Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. John Richardson and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) Mike Stevens visited facilities at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Md. and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine Jan. 13.
Following an all-hands call at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) at NAS Patuxent River, Richardson and Stevens got an opportunity to get a firsthand look the latest aviation projects under development, including the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, the F-35C Lightning II joint strike fighter, and the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS).
CNO thanked an audience of Sailors, Navy Civilians and contractors for their efforts in charting the future of Naval Aviation. “We need to connect creativity with production,” said Richardson . “We need to remove bureaucracy and allow us to be faster – to get great ideas into the fleet. NAVAIR does that. It’s in your DNA. There is just a tremendous amount of creativity here,” Richardson said.
Following the morning a Pax River, Richardson and Stevens travelled to Bath, Maine to tour the future USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000), and receive an overview of Bath Iron Works shipyard.
“There is so much going on between the Navy and Bath,” said Richardson . “You only have to look to the headlines to understand the impact our shipbuilders have on our national security.”