Icy road conditions would have ordinarily postponed or cancelled a Town Hall meeting, but with the Aeronautical Center in max telework status, the show went on…virtually. February 10^th began with biting cold temperatures across the state of Oklahoma, but with most people working safely from home, nearly a thousand people were able to tune in. It was a very informative session, with live presentations, multiple video links, and special guest speakers.

Alex Chadwick, Program Manager the Enterprise Service Center’s (ESC) Business Relationship & Project Manager Office, emceed the Town Hall, handing the "floor" to Aeronautical Center Director Michelle Coppedge. She began by mentioning how 2021 is special, because it marks the Aeronautical Center’s 75^th year of existence.

Coppedge explained that the Center began back in the 1940s under the Civil Aeronautics Authority, before the FAA was created. For seven decades, we have been a hub for aviation training, research, logistics and certification among other important aspects. The Center is also well positioned for continued success in the future. In spite of the current global health crisis, MMAC has been moving forward, making some impressive accomplishments.

Director Coppedge thanked those who recently participated in the Oklahoman’s Energage Survey. "We are honored and thrilled to have been selected as one of the top workplaces in Oklahoma," expressed Coppedge. She continued, asking for people to join in the celebration of Black History Month, and later this month, Engineering Week. We have been and will be sending out broadcast messages that feature some of our wonderful employees, so everyone can get to know their stories, their interests, and how they contribute to the FAA’s mission – even though many of them are working from home because of COVID-19.

The Aeronautical Center continues to thrive, despite the global health crisis. Though this past year has been challenging, great things have happened. When COVID hit so quickly in February of last year, the first priority was to enable many employees to do their jobs remotely.

The Enterprise Services Center (ESC) and Information and Technology Services (AIT) worked quickly to expand bandwidth for those who were teleworking. For those who continued to physically work on the Center, the Center Management Team collaborated to ensure the safety of 1,400 employees. As the global health crisis unfolded, the Center was in good hands, thanks to the Office of Facility Management (AMP) and the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI). These two groups led the charge on our COVID response preparations. The Director gave special thanks to these MMAC COVID heroes in keeping us safe, and our workplaces clean (Corey Black, Patricia Brace, Lisa Eckhardt, Jim Green, Dr. Karen Heupel, Travis Hildebrand, Zeke Hill, Tony Jackson, and Ann Norris).

Next, Kevin O’Connor brought attention to the organizations working behind the scenes to keep us and the National Airspace System (NAS) safe, namely; Human Resources (HR), the Logistics Center (AML), Second Level Engineering and the Flight Program Office.

Jim Doskow, Director of the FAA Academy then took the floor, describing how his team has provided mission critical training for the technical workforce. Since March of 2020, they never missed a beat and converted over 100 courses to virtual modalities, and virtually trained over 6,300 students.

Next up, Debra Entricken, Director of the Civil Aviation Registry provided an overview of how they have stepped up to the challenge of keeping things running smoothly, supporting social distancing, automating inspector authorization renewals, and eliminating the need for foreign applicants to physically apply for U.S. Certificates at an FAA office.

Some of the Center’s efforts even captured the attention of the FAA Administrator, Steve Dickson, who offered his congratulations and appreciation in a short video clip. FAA Administrator Steve Dickson

As the Town Hall progressed, Kevin O’Connor pointed out how ESC provides many financial services, including managing the Delphi and accounting systems for all of the Department of Transportation (DOT), and several other non-DOT federal agencies. Additionally, under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (known as the CARES Act), Congress funded the DOT with $36.1 Billion to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19 across all modes of transportation. Throughout 2020, ESC supported disbursement and tracking of DOT commitments and obligations, totaling $33.6B.

Kevin next introduced Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs, Lana Hurdle who delivered a video message expressing her appreciation of the support that DOT has received from the Center.

Michelle Coppedge then highlighted some accomplishments of the FAA Academy, regarding expansion of operations to support a new customer, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). They’ve also worked with the FAA Logistics Center in support of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which has grown into a large customer, with over $100M in annual agreements with the Center. Rick Cornelio, Director of Logistics and Sustainment for Customs and Border Protection offered his appreciation for the Center as well, which was a great testament to the excellent customer service of our workforce.

Next, Dr. Melchor Antuñano, Director of the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute discussed the topic of COVID vaccinations, and how the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute has been helping with Genomics research. CAMI has also loaned its Biomark gene testing instrument to the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center to help in the fight against COVID-19. Additionally, when one of our nation’s top hospitals put out an urgent call in March of 2020 for PaxGene RNA Blood tubes to be used in COVID-19 research efforts, CAMI responded.

