GC squad earns ‘Grampaw’ award

NORFOLK, Va. - Training Squadron (VT) 10 of NAS Pensacola, Fla., was chosen as the organization winner and Lt. Katherine Smisson of Command and Control Squadron (VAW) 121 the individual winner of the 2019 Grampaw Pettibone Award. The award recognizes individuals and organizations that contribute the most toward aviation safety through publications and media resources. VT-10 had innovative communications within the student Naval Flight Officers (NFO) it trains. Through required reading, crew resource management (CRM) training and its internal newsletter, the “Scratching Post,” show that is filled with lessons learned from activities on the ground and air. “It’s a kind of a ‘there I was, I was wrong and how I got it right’ later,” said VT-10 Safety Officer Lt. John Montana. “It’s how we overcome them and learn from them that’s important.” The squadron wants student-NFOs to understand the importance of safety. “We want them taking the lead in safety, so we bring them into safety decisions early on instead of holding their hands.” VT-10’s aviation safety officer said that communicating openly with student NFOs encourages them to speak up when they see something wrong. Smisson received the individual award for her article, “Pressurized into an Early Recovery,” describing a May 2019 over-pressurization event aboard an E-2D Hawkeye. Her narrative recounted a rare event during a flight in which a crew experienced over-pressurization, and how teamwork brought the five-person crew safely back aboard ship. The outcome of the article was a new Naval Aviation Training and Operating Procedures Standardization Manual (NATOPS) procedure to more quickly identify and respond to over-pressurization. The article will appear in the spring 2020 issue of Approach magazine. (Source: Naval Safety Center 05/15/20) https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=112973