Naval Surface Warfare Center Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, PA –
The Naval Surface Warfare, Center Philadelphia Division (NWSCPD) hosted its quarterly awards ceremony July 14 to acknowledge and honor eligible employees for their federal career milestones. Also recognized were employees who recently received awards and letters of appreciation from outside organizations, and those who completed a rigorous professional development program for employees filling engineering, physical science and mathematics positions at NSWCPD.
Improved COVID-19 public health conditions allowed for a hybrid ceremony, with some recipients accepting their awards in person, while others doing so virtually.
During his remarks, NSWCPD Technical Director Thomas Perotti praised the honorees for their length of service and contributions to NSWCPD’s mission.
“When you do the math (on the number of service years recognized) you quickly get into the hundreds of years of support…There is such a breadth of contributions that each of you have provided. It takes that kind of dedication for each of us to bring those kinds of results to the Navy,” Perotti said.
The ceremony honored 60 NSWCPD employees who received awards last quarter, with specific awards including:
• Career Service (four with 25 years, seven with 30 years, one with 35 years, four with 40 years)
• Scientist and Engineer Development Program-SEDP Graduates (11 recipients)
• Letters of Appreciation:
o Timothy Murray was recognized by Commander Vice Adm. William J. Galinis, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), for his outstanding support as a member of NAVSEA’s USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) Fire Assessment Team and Failure Review Board (FRB).
o Jeffrey Merlino was recognized by Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Lorin C. Selby, for achieving the Department of Defense Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education and Outreach Advocate of the Quarter award in Fiscal Year 2020.
o Brian Colon Torres was recognized by Commanding Officer Capt. Gervy Alota, USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26), for his professionalism and dedication while providing technical expertise and exceptional attention to detail during work on the contract and funding efforts to complete ship repair on time and provide successful sea trials for USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26).
o Tyler Pizzo was also recognized by Alota, for his professionalism and dedication while providing technical expertise, exceptional attention to detail and tireless work to complete ship repair availability on time, allowing for successful sea trials necessary to phase LDP 26 back to sea.
o Dustin Bordelon, Kelly Nolan, Sarah Gloeckner, Christine Evans, Jay Smith, and Melissa Cohen were recognized by Columbia Class Program Manager Capt. Jon E. Rucker, for their professionalism and dedication in support of awarding the Advanced Carbon Dioxide Removal Unit (ACRU) production contract and for providing technical knowledge, expertise and collaboration efforts with the team to award an ACRU contract.
o Edward McGuire and Kevin Patterson were recognized by NAVSEA Inspector General Carl Adams Jr., for their excellent work in supporting the Enterprise-Wide Review of NAVSEA’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) Program.
o David Rosmarin was recognized by Douglas E. Arnold, NAVSEA (SEA 05Z) for his professionalism and dedication in providing outstanding support to the Marine Engineering Competency Domain.
o Emily Housel was recognized by NAVSEA Technical Warrant Holder for Wet Environmental Systems and Discharges Holly L. Nestle, for her professionalism and dedication in providing outstanding in-service engineering of Oil Pollution Abatement (OPA) equipment.
o John Mahoney was also recognized by Nestle for his professionalism and dedication in providing outstanding support of both research, development, testing and evaluation, and in-service engineering on Non-Oily Wastewater (NOW) equipment.
In addition, NSWCPD employees Daniel Miller, Alicia Sasso and Doris Tung were recognized for their recent receipt of the Department of Navy (DoN) Civilian Service Achievement Medals (CSAMs) for their professionalism and dedication from 2018 through 2020 as a member of the NAVSEA Inclusion and Engagement Council.
In his concluding remarks, Perotti reflected on NSWCPD’s important role in supporting the U.S. Navy fleet.
“Without you there wouldn’t be us, and without us, we wouldn’t have that success of mission,” Perotti said, emphasizing the invaluable contribution each honoree has made to NSWCPD, as well as on how those collective efforts contributed to a wider team effort.