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News | May 22, 2020

Virtual ceremony ensures real-world operations continue

By Navy Cdr. Gabriel Hohner, DCMA AIMO

The Defense Contract Management Agency’s Aircraft Integrated Maintenance Operations contract management office held a virtual change of command, retirement, and command establishment ceremony in March at Northrop Grumman’s Aircraft Integration Center of Excellence here.

Due to the travel restrictions imposed by the ongoing pandemic, the ceremony was conducted via video teleconference.

DCMA Director, Navy Vice Adm. David Lewis, served as the ceremony’s presiding officer, as Navy Capt. Jeffrey Carty to relieve Navy Capt. Shane Tallant as the AIMO commanding officer. Tallant retired after 27 years of distinguished service in the Navy.

Concurrently, an abbreviated flag casing ceremony was conducted and the AIMO command flag was presented, signifying its establishment as an operational unit within the agency.

“The formal establishment of AIMO command as an operational unit within DCMA means that we are the recognized subject matter experts for aircraft overhaul, modification and major repair activities across the agency,” said Carty during the ceremony. “We will continue to execute our mission, engaging with our DCMA teammates, service customers and industry counterparts to deliver quality aircraft to the warfighter, safely and effectively.”

It is a mission setup for continued success by its previous commander. During Tallant’s tenure, AIMO saw significant workload growth at the command’s seven CMOs located in Eglin, Florida; Greenville, South Carolina; Greenville, Texas; Melbourne, Florida; Oklahoma City; St. Augustine, Florida; and San Antonio.

AIMO is a product-aligned unit focused on aircraft modification, repair and overhaul. The office touches nearly every platform in the Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Air Force inventory. Under Tallant’s leadership, his team aggressively pursued excellence in the execution of its mission, which ultimately led to winning the 2018 Director’s Cup award. This was the second time in seven years AIMO achieved the recognition.

Carty comes to AIMO from a tour at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, where he was the military director for Air Vehicle Engineering, and the executive director of operations for the Research and Engineering Group at the Naval Air Systems Command.

He previously commanded DCMA Northrop Grumman Bethpage, New York, followed by a tour at the agency headquarters in Fort Lee, Virginia, as the executive director of Aircraft Operations. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Naval Postgraduate School, and U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. As an S-3B qualified naval flight officer, he completed two operational tours with VS-32 in Jacksonville, Florida, and deployed aboard the USS George Washington, John F. Kennedy and Enterprise.

As COVID-19 continues to impede the normal activities across the globe, DCMA plans to hold more ceremonies virtually to insure mission support.