PANAMA CITY, Fla. –
Each year, the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) hosts the Commanding Officer (CO) and Technical Director’s (TD) Annual Awards ceremony. This year’s event included 15 Annual Awards, one Navy Civilian Service Meritorious Award, and recognition of three patents acquired in fiscal year 2023.
The annual awards program epitomizes the best the command has to offer. Through their technical innovation and business excellence, NSWC PCD personnel continue to raise the bar each year.
“As the force behind the fleet, wartime readiness demands that we give our best to ensure that the military force is ready to fight, can meet the demands of national defense strategies, and is properly trained and supported to complete their wartime tasks at any time,” said Capt. David Back, NSWC PCD CO. “This awards ceremony showcases an in-depth look at everything our PCD team is doing to deliver reliable warfighting capability to our sailors and marines.”
The first Annual Award Ceremony was held in 1975 where three individuals – Dr. Douglas Humphreys, Cmdr. Dave Humphreys, and Orman Holley—were recognized for Special Achievement. The awards program continues that legacy by recognizing the top accomplishments within the span of only one year and this year featured seven team and eight individual awards, including an NSWC PCD Hall of Fame inductee.
The Hall of Fame Award is one of the most prestigious command awards, presented to one individual who has retired at least five years before nomination, whose contributions to the workforce and warfighter has had a lasting impact that is felt to this day. Dave Tubridy, former leader at NSWC PCD, was selected to receive this year’s honor.
“Being nominated for, even more so selected for, NSWC PCD’s Hall of Fame is truly a great honor for me,” said Tubridy. “I am humbled to be included with such an esteemed group of talented people. I really loved my time working at the Lab so much and look forward to reading about the future accomplishments of the command.”
Of the 57 nominations placed, a total of 98 individuals were selected to win an annual award this year, which is less than one percent of the workforce.
“I am proud of all the accomplishments presented here today, which represent a small fraction of all the impressive efforts that the entire workforce does at our Navy lab on a daily basis,” said Dr. Peter Adair, NSWC PCD TD. “Many of the guiding principles of our Panama City Division Strategic Plan are epitomized here, and this is crucial because it ensures that the technologies and services that we deliver are operationally relevant and significant to the Navy’s warfighters.”
The 2023 Annual Awards ceremony recognized the following recipients:
Dave Tubridy – Hall of Fame
Lori Hilgenberg – Business Excellence
William Coffman – Career Achievement
Ship-to-Shore Connector Ship Interface Test Team – Collaboration Excellence
Thomas Fanning – Dr. David P. Skinner Outstanding Science and Engineering
Funding Allocated to Locally Controlled Networks Team – Excellence in Business Innovation
Coastal Test Range Team – Exceptional Technical Support
Donald Wittkopf – Exemplary Leadership
Dr. Ivan Rodriquez-Pinto – New Employee Exceptional Achievement
In-Service Mines Project Team – Outstanding Fleet Support
Air Cushion Vehicle Model-Based Product Development Team – Outstanding Innovation
Joe Renella – Outstanding Organizational Support
Adaptive Persistent Awareness Systems Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Team – Outstanding Program Success
Hawkeye Expeditionary Launch Module Team – Outstanding Team Achievement
Charles Dillingham – Technical Excellence
Scott Dorsch – Navy Civilian Service Meritorious Award
Demetrius Kutzke, Gustavo Miranda Lopez, and Robert Herman, Release System – a Tether Line Patent (Miranda Lopez and Herman became NSWC PCD Inventors Society inductees)
Dr. Joshua Kogot and April Hirsch – Biodegradable Microphone Patent
Michael Kobold – Method of Collecting Field-Based Data to Reduce Collected-Data Error Patent