Photo By Joseph Andes | Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) Commanding Officer James M. Belmont, right,...... read more read more
A state commission focused on supporting and expanding the role of North Carolina military installations recently honored a Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) Marine for his relentless pursuit of perfection in the military aviation industry.
Day in and day out, Military Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) Production Director Lt. Col. Jason B. Raper oversees the operations of the nearly 1,600 employees who staff the depot’s MRO Production Department. In this role, Raper has directly impacted flight line readiness for his fellow warfighters by developing metrics-based analytic tools that assist leaders in making data-driven decisions, thereby identifying and mitigating production barriers in an effort to deliver the highest quality products back to the fleet when they are most needed.
In recognition of his unparalleled leadership and drive for quality, the North Carolina Military Affairs Commission (NCMAC) named Raper the recipient of the North Carolina Defense Summit Resilience Award for Best Practice Excellence during the first-ever North Carolina Defense Summit, held in Raleigh.
“Jason’s leadership and strategic planning at FRC East have helped mold the Naval Aviation Enterprise into what it is today,” said FRCE Commanding Officer Capt. James M. Belmont. “His knowledge and abilities are matched only by his work ethic, and his reputation as a consummate professional precedes him as he continues to improve Naval Aviation.
“Jason’s stellar accomplishments are a testament to his drive and dedication to the mission and to his fellow aviators,” Belmont continued. “I was proud to recommend him for the award, and I’m so pleased the committee recognizes the excellence in him that we’re fortunate enough to see every day at FRC East.”
In one of Raper’s key initiatives, FRCE has used industry best practices to mine and analyze data, then turn that information into visualizations that provide real, usable insights to help leaders make data-driven decisions. Following several benchmarking trips to industry maintenance, repair and overhaul equivalents, Raper stood up a small team of project managers and developers who were able to use currently available applications to replicate the software and systems used in the private sector to manage and run facilities. Using existing platforms helped FRCE realized a significant cost avoidance, as private industry routinely invests millions of dollars to develop and maintain these information systems, Raper said.
The resulting tools can import information from more than 25 systems of record with the Naval Aviation Enterprise information technology infrastructure, turning information into visualizations that provide leaders with key performance indicators. The consolidation of information has equipped FRCE leadership from the shop floor to the command suite with the metrics needed to make data-driven decisions while monitoring daily production activities.
Armed with accurate and reliable data, and accounting for all facets of the production process including stakeholder support, Raper also encourages employees to “pressurize the system” by holding all stakeholders accountable to their defined roles and responsibilities.
“It is imperative that everyone clearly understands their role in the production machine and then execute to exacting detail their job – nothing more, nothing less,” Raper said.
Additionally, Raper’s vision of treating every artisan like a surgeon – providing them with ready access to the parts and tools they need to complete the job – has helped change the culture at FRCE, transitioning the logic of roles and responsibilities and emphasizing the importance of material support. This, in turn, drives improved execution planning from the depot’s production support groups. The results are clear: During Raper’s tenure as military production director, FRCE has repaired or overhauled 157 aircraft, 194 engines and modules, and 46,483 components, to date.
“The cultural change and clear understanding of roles, both internally and externally, has had immeasurable effects,” Raper noted. “The ability to utilize data visualizations to identify real-time production barriers with a clear understanding of the issue, who is ultimately responsible for resolving it, and when the resolution is needed has provided a dispatch report for work prioritization and a real-time measure of support group effectiveness.”
Efforts such as these have driven FRCE to meet or exceed maintenance turnaround time targets for aircraft, engines and components, all in the face of enormous external environmental pressures. These successes attracted attention from the summit’s awards committee, said NCMAC member Etteinne “ET” Mitchell.
“Lieutenant Colonel Raper leads a highly skilled team that has direct impact on Fleet readiness and our nation’s ability to respond to any crisis, anywhere. Put simply, FRC East keeps our armed forces’ aircraft in the air,” Mitchell said. “Despite Covid-19 shutdowns and extensive facility damage from Hurricane Florence, Lieutenant Colonel Raper ensured that FRC East exceeded its operation goals in extremely challenging circumstances.”
Raper is the inaugural winner of the North Carolina Defense Summit Resilience Award for Best Practice Excellence. The 2022 North Carolina Defense Summit was a joint effort between the NCMAC and the Association of Defense Communities, and the awards presented during the event were designed to recognize the unique “head and shoulders” leaders in North Carolina who are responsible for the armed forces’ ability to respond to national requirements, Mitchell said.
“North Carolina is not just home to multiple military installations; defense is North Carolina’s second-largest economic sector,” she explained. “Installation resilience was one of the summit’s key themes, and FRC East has certainly shown itself to be both resilient and nimble in responding to real-world requirements. In such a large pool of such gifted and dedicated professionals, it is indeed hard to select the winners, but Lieutenant Colonel Raper stands out as the best of the best.
“Only the best are assigned to FRC East; the depot is too important for the Navy and Marine Corps to assign anyone else,” Mitchell continued. “Lieutenant Colonel Raper received this North Carolina Defense Summit award because he is a standout leader who ensures FRC East will support the Fleet in the face of any challenge. He is a credit to the Marine Corps’ highest traditions of leadership, professionalism and dedication.”
Raper, who said he is humbled by the recognition, agreed that the importance of the depot’s mission is a driving factor in his desire to succeed.
“My commitment to reduce cost and produce a quality product on time is what drives my continuous need for process improvement,” he explained. “After all, we are a billion dollar business, and we need to have the tools and leadership in place to ensure FRC East is ready and able to serve as the depot source of repair on behalf of the fleet when a need arises.”
FRCE is North Carolina's largest maintenance, repair, overhaul and technical services provider, with more than 4,000 civilian, military and contract workers. Its annual revenue exceeds $1 billion. The depot provides service to the fleet while functioning as an integral part of the greater U.S. Navy; Naval Air Systems Command; and Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers.
| Date Taken: | 11.02.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 11.02.2022 10:25 |
| Story ID: | 432482 |
| Location: | CHERRY POINT, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 60 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, FRCE Marine earns recognition during North Carolina Defense Summit, by Heather Wilburn, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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