FORT RUCKER, Ala. -- Twenty-seven years experience as a Black Hawk aircraft maintainer for the Army sure comes in handy when you oversee the work of quality assurance specialists at three Army heliports and an aircraft component shop at the Army's busiest aviation installation.
Wade Pasquarella, the Quality Branch chief at AMCOM's Aviation Center Logistics Command at Fort Rucker, has relied on the extensive knowledge base of his years in the military to take on the challenges of a subject matter expert and supervisor charged with ensuring that helicopters are ready and able to fly in support of the thousands of Army aviation students who train at the Army Aviation Center of Excellence. He one of the top managers for the government on a $1.98 billion five-year aviation maintenance services contract in support of more than 600 aircraft utilized in the USAACE training mission.
Pasquarella, retired from the Army in 2009 and began a government civilian career with ACLC, was recently named the Employee of the Quarter by the Army Materiel Command.
"It is such an unexpected award and really just an honor to be nominated in the first place. I had no thoughts of winning this because AMC is such a large organization," he said.
He was nominated by Maj. Kimberly Johnson, executive officer and contracting officer's representation at ACLC.
"Mr. Pasquarella works really hard always and goes the extra mile. He is never too busy to help others. He is a tremendous asset to this organization," Johnson said.
"He is a subject matter expert on aircraft maintenance and the contract. I have learned so much from him on the contract. Everyone refers to him as the 'go to guy.' The other thing that sets Mr. Pasquarella apart is that he never complains or asks for recognition. He takes pride in doing the best he can in support of the contract and ensure that we have safe available aircraft for students."
Much of Pasquarella's responsibilities are focused on serving as a contracting officer's representative and overseeing aviation maintenance at Fort Rucker's Hanchey Army Heliport, Knox Army Heliport, Lowe Army Heliport and the Aircraft Component Repair facility. He relies on a team of COR's and quality assurance specialists to oversee the Quality Branch's maintenance activities.
"There is really an outstanding team that gets all the work done," he said. "Everyone on the team is well qualified as a subject matter expert. They know their job and they take a lot of pride in what they do every day to support Army aviation. There's no way I could do my job without this team."
Pasquarella's organic expertise in maintenance and sustainment operation is leveraged by numerous personnel throughout the command who actively see out his knowledge and guidance, Johnson said. His dedication to duty and mission accomplishment is evident every day as he can often be found at one of Fort Rucker's five airfields in the middle of the night checking on personnel and the 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week mission.
During the integration of UH-72A Lakota helicopters into the USAACE training program, Pasquarella developed, implemented and adapted an effective surveillance program to provide quality oversight to the complex contract maintenance operation and oversight requirements that the non-standard off-the-shelf aircraft required to be maintained by FAA standards. He developed a plan to ensure quality assurance specialists received the necessary Original Equipment Manufacturer training at Grand Prairie, Texas. This combined with getting personnel certified as airframe and powerplant FAA-licensed mechanics to provide QASs within the organization with the expertise to effectively conduct surveillance and provide oversight with the emergence of the UH-72 in Fort Rucker's training mission. Accomplishing these tasks were vital as ACLC shifts from performing maintenance on TH-67/OH-58A/C helicopters to the 187 UH-72s that are now the primary training aircraft at Shell Army Heliport and Cairns Army Air Field.
In addition, Pasquarella improved mission capability through overseeing the more than 1,000 Quality Assurance Surveillance Plans conducted for the quarter related to aircraft rejects and scheduled/unscheduled maintenance to support Mission Capable rate goals while meeting mission performance requirements. He also developed the annual Contract Performance Assessment Reporting System and developed a personnel program that aligns performance expectations with organizational goals for all assigned employees, ensuring employees obtained their required continuous learning points and ensuring required acquisition certifications.
Pasquarella's expertise on the current $1.98 billion, five-year contract led to his selection as one of the key members developing the next contract action, which will also be a multi-year multi-billion dollar effort. His expertise has been key in developing a solid program work statement that does away with inefficiency while improving the quality of aircraft for the next contract. He has been involved as the lead on the PWS rewrite, wrote the Market Research, and provided key input into the Acquisition Strategy and Plan as well as the Risk Assessment and developing the incentive structure.
A native of Arizona, Pasquarella has served his country as a Soldier and as a Department of the Army civilian for the past 33 years. He Army Aviation career included nearly 20 years serving in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. He has served on multiple deployments in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Desert Storm (Saudi Arabia) as well as contingency operations in Panama (Just Cause), Honduras and El Salvador. He began his government civilian career soon after retiring from active duty as a lead quality assurance specialist at ACLC's Lowe Army Heliport, providing quality assurance oversight on contract UH60A/L and UH60M aircraft maintenance services.
Pasquarella graduated from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in Aeronautics and Columbia Southern University in 2008 with a master's degree in Business Administration. He is a member of the Army Acquisition Corps and is certified level III in Life Cycle Logistics and Production, Quality, and Manufacturing.
He has received honorary awards to include the Commanders Award for Civilian Service and the Superior Civilian Service Award. His military recognitions include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Air Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal and numerous campaign ribbons. He is a graduate of the United States Army Sergeant's Major Academy and has earned the Master Aviation Badge and Master Parachutist Badge.
Social Sharing