DAHLGREN, Va. – Nineteen Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) civil servants were named as winners of the prestigious 2019 Warfare Centers Awards, the command announced July 15.
The Warfare Centers Awards – established in 2005 to recognize cross-Warfare Center collaborative efforts – comprises six categories that include collaboration, innovation, knowledge sharing, technical support services, talent management, and information security.
“This year, we received 78 nominations representing the calendar year 2018 accomplishments of 592 members of our workforce from all 10 divisions of the Naval Surface and Undersea Warfare Centers,” said Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) and Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) top leaders – NUWC/NSWC Executive Director Donald McCormack and NUWC/NSWC Commander Rear Adm. Eric Ver Hage.
In their communique announcing the award winners to all hands throughout the NUWC and NSWC divisions located from the east to west coasts, McCormack and Ver Hage pointed out that “these awards celebrate important achievements and directly contribute to NAVSEA's (Naval Sea Systems Command’s) Expand the Advantage 2.0 Campaign.”
The campaign plan focuses on three mission priorities – on-time delivery of ships and submarines; improving warfighting capability of ships and systems; and cybersecurity – as NAVSEA and its Warfare Centers address today's challenges while supporting the Fleet.
Nominations were reviewed by a committee comprised of Paul Mann, NSWC Port Hueneme Division technical director; Ronald Vien, NUWC Newport Division technical director; Lawrence Tarasek NSWC Carderock Division technical director; and Robert Pjojian, NUWC Headquarters Corporate Operations director. Each committee member rated and ranked the nominations against the award criteria, and collaborative discussions about the merits of each produced consensus recommendations.
“We concur with the recommendations,” said McCormack and Ver Hage. “We are recognizing 354 recipients this year: five awards for Alan J. Dean Talent Management; eight awards for Collaboration; five awards for Information Security; seven awards for Innovation; four awards for Knowledge Sharing; and 10 awards for Technical Support Services. Please join us in extending congratulations to all the recipients for a job done well.”
NSWC Dahlgren Division scientists and engineers are recognized as team members for the following awards.
The Warfare Centers’ Electronic Warfare, Undersea Warfare and High Energy Lasers Campaign Collaboration Team won the Collaboration Award for advancements in identifying, validating, and resolving high value requirements for naval test and evaluation and training optimization across the Naval Research and Development Enterprise through collaboration between NSWC Dahlgren, NSWC Carderock, NSWC Crane, NUWC Keyport, NUWC Newport, and NSWC Port Hueneme divisions across the electronic warfare, undersea warfare, and high energy lasers domain campaigns. NSWCDD team members included Thomas Baker, Barry Mohle, and Lauren Perez.
The United Kingdom Tomahawk Weapon Control System Team won the Collaboration Award for substantial contributions to the UK Royal Navy Astute Class submarines achieved through collaboration between NUWC Newport Division, the Naval Air Systems Command program office, NSWC Dahlgren Division, Lockheed Martin Manassas, and the UK Ministry of Defense. “Your efforts resulted in the design, development, integration, and delivery of a standalone Tomahawk Weapon Control System within two years,” said McCormack and Ver Hage in their all hands communique. NSWCDD team members included Roger Brown, Nicole Gamble, and Tom Krumpter.
The Sea Fighter Test Team won the Collaboration Award for successful collaboration of the Panama City Sea Fighter Test Team with NSWC Dahlgren Division, various Air Force bases and commands, stakeholders, academia, and the private sector to determine the suitability of Sea Fighter systems. Five systems were designated as operationally relevant for the fleet within the limited testing timeline. NSWCDD team members included Adam Broad, Kenneth Michels, Michael Campbell, Laura San Filippo, Scott Heyman, Joseph Sevier, and Jesse Hines.
The Self Defense Test Ship CVN 78 Risk Reduction Missile Exercise Team also won the Collaboration Award for substantial contributions in coordinating and managing the test schedule for difficult test evolutions, requiring extensive collaboration of Port Hueneme, Corona, Crane and Dahlgren Divisions with team members from the Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems Aegis, Above Water Sensors, Ship Self-Defense System, Terminal Defense Systems, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Sea Sparrow Project Office, Raytheon, and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, resulting in the successful Risk Reduction Missile Firing event utilizing the Self Defense Test Ship. NSWCDD team members included Elena Bono and Warren Lewis.
NSWC Dahlgren Division’s Test and Evaluation Tools Group won the Innovation Award for creativity and innovation in the development of a common tool framework, automated verification tests, automated data extraction point entry, and data dictionary auto selection, resulting in Sailors receiving more thoroughly tested tactical systems, in a more timely manner, at a reduced cost. NSWCDD team members included Dr. Brian Dillon, Dylan Kane, Jeffrey Shaffer, and Lucas Durham.
Award certificates were shipped to the recipients' respective divisions for presentation at a future ceremony. Each NSWC and NUWC division will coordinate and announce the presentation venue.