Oklahoma’s hot summer temperatures did not deter recent visits and tours of the Aeronautical Center. During July 10-12, 2018 John Kramer, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Finance and Budget (OST B-1), Keith Nelson, Assistant Secretary for Administration (OST M-1), Carl Burleson, Acting FAA Deputy Administrator (ADA-1), Colleen Donovan, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Administrator (ADA-2) and Anthony Chestnut, Financial Analyst (OST B-30) took time out of their schedules to come to Oklahoma City and learn about all the activities that go on behind the gates of the Aeronautical Center. Their schedules were packed full, allowing them to see the wide variety of work activities occurring at the Center. The team visited the FAA Academy, and learned about EnRoute Training, observing the work of the mini NAS, going behind the scenes of the virtual training studios and seeing first-hand the advanced technology using the HoloLens. A tour was also given of the Ten, Eleven, Twelve Radar Assessment (TETRA) labs demonstrating their critical support of the N90 project training of air traffic control students.

A tour of the FAA Logistics Center was also provided, exhibiting some of the technical support that is provided, as well as showing the support work produced at the radar repair facility. Additionally, a visit was paid to the National Airway Systems Engineering group, highlighting many of their technical innovations. The following day, a tour of the Transportation Safety Institute was given, with a quick stopover in the aviation boneyard to learn where accident investigators receive some of their instruction. The tour included a visit to the Flight Program Operations area, then onto lunch, which was hosted by the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI). Personnel at CAMI then provided a tour of the facility, wrapping the day up with a smoke egress exercise from the Flex Simulator.

The third day featured visits to the Enterprise Services Center, where briefings were conducted on financial shared services, information services, and the metrics associated with their current innovations. Demonstrations were given on SAFe® Agile, showcasing proven patterns for Lean-Agile development and the benefits of transparency.

After three full days of briefings and a lot of walking, the DOT/FAA teams left Oklahoma City with a better understanding of the Center and the important missions and collaboration that exists at this one centralized location.

After returning back to their respective offices in Washington D.C., Michelle Coppedge, Director of the Aeronautical Center received this kind note from Carl Burleson, Acting FAA Deputy Administrator:

A belated note to say thank you for the very well organized visit to OKC. I appreciate all the hard work you and the staff put into organizing a great experience and learning visit for John K, Keith and myself.
Please pass along my thanks to everyone that helped. I truly have a much greater appreciation of how much goes on at MMAC.