Indy nominated for SECDEF
Maintenance Award

For the second straight year, Independence has been nominated for both the Secretary of Defense Phoenix Award and the Department of Defense Maintenance Awards.

The nomination was sent to the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet (CINCPACFLT) by Commander, Naval Air Forces, Pacific (CNAP), and marks the first time that an aircraft carrier has been nominated in consecutive years.

Seaman Anthony Phan performs maintenance on a refueling probe aboard the USS Independence (CV 62). Independence is forward deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Southern Watch. Photo by U. S. Navy Photographer's Mate Airman Dale Davis.

If selected by CINCPACFLT, Independence, also the only aircraft carrier to win the award (1991), will be competing with all nominated Department of Defense commands numbering more than 1,000 personnel for the DoD Maintenance Award. "It’s definitely a big honor to be nominated for an award of this magnitude," Lt. Cmdr. Fernando Villanueva, the Assistant Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department (AIMD) Officer said. "Multiply that, because we’ve done it twice in the last two years, and it’s a really big honor!"

According to Villanueva, the nomination is a testament to the hard work and ingenuity of all hands on board Independence.

"From Air Department to Weapons Department, everyone on board that has had a hand in maintaining the Navy’s oldest active ship helped to get her nominated up through Commander, Carrier Group FIVE and CNAP," Villanueva said.

Villanueva said being permanently forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan is an advantage to keeping Independence and her aircraft, weapons systems and components at a high state of readiness.

"We are very innovative and maximize our resources to take advantage of our situation," Villanueva said. "Because we are homeported in Yokosuka, there are times when we can find more effective and efficient means to accomplish maintenance instead of the regular route like the CONUS-based ships."

If Independence wins a DoD Maintenance Award in the large size unit category, she will be put up against winners in the category for the Secretary of Defense Phoenix Award. According to DoD instruction 1348.30, the Phoenix Award is named in recognition of the mythological Phoenix, a bird that lived five centuries, died, and was reborn from its own ashes.

"To win an award like this would benefit the whole crew," said Villanueva. "The crew will see that all their hard work paid off and the command will get the recognition that it deserves."

The Phoenix Award and DoD Maintenance Awards are granted in recognition of the long life given to equipment by sustained quality maintenance and the rejuvenation of equipment through maintenance programs. The winners of the awards will be announced at a ceremony held October 20, 1998, in conjunction with the 1998 Maintenance Symposium Banquet in Fort Worth, Texas.