On New Year’s Eve 1990, my crew and I ejected from our EA6B Prowler while landing on the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT. While that event impacted me greatly, it was a fire onboard USS OSCAR AUSTIN in 2018 that lit a fire inside me. Did we learn from this fire? No, we had the same event happen 18 months later, an event that destroyed a $3 billion dollar warship. In the Navy safety had taken a backseat to the accomplishment of operational requirements and training. In the naval aviation community, the safety culture had waned and the progress in this regard had flat-lined. Naval aviation has had a great run but had gotten complacent. As I rose through the ranks, I began to realize the highest level of leaders didn’t prioritize safety like it should be, and too frequently the people that made mistakes were punished without looking at the process that led to those mistakes. We were catching airmen taking risks and didn’t look for the reasons. Instead of blaming the airmen we needed to focus on safety systems to get ahead of the inevitable human errors. We needed more engineering controls but first had to understand what is needed from the naval aviation front line. This talk will brief you on what we did in Naval Aviation to get our leaders to eat, sleep and breath safety and have the knowledge base to make a difference.

Naval Air Forces

Rear Adm. John F. Meier, a native of Export, Pennsylvania, graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in General Engineering. He completed flight training in Beeville, Texas, and was “winged” as a Naval Aviator in August 1988. Meier’s operational assignments include Electronic Attack Squadron-141 (VAQ-141), Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2), VAQ-128, and executive officer onboard USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), during which the command was recognized with the 2008, 2009 & 2010 Battle “E” and the 2009 Safety “S.” Command tours include VAQ-136, earning the Safety “S” and Battle “E” in 2004 as well as the 2005 Retention Excellence award; USS Gunston Hall (LSD-44), earning the 2011 Battle “E”; and Precommissioning Unit Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) earning the 2014 & 2015 Retention Excellence awards. Meier most recently commanded Carrier Strike Group Ten (SCG-10) earning the Humanitarian Service Award.

Meier’s shore assignments include tours at VAQ-129, where he was recognized as Instructor Pilot of the Year in 1995; EA-6B placement officer at Navy Personnel Command; senior operations officer and emergency actions officer on the Chairman on the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the National Military Command Center; requirements officer for EA-18G at the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV) N88; assistant chief of staff force readiness officer at Commander, Naval Air Forces; assistant commander, Navy Personnel Command for Career Management (PERS-4); and commander, Navy Warfare Development Command.

Meier has participated in operations around the world since Desert Storm, led Southern Partnership Station and built the crew and culture of USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) as her first commanding officer. He has accumulated over 4,000 flight hours and 675 carrier landings. Meier assumed command of Naval Air Force Atlantic on May 1, 2020. His decorations include Distinguished Service Medal and various other personal and unit level awards.