John Savelli: Doing things BY-THE-BOOK

By Ms. Cherish Washington (AMC)August 28, 2012

John Savelli: Doing things BY-THE-BOOK
1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – John A. Savelli, Chief Aviation Officer, joined the AMC team January 7, 1977, and after 35 years with AMC and 46 years of aviation experience his dedication to the war fighter has not wavered. Six words can sum up the reason why he has stayed with AM... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

REDSTONE ARESNAL, Ala. -- On the front of his business card it reads, "BY-THE-BOOK," referencing the motto that has stood for the Aviation office of Army Materiel Command since the mid 1980s. A motto he created.

John A. Savelli, Chief Aviation Officer, joined the AMC team January 7, 1977, and after 35 years with AMC and 46 years of aviation experience his dedication to the war fighter has not wavered.

Six words can sum up the reason why he has stayed with AMC through downgrades, name changes and workforce separations.

"I truly love what I do," said Savelli.

"Most of what we do supports the Commanding General in our compliance reviews, such as Aviation Resource Management Surveys," Savelli says. "We go into our organizations and ensure compliance with all the training requirements for the pilots, all standardization requirements, maintenance requirements, quality control and aviation ground support equipment."

"When we evaluate all the operations, we evaluate them 'BY-THE-BOOK' referring to the governing document down to the page and chapter" Savelli explained. "Its paramount to how we operate."

"Since 1987, I have served as the Army's proponent and waiver authority for Army Regulation 95-20, which is a multiservice document that directs contractors on how they will direct and conduct their flight and ground operations," Savelli says.

Any contractor around the world that manufactures, modifies, overhauls or repairs Army aircraft are mandated to comply with that document.

"It has great impact to the warfighter because you can go to any of our operations within our area of responsibility and have contract maintenance support," he explained. "We cannot operate in a wartime or even peacetime environment without contractors in the aviation industry."

Compliance reviews are only part of the job for Savelli and his colleagues.

"AMC has a very unique role in aviation where we do subsystem development of components that accommodate everything from seekers, sensors and night vision devices that support our active aircraft," Savelli said.

These seekers, sensors and other devices are capable of being sized to fit any aircraft needed to use the technology.

The stakes are high when it comes to providing the war fighter's needs in the field. The appropriate sub system on the right aircraft can be the difference in successful mission accomplishment and increased survivability. Test programs are developed to integrate life-saving technology with existing equipment.

"I had the opportunity to personally be the Chief Pilot on a flight test program. We were doing seeker technology for fire and forget weapons and the data we collected is still being used to this day," Savelli reflected.

The technology cultivated from this three year long test program was the advanced indirect fire system. As unique as this experience was for Savelli, he proclaims that the entire package has been a memorable experience.

"I've been working with those guys for a long time and, typical of aviation, it's always family oriented," Savelli remarked.

According to Savelli the botton line is, "Getting the latest and greatest technologies in the least amount of time to the war fight. That's what AMC aviation does."

And he plans to continue doing that, "BY-THE-BOOK."

Editors Note: This is part five of AMC's 50th anniversary series which will include insight from each decade and comments from people who worked with AMC throughout the years.