Dr. Antuñano also shared an interesting future development - the construction of a new CAMI research, testing and training facility called the Wind and Wave Evacuation and Survival Facility (Wi-Waves). The facility will be used for establishing test criteria and standards for the performance of aircraft evacuation slides, rafts, and other safety devices in simulated, "rough-seas" environments, and is scheduled to be completed in 2024.

Dr. Susan Northrup, the new Federal Flight Surgeon was introduced. She provided some information about CAMI’s future role in the field of commercial space transportation, namely medical screening of commercial spaceflight participants, and medical certification of commercial space crews. Dr. Northrup stated, "I am excited about having the opportunity to oversee the Office of Aerospace Medicine organization. I look forward to working with the great folks in CAMI and colleagues across the Aeronautical Center."

Sheila Griffith, the Executive Liaison for Technical Operations Training provided a pre-recorded video clip. She expressed her thanks for all of the work that went into preparing Academy classrooms for virtual delivery. She has recently visited several classrooms and laboratories and was pleased with the safe transformation of those learning environments.

One of the Aeronautical Center’s largest stakeholders is the Air Traffic Organization (ATO). Tim Arel, ATO’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer provided a video clip expressing thanks to the Center for ensuring the safety of the flying public through the global health crisis. He shared, "Whether you’re operating and maintaining our fleet of Flight Check Aircraft, publishing procedures, teaching mission-critical courses, or providing all of the necessary support it takes to do all of those functions, your work has been nothing short of amazing."

Kim Sheppard, who served as this year’s Chair for the local federal coordinating committee for CFC, provided a brief overview. "Because of our collective efforts, the Center received approval from the Office of Personnel Management to host a CFC Telethon. The co-chairs planned, organized, and served as emcee for the first CFC Telethon event ever held by a Federal agency. Not only was this first-time event a success, but all of the other virtual campaign activities and weekly charity fairs were also successful, which increased awareness of the CFC. This resulted in an increase in contribution to CFC for the 3rd year in a row by the Center. We not only achieved our goal of $230,000; we exceeded it by raising close to $240,000 for CFC!

Michelle Coppedge closed the MMAC-wide Town Hall by saying "We are a culture of knowledge sharing, representing 75 years of leadership and innovation. This year, while we pause to remember our incredible past, acknowledging those along the way who made the Aeronautical Center what it is today, we need to remain energized about future possibilities and ground-breaking transformations."

The Town Hall concluded with a series of questions and answers. All the questions could not be answered in the allotted timeframe, so we have taken the liberty to provide the remaining questions and responses here:

• There is eLMS training that requires Adobe Flash Player. When will training content that was created with Flash Player be updated?
  Starting as early as March 1, 2021, Flash courses might be available once again to employees on their FAA issued laptops. The solution will be seamless to users. In addition, communication will be disseminated once the solution has been implemented and is available to all users.


• Can you explain the differences between the two types of COVID vaccines – Moderna and Pfizer?
  These are both messenger RNA Vaccines. They are very similar in terms of effectiveness and side effects. Both have effectiveness around 94%. Pfizer requires a second booster vaccine at 3 weeks, Moderna requires a second booster vaccine at 4 weeks.


• Has anyone reached out to the Civil Aviation Registry to collaborate with them in their efforts?
  Yes, Debra Entricken, Division Manager (AFB-700) is an active member of the Center Management Team and we closely coordinate with Debra on happenings at the Registry. Additionally, both the Enterprise Services Center (ESC) and Information & Technology Services (AIT) have been working with the Registry in support of their modernization efforts that Debra spoke about in the Town Hall.


• I believe I heard Johnson & Johnson vaccine was mentioned, but will CAMI be receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine?
  The Johnson and Johnson Vaccine has been approved for use by the FDA as of February 27, 2021. We currently don’t know which of the 3 FDA approved COVID-19 vaccines will be supplied to the CAMI Clinic. This will be determined by the supply chain received thru HHS to Oklahoma County. The Johnson and Johnson vaccine is a single dose vaccine which has shown to prevent symptomatic infection by 66% and is 100% effective in preventing hospitalization and death in a U.S. study. Typical side effects are similar to Moderna and Pfizer.


• So, even if you get both vaccine shots, are you still capable of carrying the virus since it lives in your nose?
  The end point of the original vaccine studies focused on symptomatic COVID infection. It is not entirely clear at this time whether individuals can carry the COVID-19 virus after vaccination. This is why social distancing and the wearing of masks and hand washing remain essential precautions.


• If I received the 1^st vaccine at another location, if available, can I get the 2^nd shot at CAMI?
  If the CAMI Clinic receives the same vaccine type that and individual previously received, then, yes, the individual can receive their second (booster) COVID-19 Vaccination at CAMI Occupational Clinic.