CRANE, Ind. –
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division’s (NSWC Crane) Maritime Electromagnetic Warfare Systems engineer Alexander Ray received the Civilian Service Achievement Medal (CSAM) for his work bringing together various groups and stakeholders to improve upon the AN/SLQ-32(V)6.
The CSAM is the fifth highest designation a civilian can receive from the Department of Defense (DOD). According to the DOD, the CSAM medal is given to “civilian personnel who are to be recognized for a sustained performance or a specific achievement of a superlative nature.”
“Alex is a long time member of the Maritime Electromagnetic Warfare Systems Division. He has served several roles within the Division. This depth of experience coupled with his education has made him one of the Enterprise’s “go-to” persons,” said Division Manager Chuck Fravell.
The primary goal of the AN/SLQ-32 is to provide anti-ship missile defense to protect US Naval ships and its sailors
Early in the life of the AN/SLQ-32(V)6, it became clear that it needed updates to reliably serve the warfighter for its intended purpose. Ray and his team moved quickly and effectively to update the technology for the AN/SLQ-32(V)6, much of which was included in what would become the AN/SLQ-32(V)7.
Ray brought together various groups from across the whole Warfare Center enterprise to improve the AN/SLQ-32(V)6 as part of a larger readiness effort. In a relatively quick period, he brought together acquisitions, scientists, engineers, technical experts, NSWC Corona team members, original equipment manufacturers, and service members for the longer-term goal of bringing the best version of the technology to the warfighter.
The work was not a solo effort. Ray believes without the large team supporting the updates they would not have achieved the results they had. Due to all their hard work and coordination, they were able to improve upon the prior designs in a relatively short amount of time. Making necessary improvements that could typically take up to 10 years in just over a little over two years.
“It spans the Navy enterprise, so it's not just a NSWC Crane or Program office effort. There's many Navy organizations that comprise it, but its overall goal was to improve the readiness of the system,” said Ray. “Where I played a big role was in leading a team focused on improving the reliability. We worked with NSWC Corona, looking at the failure data, and then working with our private industry partners and our own engineering teams to develop updated components that are more reliable for the system.”
In conjunction to bringing together a wide range of experts from several different professional backgrounds, the team also had to “Embrace the Red” and step out of their comfort zone when they convinced the Navy to let them install improvements to AN/SLQ-32(V)6 systems on a carrier strike group before their deployment. Ray and his team maneuvered through the various administrative processes and built strong relationships between the different components of this work. His success allowed for the delivery of critical technology for the warfighter in record time.
“The most challenging aspect was that we had to work with a lot of entities. The program office was a helpful partner for getting the right approvals from the fleet to get all of these changes implemented on the strike group ahead of their deployment,” said Ray. “Normally, this process takes a long time. You don't typically go to a strike group shortly before deployment and make changes, but we got the right people in the room. We got the fleet to understand that accepting these changes was worth the risk and that it was going to benefit their ships and sailors.”
The outcome of this combined effort was the timely delivery of updated technology to the warfighter.
According to Ray, the systems expertise of NSWC Crane, data analysis expertise at NSWC Corona, a dedicated group of various engineers, acquisition/contract specialists, technicians, and servicemen created a team that provided the best technology to the warfighter.
“Alex’s warm personality has only served to further his approachability. His technical knowledge and leadership served to guide the team addressing several reliability issues on the AN/SLQ-32(V)6,” said Fravell.
Ray also thanked his team, both current and now retired members of the NSWC Crane workforce, NSWC Corona, industry partners, the various program officers, his mentors, and those who supported him on this endeavor.
About NSWC Crane | NSWC Crane is a naval laboratory and a field activity of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) with mission areas in Expeditionary Warfare, Strategic Missions and Electromagnetic Warfare. The warfare center is responsible for multi-domain, multi- spectral, full life cycle support of technologies and systems enhancing capability to today's Warfighter.