In
Garry Newton
Profile
When Garry Newton came to college, he knew he wanted to be an engineer because he did well in math/science in high school. It was a presentation on Industrial Engineering during his freshman year that helped him decide on his career path. He liked the mix of business and engineering.
When Garry was close to graduation, the economy was not doing well. Garry interviewed a number of military organizations because few companies were hiring. He interviewed NAVAIR and was offered a flight to Washington D.C. for the next step in the interviewing process. It was Garry’s first flight. A quarter of a century later, Garry is the Deputy Commander of NAVAIR, the organization that ensures that the U.S. Navy has the aircraft and aviation support to ensure the security of the United States and peace around the world.
Garry started his career in NAVAIR in the cost department. He was doing classical industrial engineering: cost estimation, forecasting, and optimization. Garry’s career advanced through the ranks, but in August 2001 Garry came to a threshold moment in his career. As a GS-15 (senior leader), he had made a recent career shift into the Logistics and industrial operations unit of NAVAIR. He had not done much direct work with the operational side of the Navy at the time. After the attack on America on September 11, 2001, Garry was assigned responsibility for preparing for Naval Aviation operations for the resulting war in Afghanistan. Decisions had to be made on how to get the weapons and materials to the war zone. Reliability and maintainability studies needed to be done since our aircraft and weapons systems had never seen so much use in a harsh desert environment. Garry’s efforts in planning for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq led to Garry being selected for Navy Civilian Meritorious Service Award in May 2002.
While Garry didn’t have a career goal of reaching the Senior Executive Services (SES), he chose to apply for this position. He was selected for an SES position. This is the highest level a civilian employee can reach in the federal government without a Presidential appointment. Garry’s position is equivalent to a three-star admiral.
What Garry finds most rewarding about his career is developing people. Garry has a strong focus on employee development programs to include an internal university program for continuous professional development as well as inclusion, diversity and a formal mentoring program, similar to what he experienced in the IE program at WVU.
In 2010, Garry received the Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive for his efforts in implementing a large organizational realignment and process redesign that affected over 14,000 people across eight separate commands around the world, that resulted in savings of over $350 million dollars annually.
Bio
As deputy commander, Garry Newton is the senior civilian at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), reporting directly to the commander. He is responsible for planning and organizational effectiveness related to execution of NAVAIR’s five core processes: acquisition management; engineering research and development; test and evaluation; in-service support; and repair/modification. NAVAIR consists of more than 25,000 civilian/military personnel located in headquarters, Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft/Weapons Divisions, and Fleet Readiness Centers and operates with affiliated Program Executive Officers (PEOs) in a competency aligned organization construct.
Newton began his professional career as an industrial engineer at NAVAIR in 1991. He is a graduate of the NAVAIR Engineering Scientist Development Program. From 1991 through 2005, Newton held various technical positions within NAVAIR’s Engineering and Logistics Groups where he developed specialized tools and procedures to assess weapons system effectiveness and efficiencies in both the acquisition and sustainment life cycle phases.
Newton was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in August 2005. Newton served as the director of Aviation Readiness and Resource Analysis at NAVAIR from August 2005 through September 2008. In this position, he served as the senior technical authority for readiness analysis for naval aviation systems as well being responsible for naval aviation logistics information system architecture and the focal point for fleet operational data.
As the director of Industrial Operations and deputy commander Fleet Readiness Center from September 2008 through March 2011, Newton was responsible for the business and operations management of all naval aviation organic intermediate and depot level maintenance operations covering 23 sites around the world.
From March 2011 through December 2012, he served as the deputy assistant commander for Logistics and Industrial Operations. As the senior civilian for naval aviation acquisition logistics and in-service fleet support, he was responsible for 16,000 civilian and military personnel across 27 operational sites, with an annual budget of $5 billion.
A native of Beaver Falls, Pa., Newton earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from West Virginia University and a master’s degree in management from Florida Institute of Technology. In May 2002, he was awarded the Navy Civilian Meritorious Service Award and received the Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive in September 2010.
