The guest speaker at the annual dinner of the Patuxent Partnership said that the synergies that guide the organization are also the future of the Navy. Rear Admiral Michael “Nasty” Manazir, director, Air Warfare on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations, spoke at the dinner on May 22nd at Historic St. Mary’s City. Manazir is responsible for the development, programming and budgeting of all U.S. Naval aviation warfighting requirements, resources and manpower.
On several occasions during his talk Manazir repeated that Patuxent Partnership is a team that combines “government, industry and academia.” He said that the Navy, in today’s economic climate, needs to develop interoperable systems across multiple platforms instead of reinventing the wheel for each new program.
Manazir used a World War II battle on February 15, 16 and 17, 1945 to underscore the changes from then to now. He said he had been given a copy of the morning orders of February 15 and read it to the dinner goers. The orders were clear: fly out, engage and destroy the enemy and fly back. For them it was a single mission which also caused the loss of many pilots who flew in the wrong direction and didn’t have enough fuel to return to their carrier.
In today’s world of interoperability, Manazir recalled a meeting he had at Pax River earlier in the week in which representative of the Army and Navy, Vanderbuilt and Georgia Tech universities, and industry were around the table. Again, it’s the same mix as the Patuxent Partnership – “government, industry and academia.”
The goal of interoperability, Manazir said, is “to make it common enough so it will be affordable and open enough that it is changeable.” He said this is crucial, because the defense of the country “can’t afford a procurement holiday.”
Manazir said it is still unclear whether the Budget Reconciliation Act of 2011 or a budget at some other higher level will prevail. He said, though, from the vantage point of Washington, DC, “We are not at a catastrophic level.”
At the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend, Manazir reflected on those who have gone before us, including those sailors and pilots who heard those orders in February of 1945.
Manazir was introduced by Patuxent Partnership Executive Director Bonnie Green, who noted the dinner quickly sold out once he was announced as guest speaker.
Patuxent Partnership Presidnet Karen Garner also detailed for those in attendance the many activities and programs that the membership organization was involved in during the previous year.
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