In November 1965, Phillips personally took a tiger team to North American Aviation (NAA) in Downey, California, the prime contractor for the Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM) and the Saturn V's S-II second stage, to investigate problems of delays, quality shortfalls and cost overruns. On 19 December, he wrote a memo to NAA president Lee Atwood with a copy of a report of his findings and some recommended fixes, which he also sent to Mueller.
This move by Phillips involved him personally leading a team to North American Aviation (NAA) in Downey, California, the main contractor for the Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM) and the Saturn V's S-II second stage, to investigate problems of delays, quality issues, and cost overruns. On December 19, he submitted a report to NAA president Lee Atwood with his findings and proposed solutions.