NEWPORT, RI – The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) and Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) board of directors – NUWC and NSWC Executive Director Donald McCormack, NUWC Commander Rear Adm. Moises DelToro, and NSWC Commander Rear Adm. Tom Druggan – announced the recipients of the 2016 Warfare Centers Award, July 27.
“The Warfare Centers’ Award was established in 2005 to recognize cross-Warfare Center collaborative efforts,” said McCormack in his communique to all hands in the Warfare Centers. “Since then the award has expanded to the five categories which include collaboration, innovation, knowledge sharing, technical support services, and talent management.”
The winners were selected from among 64 individual and team nominations by a committee comprised of technical directors from NUWC Keyport Division, NSWC Corona Division, and NSWC Crane Division in addition to the NUWC headquarters corporate operations director.
NSWC Dahlgren Division civil servants – from scientists and engineers to human resources professionals – are recognized as team members and individual winners for the following awards.
Dahlgren’s New Onboarding Process Team wins the Alan Dean Award for Talent Management
The Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) New Onboarding Process Improvement Team won the award for extraordinary contributions significantly impacting the command’s onboarding process. The team researched best practices and institutionalized innovative processes and procedures to improve the Dahlgren Division onboarding process for new employees. “Your efforts decreased the time required for new employees to become fully operational and increased new hire productivity and satisfaction, while increasing the Warfare Centers’ appeal and effectiveness as an employer,” said McCormack. NSWCDD team members were Alex Farley, Charlotte Gaither, Misty Rich, Lorna Tebrich, Silvia Guerrero, Drew Simmons, Deborah Blanch, Cynthia Hamblin, Karen Smith, Denise Collins, Danniele Hawkins, Amelia Thompson, Jessica Combs, Kellie McKenney, Ellen Thompson, Emily Cummings, Angela Moreland, Paul Wingeart, Alisa Dyson, and Catherine Ray.
Assault Amphibious Vehicle Engineering Support Team wins the Collaboration Award
For substantial contributions to the Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV) Engineering Support Team in recognition of the high level of collaboration between NSWC Dahlgren, NSWC Carderock, and NSWC Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Technology Divisions in the conduct of technical evaluations, delivery of technical data packages, fielding of vehicle kits, and provision of technical support to resolve variance requests for AAV foreign military sales. Team members comprised the following employees from NSWCDD: Leyla Hernandez, Micah Murphy, Anatoli Doutov, Todd Davis, Brian Keeven, Douglas Smith, Gordon Shaw, Mary-Kathleen McShane, Capt. Keith Roberson, Jacob Ackerson, David Jones, Andrew Riggs, Dennis Lilly, John Romano, Craig Lang, Steven Tarrell, Danny Wilson, Vincent Vendetti, and Mike Corwell.
MK41 Vertical Launch System Obsolescence Working Group wins Collaboration Award
For substantial contributions to the MK41 Vertical Launch System Obsolescence Working Group in recognition of the high level of collaboration between the Corona, Dahlgren, Keyport and Port Hueneme Warfare Center divisions in providing critical engineering support services for Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems during implementation of the new production contract. The group's resolution of 52 obsolescence cases resulted in lifetime buys. Team members included Ana Bajcsi and Oliver Wagner from NSWCDD.
Naval Warfare Centers’ Innovation Award
Christopher Bara and Jeffery Smith from NSWC Dahlgren Division won the Innovation Award for demonstrating innovation and creativity in replacing aging Fleet chemical detection systems with a standardized and improved capability, reducing maintenance costs and increasing overall Fleet readiness, capability, and common configuration across the Fleet.
Frank Wendt from NSWC Dahlgren Division won the Innovation Award for innovatively designing and implementing the Combined Integrated Air and Missile Defense and Anti-Submarine Warfare Trainer reconfigurable Combat Information Center console, providing the Fleet with a high fidelity, quickly reconfigurable training capability while reducing costs and increasing maintainability and quality.
Keyport's Workforce Development Team wins the Alan Dean Award for Talent Management
Team members, including Melanie Lashus from NSWCDD, received the award for extraordinary contributions to ensure that employees and supervisors receive the training necessary for personal and organizational success, while increasing the Warfare Centers’ appeal and effectiveness as an employer. Their initiatives comprised the Probationary Supervisor Program – a technical training workgroup to increase employee proficiency and subject matter expertise – and the All Leaders Development Program that featured 360 degree assessments from supervisors, peers, and direct reports.