Leadership

Staring From Scratch

Shantelle Overly

SLP 1

October 21, 2010

MKT 506

Fall Semester

Dr. Cook

Introduction

The US military has proven to be the leader in technology and strategy mainly because of the diversity and ingenuity of their people. The Navy, as a branch of this world leader has had to try new philosophies and endure the changes that have been brought about by these ideas. In 2008 the Maritime Patrol (P-3) Squadrons had learned of a new plan to consolidate maintenance personnel by removing them from the squadron concept to form a Consolidated Maintenance Organization (CMO).

Five squadrons would combine their maintenance departments and each of their 42 Naval Aviation Maintenance Plan (NAMP) programs into one functioning set of 42 safety of flight related programs. Each program would have a manger in charge, but which of the five managers that previously existed would be the selected manager and who would make that choice? Also how would the flow of communication be if there existed one skipper for each maintenance department in the past, yet now had one designated Officer In Charge (OIC), which brought into question who do I work for? It would not stop there, because if the managers were asking this question, the lower level maintenance personnel also needed to know whom they would work for.

In the Beginning

CMO came about based upon the new aircraft, the P-8 that would be replacing the older and fatiguing P-3 Orion airframe. The plan to eventually integrate civilian maintenance contractors to maintain the P-8 was the genesis of this consolidation of maintenance personnel and reason to pull them from the squadron concept. The aircrew and support personnel would remain intact with the squadron to carry out their required missions but with CMO as the maintenance support instead of an organic maintenance department, as before. The idea became reality in May 2008.(Navy Newsstand, 2008).

The Commodore...