he doesn\u2019t know how long the Navy has to fix the readiness crisis before Congressional funding dries up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe secretary of defense could not be clearer that his priorities are about accelerating readiness recovery, restoring wholeness, increasing lethality,\u201d Vice Adm. Lescher said. \u201cHe\u2019s bringing a real sense of urgency to this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Air Boss is committed to ending the era of the 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By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bullet\u2019s bold blueprint to save Navy aviation - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Air Boss is committed to ending the era of the &#039;frankenfighter.&#039;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bullet\u2019s bold blueprint to save Navy aviation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Air Boss is committed to ending the era of the &#039;frankenfighter.&#039;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/09\/24\/bullets-bold-blueprint-to-save-navy-aviation\/\" \/>\n<meta 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