Sawyer takes reins of medium altitude UAS

By Lawrence "Marty" Shelton, PEO AviationAugust 21, 2015

Sawyer takes reins of medium altitude UAS
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Davila receives Order of Prometheus
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REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. - The Medium Altitude/Endurance Product Office within the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Project Office said farewell to Lt. Col. Tony Davila and welcomed a new leader as it conducted a change of charter and retirement ceremony Thursday at Bob Jones Auditorium.

Accompanied by his parents, children and grandchildren, making up four generations of proud Army family members, Davila turned over responsibility to Lt. Col. Cliff Sawyer, an acquisition officer new to the aviation community. Sawyer comes to MAE PO from the "Training with Industry Program" where he was assigned to the Boeing Company located in Huntsville.

The MAE UAS PO is responsible for the lifecycle management of the Gray Eagle and Hunter programs, charged to actively manage the resources, program cost, performance and schedule as well as provide assessments of the program status, risk and contractor performance.

Col. Courtney Cote, who presided over the ceremony, began by saying "this ceremony calls upon the first general order, wherein Tony is being properly relieved of his duties and the burden of providing Gray Eagle and Hunter products to the field is now being placed on Lt. Col. Sawyer's shoulders."

Cote went on to speak of the many significant milestones achieved over the course of Davila's tenure, "including the Gray Eagle's Initial Operational Test and Evaluation, Defense Acquisition Board approval, full rate production authorization and most recently the Follow On Test and Evaluation."

Davila later would state, "although the official results have not been disclosed," he is confident that the Gray Eagle FOTE was a success.

"Tony can always be counted on to give 100 percent, all the time," Cote said.

Davila stated "that all of those successes mentioned by Col. Cote would not have happened without the dedicated and valued team members within MAE."

In 2012, the Army chief of staff directed that each Army division be outfitted with a company of Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft, comprised of 12 aircraft each as well as support equipment and personnel. Since that date, Davila has overseen the fielding of eight Gray Eagle companies to date and the MAE team will continue fielding through fiscal 2018.

In his remarks, Sawyer commented on how he attributes his success in life to having been surrounded by family friends that made him the man he is today. He admitted that he was new to the aviation community and that he looked forward to forging a great working relationship with his MAE workforce as well as the extended industry partner team members. He also said, "after all, MAE PO could not operate without our folks from industry making and delivering our products."

Davila received the Legion of Merit, Certificate of Appreciation from the Commander-in-Chief, the Order of Prometheus, the U.S. flag and Certificate of Retirement. He is retiring from the Army after more than 32 years of service.

His wife, Sonya, was also recognized with a Certificate of Appreciation from Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno.