James Dignan Email and Phone Number

- Provided daily oversight to a department servicing county Veterans and their families in all Veterans Affairs benefits claims filings, updates, information, outreach, and assistance.- Processed over 900 Veterans' and family members' claims with meticulous attention to detail, achieving a first-time award rate of over 95%, significantly surpassing the industry average of 81%.- Proficient in client communication, adeptly grasping concerns and effectively translating them into compelling claims for medical examiners, ensuring accurate assessments and prompt Service Connection awards.- Managed a $110,000 annual salary and expense budget with meticulous attention to detail, maximizing taxpayer dollars and ensuring all funds were accounted for. Successfully passed all audits with zero errors.- Initiated the "Teaching What You Know" outreach program, conducting monthly seminars and quarterly events for various Veteran Service Organizations (VSO) groups. Empowered individuals to navigate the VA system by providing VA operational knowledge, fostering a community of informed advocates, and counteracting misinformation with sound advice.

- Led a maintenance team of 10 across three shifts, ensuring continuous 24-hour operation of high-demand, customized rubber and polyurethane products for a global market.- Planned, directed, and coordinated manufacturing activities across three industrial plants. Oversaw modifications and maintenance of equipment and machinery, conducted inspections, and ensured compliance with performance requirements and specifications. Identified equipment failures and proposed solutions to senior management, optimizing downtime.- Provided technical infrastructure and process engineering support to plant operations. Ensured optimal equipment operation and managed preventative maintenance compliance and effectiveness.- Coordinated and oversaw the overhaul and retrofit of three critical major plant operational systems with minimal downtime, avoiding unplanned production disruptions and ensuring no injuries to personnel.- Swiftly identified and addressed three major critical safety hazards that were all-stop violations, requiring immediate action and retraining by floor production management. These actions involved industrial electrical safety, forklift operation, and steam cycle safety, resulting in a crucial culture shift and potentially life-saving changes.

• Principal Assistant for a 700-person department overseeing the operations, upkeep and maintenance of aviation fuels, catapult, and arresting gear equipment in support of aircraft carrier flight operations. Combat tested, record holding, recognized, and awarded by top leadership for being the only east coast carrier mission capable during an unprecedented international pandemic. • Led maintenance of twenty-six work centers resulting in the Commander Naval Air Force Atlantic departmental 3M inspection receiving the highest command grade of Atlantic CVN scores in four years. Concurrently led the identification and implementation of 2,275 FY22 PIA work package items.• Established milestones and monitored adherence to master plans and schedules to plan for manufacture, overhaul/repair, and testing of complex shipboard systems including hull, mechanical, and electrical (HM&E), structural, and auxiliaries for three pier side micro-window of opportunity ships maintenance coordination.• Always customer centric, results driven to get to a yes, it was my job to ensure we could safely execute and efficiently the launch and recovery of aircraft in accordance to the airplane. Deconflicting priorities of 26 entities I was able to ensure a team of highly skilled professionals successfully completed all tasking while keeping an eye on their professional growth.

• Managed a staff of 250 personnel, including 11 Managers and 22 Supervisors, completing a significant maintenance project. The team completed 1,955 corrective maintenance actions and 111-man years encompassing 35% of the entire project ahead of schedule and under budget.• Orchestrated a multifaceted plan to complete 1,125 maintenance actions resulting in deploying on time for the 2019 deployment. Generated results in a high stress, fast paced environment. Supervised 188 people during the expeditious movement of embarked aircraft. • Hand-selected to stand up a department of 270 personnel, segmented into 14 teams, focused on leading the efforts in ships rehabilitation of common spaces: a failed effort previous years. Teams department lead the ships maintenance availability in the completion of 2,754 component unit phases, accounting for 82, 128 man-hours, two weeks ahead of schedule with a contracted labor cost saving of 2,137,412 dollars and less than 3% rework. • By managing a supply chain, I set and monitored policies and standards, determined procurement support needs, managed warehouse space, and determined safety procedures for handling of dangerous materials which led to 18,016 moves without disruption to 24/7 operations or incident. • Encouraged various staff training events, and ensured EEO rules were followed, I melded a team of 250 young adults into hard charging, value added, mission oriented, assets. This team completed 23,684 tasks during 11,458 sorties in a high risk, fast paced environment with ZERO major safety incidents or injuries.

N32 Department Head (Director of Operations). 1yr 6mo• Airfield Manager, Aircraft Salvage and Recovery Officer. Airfield Maintenance Director, Command Center Officer in Charge, US Transportation Command Contracting Officer Representative. 2yr 4mo.• Lead a department of 300 military and civilian personnel in the 24/7 operation of the U.S. Navy's largest airfield in the European theater. Closely collaborated with Spanish Navy host nation counterparts.-Directed the facility transition from and outdated, outgrown, failing&segregated facility to a joint state of art command and control, air traffic control suite in under 72 hours with no impact to operations. -Managed a 4.2 runway military construction project that repaired, resurfaced damaged runway areas and stripped all aircraft taxi lines. Developed a phased plan that successfully allowed the runway to remain fully operational, beyond FAA and International safety standards, while also maintaining contractors original budget goals.

