PANAMA CITY, Fla. –
Over 100 exceptional personnel were recognized at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) Annual Awards Ceremony held at Gulf Coast State College (GCSC), March 25.
The ceremony marked the first in-person annual awards ceremony since the start of the pandemic. The award process has a six-week nomination period where any civilian or military personnel can nominate other civilian and military personnel for fiscal year contributions and accomplishments with chain of command approval. This year, 74 nominations for teams and individuals across 15 award categories were received.
As an advocate for employee recognition, NSWC PCD Commanding Officer, Capt. David Back, encourages personnel to continue to build on their momentum and success.
“These awardees represent the best of the best at our command over the course of this last year,” states Back. “It is humbling and inspiring to receive a more in-depth view of the work our command does each day to support our sailors and marines. I encourage this group to continue this pattern of excellence, and mentor or champion others.”
NSWC PCD added three new categories since last year’s ceremony, one being the Business Excellence Award. Katherine Mapp, NSWC PCD Public Affairs officer, was awarded the command’s first Business Excellence Award.
“I was honored to learn of my nomination and selection,” said Mapp. “Receiving this award is a reflection of my dynamic team we have built and the great things we do as a whole. Many great things are to come for the command and we are so excited!”
Though the workforce and families were unable to physically attend this year’s ceremony, Dr. Peter Adair, NSWC PCD technical director stresses the importance of partnerships and collaboration while standing in the building of one of NSWC PCD’s educational partners, GCSC.
“Though this awards ceremony recognizes the work accomplished locally, Capt. Back and I were able to see the collaboration efforts with other Warfare Centers, branches of the military, and with many universities across the nation,” states Adair. “It all boils down to people. People [our workforce and our partners] are the foundation of everything we do here at the Navy Lab.”
The ceremony was recorded and streamed via internal streaming platforms and social media, April 7.