public safety

Gordon plans to streamline

The head of the country’s aeronaval service wants fewer officers in administrative roles.

His plan calls for 90 percent of the staff to be assigned to operational duties.

la prensa

rigoberto gordon 1143858

Rigoberto Gordon is proud to have piloted the presidential plane for the country's last three presidents.

But he now faces an even greater responsibility as the first head of the newly created National Aeronaval Service, which was created last year through a merger of the country's air and naval agencies.

Gordon's first goal will be to integrate the administrative units of each agency, and to emerge with a structure that will allow 90 percent of the new entity's staff to be dedicated to operational duties.

As part of the integration, Gordon has initiated a “merger policy,” which seeks to ensure that administrative jobs will not be duplicated. This will allow one person who served in an administrative post to be reassigned to operational duty.

The combined agency has 1,500 members, and Gordon hopes that he can have all but 150 of those employees assigned to the field after the merger is complete. As part of the entity's new organizational structure, Gordon has divided the country into three parts, East, Central and West, and will appoint a commissioner to oversee each one. Each region will be divided into seven subregions.

To begin its operations, the agency has an annual budget of $26 million and a capital budget of $13 million.

Gordon said that he has already made some progress in updating the country's aging air and naval fleet. It has already made plans to renovate three ships, five helicopters and three planes, as well as purchase two new helicopters. The agency has also purchased 22 new vehicles, an investment that was planned by the National Maritime Service.

“The investment was necessary as the vehicle fleet was deteriorating,” Gordon said.

Regarding the appointment of a deputy director, Gordon said that he would be looking to recommend someone with a significant amount of experience for the job. But he noted that the decision will ultimately be up to the government's Executive branch.

The merger of the two agencies was part of President Martín Torrijos’ security reforms that were approved by executive decree last year.

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