Night Aircraft Handling Officer, Assist. Flight Deck Officer, Aviation Fuels Maintenance Officer.• Led a department of 250 people, to include 7 Managers and 28 Supervisors, completing complex 24/7 aviation fuel systems operations and maintenance projects. The team completed over 14,578 corrective maintenance actions, equal to 284-man years encompassing 42% of the ship’s maintenance projects over a five-year steed, all ahead of schedule, under budget, earning 5 consecutive unrestricted fuels certifications from outside inspectors and multiple awards.• Modernized, troubleshot and maintained a state of the art 3.2-million-gallon capacity aviation fuels system comprised of complex programable logic control and mechanical integration allowing for real time full system common operation picture and ease of use by operators and managers allowing for near perfect, 99.9%, product accountability while delivering over 100 million gallons of the finest, safe for flight, aviation jet fuel to aircraft going into the fight. • Aided in an aggressive plan to complete flight deck 1,125 maintenance actions during a compressed ships maintenance availability resulting in deploying on time for the 2014 deployment. Generated results in a high stress, fast paced environment. Supervised 188 people during the expeditious movement of embarked aircraft. • By managing a supply chain, set in place, and monitored policies and standards, determined procurement support needs, managed warehouse space, and determined safety procedures for handling of dangerous materials which led to 18,016 moves without disruption to 24/7 operations or incident. • Encouraged various staff training events, and ensured EEO rules were followed, I melded a team of 250 young adults into hard charging, value added, mission oriented, assets. This team completed 23,684 tasks during 11,458 sorties in a high risk, fast paced environment with ZERO major safety incidents or injuries.

• Subject Matter Expert in the operation and maintenance of shipboard aviation fuels systems. My expertise was demanded to care for a multitude of tasking from fully automated PLC controlled fuel distribution systems to mechanical alignment of complex end point fuel systems and a state-of-the-art fuels testing lab. Troubleshot and repaired over 25,000 maintenance actions for an ensured 24/7 99% equipment operability rate during an arduous combat deployment.• Supervised the operation, maintenance and training of a 187-person division during a extended 10 month combat deployment and three training exercises plus work up underway evolutions.• Managed the largest west coast fuel tank inspection package of record, safely executed the open clean and inspect of 136 JP-5 tanks, inclusive of major repairs and associated depot level work. Collaboration across five organizations was required to ensure safety procedures were adhered to for confined space and nuclear compliance. • Facilitator for The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Franklin Covey. Personally ushered 780 people through their 40-hour course then became a mentor to more than 200 of them ensuring accountability during this enduring, life changing, course if you allow it to take. Our Command was the pilot program for the Navy which later adopted the course globally and adapted its it to be used in many functional areas from onboarding to fleet and family support services. the weekly feedback reports I provided directly to my Commanding Officer and Commander Naval Air Forces (3 Star) proper as the lead Facilitator communication was critical to its deployment navy wide. • Budgeted annual phased replacement of 3.4 million dollars of fueling hoses and nozzles that were beyond safe use. By strategically balancing systems and budget priorities we were able to communicate early enough to develop a three-year plan for complete replacement that satisfied everyone's needs safely.

• Subject Matter Expert in Aviation Fuels Operations and Maintenance. • Master Training Specialist.• Certified Instructor.• eLearning Instruction Integration Team Lead. Responsible for standing up a department that removed common core theory from all aviation specialty classrooms and placed it into a eLearning environment to be delivered during the onboarding process. Reviewed story boards and content for accuracy. Performed “dry runs” in a sandbox environment to debug the system prior to deployment. Oversaw the installation of 25 “smart classrooms” encompassing 750 student learning stations for a first year through put of 8,656 students.• Facilitator for "ADAMS" for supervisors. As part of the Navy's right spirit campaign this course is mandatory for supervisors to attend every five years if you are E-5 and above. I have Facilitated over 300 people through the course discussing proper use of alcohol and drug's during the three day course.

• Aviation fuel system maintainer for a 3.2milion gal JP-5 (F-44) storage, purification and distrobution system.• Supervised 110 people in the same operation of the machinery and test equipment.• Trained staff in the safe operation of all jp-5 machinery, flight deck aircraft refueling, and quality assurance laboratory procedures.

• Managed airfield operations for a NATO base strategic in the North Atlantic, responsible for Icelandic self defence.• Responsible for a staff of 40 personnel and the 24/7 operations of a air terminal used as layover, currier, communications hub, logistics relay and for passenger transfer operations by all DoD agencies as well as partner countries.

• Plant maintenance manager for a production factory that employed 120 personnel with a manufacture output of 1.2 million dollars monthly. • Caterpillar Forklift Instructor, operator.• Quality Assurance Specialist.• Steele Production Machinery Maintainer to include preventative and corrective maintenance of hydraulic, pneumatic, electric, and automated (PLC, Solid State) equipment. Created and implemented a comprehensive preventative maintenance schedule reducing corrective repair actions by 50% and a 97% equipment reliability rate. • Cargo / Shipping and Receiving Specialist and Facilities Manager.• Production Welder. Mig welder, fabricated vats and frames from engineering drawings. QA'd post work to spec within accepted tolerance.

• Aviation fuel systems maintainer (1.8 mil gal JP-5 distribution system).• Damage control system maintainer (Saltwater, AFFF, PKP, HALON, CO2 - fixed and portable systems). • Repair Locker Firefighter, Nozzleman, Scene leader. (Employed TTP's for class Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta fires). Unfortunately, I had to fight 4 actual casualties while onboard the JFK, all were successfully extinguished, with tons of lessons learned. • Master-At-Arms (Ships Police): Security Patrol Supervisor, Lead a watch section of 35 personnel through daily task assignments, arming/disarming, training, logging and reporting all events deemed necessary.